Aaron Czaja Leads Playground1000 into Final Day
![[user270022]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
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 |
PokerNews will be here throughout the festival, bringing you all the news and updates. Follow @pokernews on Twitter for live updates and more. Also, follow PokerNews on Facebook and Instagram.
and Tehan couldn't improve. He headed to the rail in one of the last hands of the night.
and was flipping against Alizai's pocket sevens 
but the river was the 
and Abdelhamid paired his king to double up just before the end of the night.
, up against Rivest's 
. 
hit the turn, but the river was the 
and he headed for the payout desk.
and King continued to ask for a jack. The turn was the 
and Rivest yelled out "Now give me a jack!" as he turned a straight draw. King could only hit a king, but the river was the 
and he was eliminated.
, Ruben Perceval checked from the big blind. Aaron Czaja was on the button and bet 225,000. Perceval called. 
and Perceval checked. Czaja bet 320,000 this time and Perceval went into the tank. After about a minute, he check-raised all-in for 2,205,000. Czaja looked confused and torn, and asked for a count. He went into the tank for about five minutes. Eventually the waitress came by and set a plate of food down behind Perceval. She walked away and Perceval decided to reach into his pocket to pay for his dinner. He put some money back into his pocket, and that was when Czaja tossed in a single chip to call. 
for two pair jacks and fives to scoop the massive pot worth just shy of 10 million in chips. Perceval was eliminated and calmly moved his chips over to Czaja's stack before walking away from the table.
on a board reading 
on the turn and the 
on the river. Wilkins scooped the big pot and Sauvageau headed for the door.