Welcome to the partypoker MILLION North America festival, where Canada will be breaking records with the biggest prizepool in live poker history when the CA$5,300/$4,000 Main Event begins tomorrow. There will be CA$1,000,000 guaranteed to the winner, and CA$5,000,000 guaranteed in the prizepool.
Until then, it's a perfect day to play some poker, and what better way to kick things off than with the newly-added $10,300 High Roller!
With $500,000 guaranteed in the prizepool, this event is sure to attract some of the biggest players in Canada and around the world.
Day 1 kicks off in just one hour at 1:00 p.m. local time on the east coast in beautiful Montreal, Canada at the Playground Poker Club. Players begin the day with an even 100,000 chips and will play 45-minute blind levels until heads-up play begins late on Day 2. Unlimited re-entries will make for an exciting day, and registration will be open until the end of the first level of play, early on Day 2.
There will be a 15-minute break after levels 3, 6 and 8. At the end of level 10, play will pause for the night and the remaining field will bag and tag for Day 2. Play starts back up on May 5th at 1:00 p.m. and blinds will roll back to level 9 at 1,500/3,000 with a 500 ante. Registration will close at 1:45 p.m. and the tournament will complete once a winner is crowned!
Here is a look at the Day 1 structure:
Level
Duration
Small Blind
Big Blind
Ante
1
45
250
500
50
2
45
300
600
50
3
45
400
800
100
4
45
500
1,000
100
5
45
600
1,200
100
6
45
800
1,600
200
7
45
1,000
2,000
200
8
45
1,200
2,400
300
9
45
1,500
3,000
300
10
45
2,000
4,000
400
Stick with the PokerNews team as we bring you all of the coverage for the High Roller and the Main Event!
The $10,300 partypoker MILLION North America High Roller has begun with seven entries.
As expected, the field is already competitive, and with late registration open until the end of the first level of the day tomorrow, it's only going to get tougher!
Among the field is Canada's own Kristen Bicknell, representing partypoker for this event. Cate Hall joins her as the only other woman in this event so far.
Here's a look at the players who have opened this event:
John Duthie, also known as 'Mr. Big', has joined the field. In February of this year, Duthie was named the president of the partypoker LIVE tour, and has been doing big things to grow this game.
While he has had his hands in many poker initiatives, Duthie is no stranger to the tables. He boasts $2,796,223 in live recording earnings and has seven wins, including a £1,000,000 score in 2000 at the Poker Million in Douglas.
Look for Duthie to make a run here to add to his already-impressive resume!
Vojtech Ruzicka is fresh off a partypoker MILLION Nottingham High Roller win for £284,210/$355,859 and is looking to make it back-to-back wins! He also won the High Roller in Deauville back in 2013, so he is no stranger to the high stakes world.
Ruzicka boasts over $3,500,000 in live recorded cashes and has several deep runs, including a 5th place finish in the 2016 World Series of Poker $10,000 Main Event for just shy of two million dollars. Look for Ruzicka to do some damage here today, as he has already delivered the first knockout of the day after busting Justin Ligeri with kings against his jacks.
A big pot was going down in the high roller and Jonathan Jaffe was seen shipping his stack in the middle on the button on a board reading . Maria Ho was in the big blind and said, "I call."
Jaffee tabled for queen high, and Ho showed for top set. The turn was the and Jaffe was left drawing dead. He rapped the tabled and headed for the door as the fell on the river.
Day 1 of the partypoker MILLION North America $10,300 High Roller is in the books and it is Michael Addamo who's in the lead with 387,400 in chips. Addamo hails from Australia, and is coming fresh off of a High Roller win just last month on his home turf. He also boasts just over $900,000 in live recorded cashes and has a third-place finish in a $1,500 event at the Word Series of Poker for a six-figure payday.
The day began with just seven players but quickly grew to 46 entries including reentries. A total of 25 players made it through, with the potential for this number to grow as the registration is open till the start of play on Day 2. The guarantee of $500,000 has not been met, it requires another 4 players to get there.
Table
Seat
Player Name
Chip Count
35
1
Jason Koon
77,500
35
2
Empty
-
35
3
Roberto Romanello
258,400
35
4
Toby Lewis
172,600
35
5
Sam Chartier
266,100
35
6
Pascal Lefrancois
35,500
35
7
Empty
-
35
8
Mike McDonald
55,800
36
1
Vishal Singh Maini
365,600
36
2
Empty
-
36
3
Sorel Mizzi
315,300
36
4
Marc-Olivier Perrault
179,000
36
5
Kristen Bicknell
148,300
36
6
Sinan Tawfik
50,200
36
7
Empty
-
36
8
Niall Farrell
144,000
37
1
Jonathan Duhamel
221,200
37
2
Empty
-
37
3
Xuan Liu
68,800
37
4
Ryan Yu
179,000
37
5
John Duthie
133,800
37
6
Philippe D'Auteuil
235,700
37
7
Empty
-
37
8
Maria Ho
216,300
38
1
Michael Addamo
387,400
38
2
Empty
-
38
3
Francois Safieddine
131,100
38
4
Mark Radoja
216,400
38
5
Peter Jetten
121,400
38
6
Cate Hall
230.800
38
7
Alexander Turyansky
300,600
38
8
Alex Difelice
115,000
From the start of the tournament, Addamo's stack kept growing and he never really looked back. He doubled up and then eliminated Vojtech Ruzicka, partypoker MILLION Nottingham's High Roller winner, and coasted through the last couple of levels from there. The next biggest stack belongs to Vishal Singh Maini (365,600), and third in chips is none other than Canada's Sorel Mizzi (315,300).
Four women entered the tournament and every single one of them is still in and on one bullet each. At one point, three out of four of them were on the same table. Cate Hall (230,800), Maria Ho (216,300), Kristen Bicknell (148,300), and Xuan Liu (68,800) are all looking to win their first High Roller tournament and continue the trend of women winning titles in 2017, and beyond, of course.
While all players in this tournament are considered "notable" in their own right, some of the more familiar faces continuing on to Day 2 include president of partypoker LIVE, John Duthie (133,800), Roberto Romanello (258,400), Jonathan Duhamel (221,200), Niall Farrell (144,000), Jason Koon (77,500), Mike 'Timex' McDonald (55,800), and Pascal Lefrancois (35,500).
Some of the players who took a shot but didn't make it through include Marc-Andre Ladouceur, Ankush Mandavia, Seth Davies, Jonathan Jaffe, and Ari Engel. With registration open until the end of the first level tomorrow, it would be no surprise if some, if not all, of these players fire again.
Blinds will roll back to the beginning of Level 9 tomorrow at 1,500/3,000 and a 500 ante. Registration will be open until the end of the first level of the day, closing promptly at 1:45 p.m. local time. Cards will be in the air at 1:00 p.m. and the tournament will complete as soon as a winner is crowned.
Keep following along as PokerNews brings you updates on the action throughout the rest of the series!