Mike Sexton Headlines WPT Montreal Final Table
The dust has settled on another wild day at the 2016 Playground Poker Fall Classic.
The partypoker.net World Poker Tour (WPT) Montreal has reached an official final table with none other than Mike Sexton leading the remaining six players.
Across the room, Day 1 of Event #14: $1,650 NL Hold’em Second Chance and Event #15: $10,400 NL Hold’em High Roller got underway. Later in the evening, Event #16: $165 NL Hold’em Deepstack Turbo took flight.
History could be made on Thursday at Playground Poker Club. Sexton is searching for his first WPT title, and second in chips, Ema Zajmovic, could be the first woman to ever win an open WPT event.
Sexton, a WPT commentator and Poker Hall of Fame member, has done just about everything in poker. A WPT title is something he’d much like to cross off the list. Sexton will carry the chip lead into play on Day 5 bringing a stack of 6,215,000. Zajmovic follows behind with 5,385,000.
Joining the leaders at the final table of six will be World Series of Poker bracelet winner Benny Chen (2,480,000), Ilan Boujenah (2,290,000), Jake Schwartz (1,550,000) and Nadir Lalji (1,520,000).
The final table will resume at 4:00 p.m. ET with a live stream following at 4:30 p.m. ET. The stream will be on a 30-minute delay with hole cards and commentary. A cash prize of $425,980 awaits the winner.
Event #14: $1,650 NL Hold’em Second Chance:
Day 1 of the 14th event of the festival got underway at 10 a.m. on Wednesday boasting a guarantee of $125,000. A total of 135 entries were received creating a first-place prize of $55,490. Kenneth Lindgren topped the field on Day 1 and leads the 21 survivors heading into Day 2.
As was expected, some big names took a seat in the popular event. Dylan Wilkerson, Grant Ellis, Paul Sokoloff, Jason Mann, Amir Babakhani, Griffin Benger, Sam Greenwood, Ankush Mandavia, Evan Jarvis and Kevin Martin were just a few of the notables to fizzle out before play concluded.
Lindgren ran up a stack of 345,500 to claim the chip lead. Sitting second, Jordan Saccucci is hot on his heels with 335,000. Olivier Boyer (318,000), Chris Fisher (255,000) and Theodore Doukas (223,000) round out the remaining top stacks. There is still some stiff competition in the mix as Marco Caza (155,500), Thomas Lefort (115,000), Dave Jeanneau-Cyr (96,000) and Samuel Tsehai (49,000) remain in the hunt.
Day 2 kicks off at noon on Thursday with the final 21 players playing down an eventual champion.
Event #15: $10,400 NL Hold’em High Roller:
The stars were shining bright on Wednesday afternoon as the largest buy-in of the festival took the stage. Looking in fine shape to make a run with his Montreal Nationals during the upcoming Global Poker League playoffs, Pascal Lefrancois emerged as the top dog after play concluded on Day 1.
With a guaranteed prize pool of $400,000 up for grabs, 41 players converged on the tournament floor. Just 21 would survive through 10 levels of play. Lefrancois built a stack of 174,000 to top the star-studded field. Lefrancois has a big lead on the rest of the field as Senthuran Vijayaratnam (117,400), Mark Radoja (105,000) and Darren Elias (104,600) were the only others to break the six-figure mark.
A scary field awaits the start of Day 2 though. Anthony Zinno (90,400), Lucas Greenwood (61,700), Dylan Wilkerson (55,400), Cate Hall (46,200 and Ari Engel (39,700) are just a few of the players returning for action on Thursday.
The day did not go so well for some. Those who fell on Day 1 include Igor Kurganov, Brian Altman, Jeff Gross, Sam Chartier, Sam Greenwood and Ankush Mandavia.
The rest of the field will resume play at noon on Thursday. With just 6 players making the money, there is still a lot of skilled players who will leave empty handed. A top prize of $156,000 and a Champion’s trophy await the eventual winner.
Event #16: $165 NL Hold’em Deepstack Turbo:
Keith Laflam is the latest Fall Classic champion, besting a field of 161 runners in the penultimate event of the 2016 Playground Poker Fall Classic. Laflam picked up a top prize of $5,510 and the champion’s trophy after defeating Cedric Meyer heads up.
Players lined up waiting to get a seat in an already filled Playground Poker Club tournament floor, eagerly anticipating their second last chance for glory. Playground regulars Jason Conforti, David Cadoch, Jonathan Bussieres, William Blais, Joey Boczek and Shawn Daigle all came and went, paving the way for Laflam.
Once the bubble approached, the remaining 19 players pooled together $20 each, creating a $190 prize for the first two players to bust, eliminating the bubble. As a turbo structure would encourage, the chips began to fly and a final table was quickly formed.
Laflam entered the final table among the short stacks but soon found several rungs on the ladder to climb. John Eliakis was the first to fall, followed by Fadi Hahha and Mathieu Bergeron. Laflam then scored a monster pot, eliminating start of final table chip leader James Harrington. Ismael Keita was knocked out in fourth before Pascal Monarque set up heads-up play, bowing out in third.
On the final hand, Laflam got it in bad against Meyer, but Laflam’s ace-three outdrew the pocket tens of his opponent and all the chips were pushed his way.
Final table results:
| Place | Name | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Keith Laflam | 5,510.00 |
| 2 | Cedric Meyer | 4,225.00 |
| 3 | Pascal Monarque | 3,110.00 |
| 4 | Ismael Keita | 2,330.00 |
| 5 | James Harrington | 1,750.00 |
| 6 | Ricky Campanelli | 1,310.00 |
| 7 | Walter Asatoorian | 980 |
| 8 | Mathieu Bergeron | 740 |
| 9 | Fadi Haddad | 550 |
| 10 | John Eliakis | 410 |
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