Weldon Ward leads the 16 players from Day 1h into Day 2 of the partypoker $500,000 Guarantee Canadian Grand Prix. He bagged the big stack in a field that started with 156 players. He was at risk earlier in the tournament when he got all in with an open-ended straight draw and turned the nuts against Matthew Durand, who had a pair and made a worse straight. Ward bagged 389,000 and was just ahead of Kevin Daily (354,000). The highlight of Daily's day may have been when he eliminated Poker Hall-of-Famer Mike Sexton. Daily had pocket jacks against the of Sexton and held. So far Mike Stannard still holds the biggest stack heading into Day 2 with 668,500. He was an online qualifier. The online flights are still going on, starting 30 minutes after the remaining live flights.
This was the first flight of four today, the last four of eleven live starting flights. Two flights are running right now with one more set to start at 7 p.m.
The Party Poker Grand Prix $500,000 Guarantee is Event #16 of the World Cup of Cards. PokerNews will be here throughout the festival, bringing you all the news, updates, and photos. Follow @pokernews on Twitter for live updates, Periscope broadcasts, and more. Also, follow PokerNews on Facebook and Instagram.
"Do I get like a hundred thousand dollars or something," Kevin Daily said as he eliminated Mike Sexton.
Sexton and Daily got all in preflop with pretty even stacks. Sexton was holding against the of Daily. Sexton failed to catch an ace or a king and Daily, who had him covered, won the hand.
Sexton will likely join one of the remaining flights today, the next one starts at 4 p.m. and there is another one at 7. He could also late register for the 1 p.m. flight.
Daily now has over 200,000 with 23 players remaining. The final 16 players will make Day 2.
Poker Hall of Famer Mike Sexton is one of the remaining 77 players in Day 1h. He was sitting a little over 50,000 before he knocked out Basil Armanazi. The two got all in preflop with Armanazi holding against the of Sexton.
Both players hit a pair on the flop, but Sexton would stay ahead and add about 20,000 to his stack.
Today is another busy day with four more live Day 1 flights of the partypoker Grand Prix Poker Tour $500,000 Guarantee. This is event #16 and this tournament sports the biggest guarantee of the WCC. It also has the lowest buy in, only $109.
Today's Day 1h flight is the eighth of eleven live starting flights. There have been a ton of online Day 1 flights as well and online flights are still starting 30 minutes after each live flight. Mike Stannard is the big stack so far with 668,500 qualifying from one of the earlier online flights.
There are still plenty of chances for live players to match Stannard's stack, beginning with Day 1i at 1 p.m. This will be the first of four starting flights today. The regular flights will have 20-minute levels and the turbo flights will have 15-minute levels. Each player will start with 20,000 and each starting flight play will continue until ten percent of the field remains. Day 1h is a turbo flight with 15-minute levels.
One of the unique elements of the GPPT is a "Golden Chip." The golden chip can be earned in a series of 1-cent online tournaments. The top five players from each of the tournaments earns a virtual golden chip. If a player with a virtual golden chip makes Day 2, they get a physical golden chip. Then any player who wins the tournament and has a golden chip adds $50,000 to their first place prize.
The Party Poker Grand Prix $500,000 Guarantee is Event #16 of the World Cup of Cards. PokerNews will be here throughout the festival, bringing you all the news, updates, and photos. Follow @pokernews on Twitter for live updates, Periscope broadcasts, and more. Also, follow PokerNews on Facebook and Instagram.