Connor Daynard Bags WPT Playground Day 1b Lead; Minnesota Poker Buddies Advance
On Friday, Day 1b of the CAD $3,500 buy-in, CAD $1.5 million GTD World Poker Tour (WPT) Playground Championship attracted 229 runners, which along with Day 1a’s 143 brought the total field up to 372 entries with Day 1c still to go.
After 10 levels of play, 74 players remained with Connor Daynard and their stack of 435,500 leading. That was slightly higher than that of Day 1a chip leader Giuseppe Corapi, who advanced with 401,000.
Some others to bag on Day 1b were Jeff Reardon (388,500), Guillaume Nolet (322,000), Mike Leah (253,500), Michael Wang (222,500), Senthuran Vijayaratnam (167,500), Ami Alibay (135,000), Ema Zajmovi (95,000), and NHL legend Phil Kessel (135,000), who recently signed on as a WPT Global Ambassador.
WPT Playground Top 10 Day 1b Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Count |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Connor Daynard | 435,500 |
| 2 | Jeff Reardon | 388,500 |
| 3 | Adam Cader | 383,500 |
| 4 | Zhi Gang Yang | 365,000 |
| 5 | Bradley Ellis | 352,000 |
| 6 | Guillaume Nolet | 322,000 |
| 7 | Jeff Cormier | 300,000 |
| 8 | Oleg Boulchyi | 282,500 |
| 9 | Baron Ha | 280,000 |
| 10 | Rob Wazwaz | 266,000 |
Yunkyu Song's Ace-Jack Outdraws Ace-Queen to Win WPT Prime Playground Championship
Another pair of players that’ll return for Day 2 are good friends Rob Wazwaz (266,000) and Rich Alsup (104,000), who both also happen to be World Series of Poker (WSOP) gold bracelet winners and Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) Hall of Famers. Both hail from Minnesota and took the two-hour flight, Wazwaz for the first time and Alsup cited it as one of his favorite places to play.
For Reardon, he got a lot of his chips in Level 8 (600/1,200/1,200) when, according to live updates from the tournament, he opened for 2,500 from middle position and Howard Feingold three-bet all in for 14,500 from the small blind. Charles L.B. called from the big, Reardon came along, and the flop fell 3♦8♦7♥.
L.B. bet 6,000, Reardon called, and the 10♦ hit the turn. The former bet again, this time 15,000, and Reardon called to see the 9♠ river. L.B. moved all in and Reardon quickly called with the K♦Q♦ for a flush, which was good as L.B. held the A♦Q♥ bluff and Feingold the 7♠7♣ for a set.
Other players to fall on Day 1b were Vitalijs Zavorotnijs, Stuart Taylor, Erik Lemarquand, and former poker reporter Tyler Warken, who PokerNews profiled earlier in the day here.
Day 1c, the third and final starting flight, will kick off at 11 a.m. local time on Saturday. The surviving players from all three flights will then return for Day 2 on Sunday, October 27.
PokerNews will be on-site at the WPT Playground for the next week offering content throughout, so be sure to check back daily as we bring you updates and stories straight from the tournament floor.
*Photos courtesy World Poker Tour (WPT) / Alicia Skillman
