Currently in Canada: Rooting for Countrymen in Chile, Sochi, and Las Vegas
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.
This Week In the WSOP: Two Events Wrap Up With Negreanu Seeking Seventh Bracelet
The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is three days old and there are already some Canadians making some deep runs. The first Canadian cash of the WSOP went to Brantford, Ontario’s Michael Hutchings who ended up finishing in 36th place out of the 651 in the $565 Casino Employees Event. Hutchings received $1,575 for his run, while the tournament was won by Maryland Live! dealer Bryan Hollis, who collected $68,817 and the first gold bracelet of the summer for the victory.
The second event — the $10,000 Tag Team Championship — also wrapped up with a couple of final tables by Canadians. This event had players form a team of between two and four players who shared the buy-in along with the prize money if they cashed. Each of the team members would have the ability to swap out and have another team member play as long as they weren't currently in action, adding a different dynamic than the rest of the tournaments at the WSOP.
Canadian Mark Radoja along with his teammate Martin Jacobson and a team with Canada’s most decorated poker player, Daniel Negreanu along with his teammates Eric Wasserson, David Benyamine, and Mark Gregorich, both made the final table. Negreanu’s team came into the final table with the chip lead and held it through most of the final table. The team of Radoja and Jacobson fell early in the day, finishing in sixth place for a total prize of $47,271, while Negreanu’s team eventually busted in third place and received a prize of $119,753. The event was won by the poker couple of Liv Boeree and Igor Kurganov for $273,964 along with a gold bracelet each to add to their resumes.
Related articles:
- WSOP Day 1: Brantford's Michael Hutchings Records First Canadian Cash of the Series
- WSOP Day 2: Negreanu is Within Reach of 7th Bracelet
- WSOP Day 3: Third in $10K Tag Team Championship for Team Negreanu
PokerStars Festival Goes to Chile
It was South America’s turn to have the spotlight on them in the live poker realm with PokerStars Festival Chile. There were 21 events taking place from May 20 to 27 at Casino Enjoy Viña del Mar in Viña del Mar, Chile.
There were two marquee events at the festival: the $3,300 High Roller as well as the $1,650 Main Event, featuring a $500,000 guarantee.
The $1,650 Main Event attracted 328 total entries across two starting flights, including lone Canadian, Leor Wasserman. Wasserman unfortunately was eliminated on Day 1. Forty-seven players would make the money in this event for a min-cash of $2,840 while the winner would receive $97,360. In the end there was a heads-up duel between Chilean native Christopher Franco and Columbia’s Juan Sebastian Gomez. Franco ended up victorious, keeping the Main Event title within the borders of Chile while taking home $97,360 for the title.
The $3,300 High Roller attracted 15 total entries, creating a prize pool of $43,650. The event paid three players, seeing Argentinian rugby star Lucas Gonzalez being eliminated in third for $8,740, leaving Team PokerStars Pro Leo Fernandez and Chile’s Rodrigo Borquez remaining to battle for the title. Fernandez edged out Borquez heads up for the title and $20,950 while Borquez, with his second-place finish ended up with $13,960 for his efforts.
Related article:
Shishikov Tops Sochi Field with Lone Canadian Spin & Go Qualifier in Field
The PokerStars Championship made its inaugural appearance in Sochi, Russia this past week with a 318,000 RUB (approximately $5,590 USD) Main Event that saw 379 entries across two starting flights, with a 150,000,00 RUB guarantee. Three Canadians ended up qualifying via Spin & Go qualifiers on the PokerStars client but only one, Jaime Stephens, made the trip over the Atlantic to Russia.
With Team PokerStars Pros Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier (13th — 2,055,000 RUB), Chris Moneymaker (15th — 1,815,000 RUB), Felipe Ramos (did not cash), and Luca Pagano (did not cash) in the field, the big red spade brand was well represented along with some deep runs from their sponsored players. Russians Pavel Shirshikov and Vladimir Toyanovskiy ended up battling for the title with Shirshikov getting the better of his opponent for the victory, trophy and 29,100,000 RUB. Troyanovskiy received 18,450,000 RUB for the second-place finish.
Related articles:
- Shirshikov Supreme at PokerStars Championship Sochi While One Canadian in the Field
- Canadian Spin & Go Qualifier Jamie Stephens Having a Blast in Sochi
Clean Shaven Negreanu Reenters GPI Top 300
With the Super High Roller Bowl finishing up and the WSOP in its infancy, not only does Daniel Negreanu have a new clean-shaven look, but he also reenters the GPI Top 300 players being one of the week’s biggest movers up the ladder, moving from No. 302 to No. 190.
There was no change in Canada’s overall top 10 list with Ari Engel staying at the top for the 31st-straight week.
Engel also has a narrow lead in the 2017 Canadian GPI player of the year race, sitting just ahead of Daniel Dvoress.
Engel and Dvoress also both remain in the top five of the 2017 GPI Player of the Year race, but were bumped down one spot by Nick Petrangelo who climbed three spots. Engel now sits third while Dvoress sits in the last spot of the top five.
Related article:
”TripInnC.B.S” Has Canada’s Top Online Score on Sunday in PokerStars Sunday Storm
This past Sunday saw a lot of overlays across all three major sites after they all had major online poker series wrap up the week prior.
No Canadians were able to make a final table in all five of partypoker’s majors while the top score went to “TripInnC.B.S” who made a three-way deal in the $11 Sunday Storm on PokerStars for $17,696.50 which had its $275,000 guarantee fall around $25,000 short of the guarantee.
To get the full list of results check out the article linked below.
Related article:
