The CAD $3,500 buy-in, CAD $1.5 million GTD World Poker Tour (WPT) Playground Championship attracted 840 entries. It awarded a CAD $412,300 (US $296,779) top prize, a seat in the WPT World Championship, and the winner's name etched upon Mike Sexton’s Champions Cup.
The tournament was a mix of local Canadian players like Tyler Warken and Connor Daynard along with traveling pros like Rich Alsup and Rob Wazwaz, who both flew in from Minnesota. You also had high-profile players like WPT Global Ambassadors Patrick Tardif and Phil Kessel.
PokerNewswas on-site for the action-packed tournament, and during that time the WPT Live Reporting Team (shoutout to Liam Gannon, David Salituro, and Ryan Lashmar) captured some game-changing hands.
Here’s a look at five big hands from the WPT Playground Championship as reported in the WPT live blog.
On Day 1a, four-time WPT champ Darren Elias played a big hand in Level 2 (200/300/300). Reporter Liam Gannon saw Nick Skodatikas call from early position before Elias raised to 1,300. Jatinder Singh called from the button, Skodatikas called the additional 1,000, and it was three-way action to a flop of A♥6♠K♣.
Elias continued for 1,000, both his opponents called, and the 3♣appeared on the turn. Skodatikas shifted gears by betting out 2,100 and Elias raised it to 9,000. Singh got out of the way, but Skodatikas called to see the A♦pair the board on the river.
Skodatikas bet again, this time 6,000, and Elias raised to 25,000. Skodatikas hit the tank before going all in for 28,300 total and Elias snap-called. Skodatikas showed the A♠8♠for trip aces but it was no good as Elias rolled over the A♣3♠for a full house.
Skodatikas made an early exit from the tournament while Elias vaulted into the chip lead. He ended up going on to make Day 3 of the tournament and finished in 31st place for $14,756.
In Level 11 (1,500/2,500/2,500) early on Day 2, Saadeddine Nahlous and Ami Alibay were both all in preflop for around 100,000 each and both at risk against Vadim Rozin.
Saadeddine Nahlous: A♥10♦
Ami Alibay: Q♥Q♣
Vadim Rozin: J♥J♦
The 8♦Q♦7♠flop gave Alibay top set and put him in prime position to win a big one. However, the running J♣turn and J♠river gave Rozin runner-runner quad jacks to score the improbably double knockout!
On Day 2 of the tournament, approximately 130 players remained in Level 16 (4,000/8,000/8,000) when Alexander Queen raised to 16,000 and Faniel Ghionoiu called from the button before Illankumaran Kandiah three-bet to 80,000 out of the big blind.
Queen folded but Ghionoiu woke up with an all-in jam to 330,000, which Kandiah called.
Daniel Ghionoiu: K♦K♥
Illankumaran Kandiah: A♠Q♥
Ghionoiu got tricky by initially just calling with his kinds and was in good shape to double. Unfortunately for him, the flop fell A♦J♠3♦to pair Kandiah’s ace.
"Oh, f**k off. There's no way," Ghionoiu exclaimed. Neither the 9♦turn nor 9♥river helped him and he hit the rail.
"Trappy, trappy. I got lucky with the trappy," Kandiah said as he pulled in the pot. He went on to finish the tournament in 36th place for $12,453.
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After finishing fifth in the WPT Prime Championship at Playground, Senthuran Vijayaratnam jumped into the Main Event and advanced to Day 2. Not only that, he made another deep run and in Level 19 (10,000/15,000/15,000) won a huge hand.
It began when he opened for 35,000 from early position and Vincent Giuliano went all in for just 40,000 from the small blind. Sandy Lam proceeded to move all in for 320,000 from the big blind and Vijayaratnam called to put both players at risk.
Vincent Giuliano: 8♣8♠
Sandy Lam: K♠K♥
Senthuran Vijayaratnam: A♠K♣
Vijayaratnam went from worst to first when the A♣10♣7♣flop not only paired his ace but also gave him the best flush draw. Neither the 4♦turn nor 10♥river changed a thing and Vijayaratnam scored the double elimination knocking out Sandy Lam and Vincent Giuliuano, who each received $6,190 in prize money.
Vijayaratnam went on to finish the tournament in 26th place for $14,756.
With just 12 players remaining on Day 3, it was Level 26 (40,000/80,000/80,000) when Ari Shin opened for 160,000 in the hijack and Salomon Benarroch raised to 800,000 from the button, which left him just 15,000 behind.
Michael Wang then moved all in from the big blind, Shin got out of the way, and it was off to the races.
Salomon Benarroch: A♠10♦
Michael Wang: 9♣9♠
Benarroch was hopeful upon seeing the situation and said, “It’s actually not that bad.”
It did get bad though as the Q♥9♦7♣flop delivered Wang a set.
“Now I really need help,” Benarroch was reported as saying. The 6♦turn gave him some straight outs, but the 9♥on the river improved Wang to four-of-a-kind. Benarroch took home $25,553 for his 12th-place finish.
*Photos courtesy World Poker Tour (WPT) / Alicia Skillman
