Day 3 Completed
Live Highlights
Day 3 Completed
Aaron Czaja Leads Playground1000 into Final Day

The penultimate day of the partypoker LIVE Playground1000 has narrowed the field down to the final 24 players. Day 3 of the $1,000,000 guaranteed $1,100 event saw 132 players return to action with just 100 of them making the money.
partypoker Team Pro Kristen Bicknell was the very first casualty of the day flopping two-pair but running into an opponent's flopped top-two. Fellow Team Pro Natalia Breviglieri (1,300,000) faired much better, securing her first cash on Canadian soil. Breviglieri is still in the hunt but will return on Day 4 with the second shortest stack.
Other notables falling before the bubble popped include World Series of Poker Main Event champions Jonathan Duhamel and Ryan Riess, Peter Chien, and Pierre Paul Paulin.
Hand-for-hand play only lasted one hand when the field reached the money bubble. John Pihlak returned from break with less than one big blind which he was forced to pay resuming play in the big blind. Pihlak was dealt deuce-eight and was crushed by Rong Xu's pocket kings leaving the field in the money.
Familiar faces failing to continue on the journey but busting with some consolation on Day 3 include Day 1a chipleader Georges Hallak (99th - $2,000), Samuel Gagnon (84th - $2,500), Andrew Watt (80th - $3,000), Sam Chartier (72nd - $3,500), William Blais (60th - $4,000), David Guay (50th - $4,500), and Day 2 chipleader Armand King (34th - $5,500).
Carrying the torch into Day 4 is chipleader Aaron Czaja. Czaja bagged 9,030,000 after the eight levels of play on Day 3. Czaja made a very impressive call on the river of a jack-high board with just top pair after Ruben Perceval semi-bluff shoved all-in to claim the largest pot of the tournament by far.
Alexander Puchalski has the second largest stack after mustering a strong 8,100,000. Kyle Janisse (6,505,000), Fakher Alizai (5,470,000), and Maurice Simard (4,885,000) round out the top five.
Day 4 is set to kick off at 1 p.m. local time and will continue until a champion is crowned. Once the final table is set, there will be a cards-up live-stream on a slight delay. Stay tuned to the blog for more details.
Here is a look at the prizes still left to fight for:
Place | Prize (CAD) |
---|---|
1 | 200,000 CAD |
2 | 120,000 CAD |
3 | 80,000 CAD |
4 | 54,500 CAD |
5 | 40,000 CAD |
6 | 30,000 CAD |
7 | 22,500 CAD |
8 | 15,000 CAD |
9 | 10,000 CAD |
10-12 | 8,500 CAD |
13-15 | 7,750 CAD |
16-18 | 7,000 CAD |
19-24 | 6,250 CAD |
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End of Day Chip Counts (full)
|
9,030,000 | -670,000 | |||
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8,100,000 | -300,000 | |||
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6,505,000 | 5,305,000 | |||
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5,470,000 | 120,000 | |||
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4,885,000 | 2,385,000 | |||
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4,630,000 | 2,930,000 | |||
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4,435,000 | -35,000 | |||
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4,345,000 | 1,245,000 | |||
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4,300,000 | 1,800,000 | |||
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3,600,000 | -900,000 | |||
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3,200,000 | 200,000 | |||
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3,150,000 | -1,450,000 | |||
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3,035,000 | 235,000 | |||
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2,755,000 | -295,000 | |||
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2,700,000 | 800,000 | |||
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2,630,000 | -1,070,000 | |||
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2,440,000 | 990,000 | |||
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2,240,000 | 140,000 | |||
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1,920,000 | 1,270,000 | |||
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1,855,000 | 355,000 | |||
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1,750,000 | -2,150,000 | |||
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1,305,000 | -795,000 | |||
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1,300,000 | 200,000 | |||
|
1,155,000 | 355,000 |
Joe 'Self-Proclaimed Legend' Tehan Eliminated

Joe Tehan, who jokingly proclaims himself as a "legend", moved all-in from the small blind for his last 1,215,000. Kyle Janisse was in the big blind and called.
Joe Tehan:
Kyle Janisse:
Tehan had one over card to Janisse's eights, but the board ran out and Tehan couldn't improve. He headed to the rail in one of the last hands of the night.
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Busted |
Jeanneu-Cyr Doubles Through Breviglieri
Natalia Breviglieri opened to 175,000 from early position and Dave Jeanneau-Cyr three-bet shoved for 1,020,000. When action folded back around to Breviglieri, she made the call putting her opponent at risk.
Jeanneau-Cyr:
Breviglieri:
The board ran out and Jeanneau-Cyr's pair held to double up.
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2,100,000 | 350,000 | |||
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1,100,000 | -650,000 |
Abdelhamid Binks the River to Double Through Alizai

Karim Abdelhamid was all-in for his last 1,220,000 and was called by Fakher Alizai before the flop.
Abdelhamid tabled and was flipping against Alizai's pocket sevens
The flop came and Alizai was still in the lead. The turn was the
but the river was the
and Abdelhamid paired his king to double up just before the end of the night.
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5,350,000 | -550,000 | |||
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2,800,000 | 700,000 |
Final Five Hands of the Night
The clock has been paused here on Day 3 and each table will play five more hands before bagging for the night. Players will return tomorrow for Day 4 and play down to a winner.
Pepin Runs into the Nuts to Bust
With about 900,000 in the pot, on a board reading , Daniel Pepin led out for 500,000 from the big blind and Alexander Puchalski tank-called on the button.
The river was the and Pepin thought for a moment before moving all-in for his last 635,000. Puchalski snap-called and tabled
for the absolute nuts. Pepin flashed
for a pair of nines to hit the rail.
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8,400,000 | 5,375,000 | |||
|
Busted |
Eliminated From 28-36th Place ($5,500)
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Busted | ||||
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Busted | ||||
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Busted | ||||
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Busted | ||||
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Busted | ||||
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Busted | ||||
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Busted | ||||
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Busted | ||||
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Busted |
Soller Smoked by a Set
Matthew Wilkins open-shoved from under-the-gun and action folded around to Nicholas Soller on the button. Soller had less than 10 big blinds and finally found a hand to give himself a shot. Soller slid the rest of his stack forward, putting himself at risk.
Wilkins:
Soller:
Soller was racing for his tournament life as the dealer delivered a board. At first, Soller thought the jack gave him the lead in the hand but quickly realized there was a four right behind it and no further assistance ended his run in 30th place.
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2,250,000 | 150,000 | |||
|
Busted |