Currently in Canada: Meet a New Super High Roller
Keep up with all the news coming out of the Canadian poker world with this quick recap of the top headlines of the last week from PokerNews Canada.
Canadians Struggle During WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown and Finale
The $3,500 buy-in WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown and $10,000 buy-in WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Finale both wrapped up at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino this past week.
Canadians had a hard week of poker with only three players from the Great White North cashing in the two events.
In the $3,500 buy-in event, Guillaume Nolet (100th — $7,541) and Danielle Micallef (85th — $8,657) were the only Canadians to cash the event.
Tony Sinishtaj won the event, outlasting a field of 1,207 entries, which had a total prize pool of $3,862,400, to take home the trophy and $661,283.
In the $10,000 buy-in WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Finale, the last open event on the WPT docket for Season 15, Noah Vaillancourt became the only Canadian to cash and make a deep run in a field of 349 entries. Vaillancourt ended up finishing in 14th place, collecting $50,168.
2013 WSOP Main Event Champion Ryan Riess ended up the victor, collecting $716,088 and a spot in the WPT Tournament of Champions.
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Get To Know Troy Quenneville
Troy Quenneville is a relatively unknown player in the live realm, and to the average fan, would often be overlooked because of only having $500 in cashes before last November.
Don’t be fooled though. Since 2008, he has $2.6 million in winnings online on PokerStars under the name “teckidtq” and has also been racking up results on partypoker under the name “good player.”
Since November, he has also amassed over $600,000 in live tournament results with a second place in the WPT Caribbean and a first-place result in in the partypoker MILLIONS.
PokerNews Canada Senior Editor Lane Anderson sat down with Quenneville while he was playing the $50,000 Super High Roller in Macau to find out more about the man who is definitely a “good player.”
Read the article linked below to find out more about Quenneville.
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Op Ed: The Social Experiment to Ban Electronic Devices and Hoodies
With the addition of an action clock in events such as the WPT Tournament of Champions and the Aussie Millions, there is a new idea to create a more social, high-paced environment for tournaments in the upcoming California State Poker Championship at the Commerce Casino.
The tournament is named "The Social Experiment" and will ban the use of personal electronics, hoods and sunglasses for the entire tournament. Rule violations will be enforced with a minimum three hand penalty for rule breakers, with the minimum being raised to a one round penalty after registration closes. Tournament staff will provide any breaking world news to any entrants that ask.
The tournament aims to see fewer distractions at the poker table and hopefully speed up play.
Players in Ontario have been living most of these rules for years. Electronic devices, headphones, and hoods are already banned for use in all Ontario casino’s, including poker rooms. Even though this may create a more social environment than usual, players still leave the table and, sometimes, even the poker room to check their phones.
Lyle Bateman goes in depth to look at the pros and cons of The Social Experiment and to see if the Commerce Casino is on to something or if this may just be a one-off event.
Related article:
Griffin Benger Wins 2017 Irish Open For €200,000
The 2017 Irish Open took place from March 30 to April 3. The €1,150 + €125 event attracted 1,129 players which created a prize pool of €1,128,294.
In the end, Canadian professional and 2016 WSOP Main Event seventh-place finisher Griffin Benger was the last player standing to win €200,000 along with the Irish Open trophy.
Benger came into the final table with the chip lead and rode that stack into heads-up play where he trailed second-place finisher Mihail Mazilu 13,050,000 to 20,795,000 in chips. Benger was able to double up very early on in the heads-up duel and then was able to grind down Mazilu on his way to victory.
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The Canadian Sunday Briefing: “ModzillaPL” Tops List of Canadian Online Results
With the PokerStars 11th Anniversary Sunday Million guaranteeing $1 million for first place and partypoker guaranteeing $1 million in the prize pool for the Heavyweight: Title Fight, you knew there would be a ton of action on the virtual felt.
No Canadians were able to make the final table of the Sunday Million but the top finisher from the Great White North was “angevil7” who finished in 17th place earning $40,369. “BYLIA” was the top Canadian in the partypoker Heavyweight: Title Fight, finishing in sixth for $21,080.
The top Canadian earner online this past weekend was “ModzillaPL” who won the $700 Super-Sized Sunday on PokerStars for $49,474 plus over $20,000 in bounties.
“Gottogive” was able to make the final table in both versions of the Sunday Grand. He finished in sixth place in the no-limit hold’em version for $13,494 while he was able to finish in fourth of the pot limit Omaha version for $14,330.
Related article:
Ari Engel Stays On Top for 23 Straight Weeks, Mizzi Soars Up Rankings
Even though it’s getting old in Canada having to say that Ari Engel is on top of the Global Poker Index Canadian rankings for another week, we did have some movers and shakers among the top of the current 2017 GPI Canadian Player of the Year rankings.
Sorel Mizzi climbed one spot on the GPI Top 10 overall Canadian rankings to No. 7, but was able to soar from No. 5 all the way to No. 3 in the 2017 Canadian Player of the Year rankings. Ryan Yu was also able to add his name to the 2017 Canadian Player of the year list to No. 10 with a cash in the PokerStars Championship Macau National Championship event.
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