After Matthew Wilkins opened, Joe Tehan three-bet to 75,000 from the cutoff and then Marc Etienne Mclaughlin four-bet, making it 205,000 to go. Wilkins quickly folded and Tehan called.
Mclaughlin continued with a bet of 185,000 after the two saw a flop and Tehan called. The fell on the turn and both players checked, bringing the on the river.
Both players checked again and Mclaughlin tabled . Tehan quickly turned over and took the pot with ace-king high,
With 200,000 in the pot, on a board reading , the player in the hijack checked and Guillaume Nolet bet 90,000 on the button. His opponent called.
The turn was the and the hijack checked again. This time Nolet fired out a hefty bet worth 250,000 and his opponent tank-folded.
Kristen Bicknell was at the table and asked to see one. He turned over the and raked in the pot.
Nolet may not have very many live scores, but the ones he does have are big ones. He finished in 9th place at the 2014 World Poker Tour (WPT) event right here at Playground for $90,350, followed by an 8th place finish at the 2015 Fallsview Poker Classic for $26,087 and then a 5th place finish at the WPT Canadian Spring Championship at Playground for $51,048.
The Canadian is still hunting for that elusive live tournament win, so we'll be keeping an on him to see how much damage he can do with his growing stack.
Pablo Mariz opened to 22,000 and Chance Kornuth debated his options before flatting. A flop was issued and Mariz check-called a bet of 23,000. The fell on the turn and both players checked to see the complete the board.
Mariz fired a bet of 92,000 and Kornuth took a moment before making the call. Mariz opened and Kornuth mucked, flashing a queen.
The following players are just a few of the notables who have been eliminated here on Day 1a. Good news for them is that this is a re-entry event so they can fire another bullet again today or at two more bullets on each Day 1 flights and even for the first three level of Day 2.
The bad news is it will cost them another $2,200 each time they need to reload. Live Phase 1s are currently running at Playground to get in for a fraction of the cost.
Michel Gariepy was one of the early leaders but had seen his stack almost cut in half since his peak. After the latest hand Gariepy played, that is no longer a problem.
Gariepy was the beneficiary of poker's sickest cooler; aces versus kings.
Gariepy had an opponent all-in and at risk for a pot worth just under 1.5 million holding against his opponent's .
The board ran out and Gariepy dragged on the massive pot.
We arrived at the table as Ryan Riess was calling an all-in bet from his heads-up opponent on the river of a board. His opponent didn't immediately table his hand so Riess turned over and his opponent mucked in defeat.
![[user270022]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
flop and Tehan called. The 
fell on the turn and both players checked, bringing the 
on the river. 
. Tehan quickly turned over 
and took the pot with ace-king high,
, the player in the hijack checked and Guillaume Nolet bet 90,000 on the button. His opponent called.
and raked in the pot.
flop was issued and Mariz check-called a bet of 23,000. The 
fell on the turn and both players checked to see the 
complete the board.
and Kornuth mucked, flashing a queen.
and his opponent mucked in defeat.