This was Varan Sidhu’s first live win, and the prize money will likely be very nearly equal to his previous lifetime earnings. He came into Day 2 with just over 300k, but spun that up to the win. In one particularly big hand, he sent Garry Sandhu home in 3rd when he got flush over flush to take a massive lead into heads up.
It wasn’t an easy table. Runner-up Gordon Wong was the chip leader for Day 2, and played solid poker throughout both his Day 1 flight and the final day. The final table also included Kyle Stronski, Tyler St Clair, and Jimmy Lee, so Sidhu was up against some tough competition.
In the final hand, he found a great spot with a cooler on king-jack against queen-jack. Both players hit the jack and the kind played for the win.
Gordon Wong came into Day 2 with the biggest stack, and he held that for most of the day until play got short handed on the final table. He still managed to hold on for second place, worth $45k after a heads-up deal with winner Varan Sidhu.
It was a swingy game heads up, with Wong starting very short, but spinning it up to about 3.5 million, when they made the deal. That deal saw Sidhu guaranteed $47k to $45k for Wong with $7k to play for. In the final hand, Wong raised to 240k, then called it off when Sidhu shoved the big stack. It was a cooler, with Sidhu on a black king-jack against the dominated queen-jack for Wong. They both hit the jack, but the king played and Wong had to settle for second place.
It looked like the game might be over, and Varan Sidhu actually thought it was, but it turned into a chop pot instead. Gordon Wong raised to 240k, then tanked for a bit. Paul Brar, who was in Day 2 earlier today, and Wong were playing together on the Day 1 flight, and Wong mentioned Brar laddering up a bit from the nut low stack today. Brar responded he had just 5 bigs, and that prompted Wong to call, as he was debating pocket fives.
Sidhu had overs with [invalid notations] and when the board ran out Q♣Q♥A♠8♠8♣ he initially thought he won it until Wong noted it was two pair, ace-high for both of them and the pot was chopped.
The final two players have agreed to a deal that will see Varan Sidhu guaranteed $47k with Gordon Wong guaranteed $45k. They’ll play for the remainder, which is about $7k.
Varan Sidhu shoved his button and Gordon Wong called off with the small stack. Wong needed to hit with 7♣6♣ against 10♥8♠ but he found a six on the 6♦A♣2♣3♥7♠ runout and held for the double to about 1.5 million.
It wa sa huge cooler that sent Garry Sandhu to the rail in 3rd place tonight. He had just doubled up to second stack, but then, in the next hand, both he and Varam Sidhu turned clubs with Sidhu holding the bigger cards.
That sent Sandhu to the rail for 3rd and gave Sidhu a massive chip lead heads up against Gordon Wong.
It was a cooler that sent Jenna Murray out in 4th tonight. Varan Sidhu raised to 120k under the gun preflop and Murray called from the small blind.
She checked dark before the 2♣6♣Q♥ flop, then called when Sidhu bet 180k. She checked again on the 7♠ turn, then tanked for around a minute when Sidhu shoved a much bigger stack.
She eventually put in the call with top pair, second kicker, but her king-queen was in trouble to pocket kings for Sidhu. The 4♠ river was a brick and Murray was out in 4th place after a very solid run from one of the shortest stacks to start the day up to a $20k payday.
It was limped preflop between Gordon Wong and Varan Sidhu in the blinds. Wong check-called for 60k on the 8♥Q♦9♣ flop. He checked again on the 5♠ turn, but raised to 420k after Sidhu fired 150k.
Sidhu called to the 8♦ river, but quickly mucked when Wong shoved.
Garry Sandhu raised under thr gun to 150k, and Varan Sidhu called from the big blind. Sidhu check-raised the 3♦2♠5♣ flop from 100k to 250k, and Sandhu called to the 4♦ turn.
Both players checked to the 6♥ river, which put the deuce to six straight on the board. Sidhu fired big for 1 million, and Sandhu mucked his hand.
Varan Sidhu limped in under the gun, and Gordon Wong checked his option. Wong check-called for 60k on the A♠8♠4♠ flop and they both checked the Q♦ turn. Wong bet 120k on the 6♦ river, then called when Sidhu raised to 300k. Sidhu showed ace-six for the rivered two pair, and Wong mucked his hand.
It was limped preflop between Garry Sandhu and Jenna Murray. Sandhu fired 40k on the J♦5♥6♦ flop and Murray called to the 9♣ turn. Sandhu led for 100k, then called when Murray pumped it up to 300k.
They both checked the 9♥ river, and Murray showed eight-seven for the straight to take it down after Sandhu mucked.
It was all in before the flop when Varan Sidhu raised his button to 100k, Garry Sandhu three-bet the big blind to 420k, Sidhu shoved for 1.065 million and Sandhu snapped it off.
Sidhu was on pocket queens, with Sandhu looking for an ace or diamonds with A♦Q♦. The board ran 2♣K♣7♠8♥10♦ and the queens held. Sidhu is up to more than 2.3 million now, while Sandhu is down to about 1.5 million.
Kyle Stronski and Garry Sandhu limped to the Q♦3♣J♥ flop from the blinds. Stronski led out for 40k and Sandhu called to see K♥ on the turn.
Both players checked to the 2♣ river where Stronski check-called for 80k. Sandhu showed Q♣5♥ and Stronski mucked. The pot puts Sandhu at about 2.7 million now with Stronski on a bit more than a million.
Garry Sandhu raised the button to 60k, and Gordon Wong called from the big blind. Wong check-called for 50k on the 2♦A♣9♣ flop, and checked again on the K♣ turn.
Wong check-raised to 320k, then hit the tank for several minutes when Sandhu shoved for he remaining 1.39 million. Wong was on [pcm]AsQs[/pcn] for top pair, but Sandhu was on 8♣2♣ for the turned flush.
A few hands earlier, Wong raised into Sandhu’s big blind and Sandhu folded, saying he had eight-deuce. “If it was suited, I call,” he said after that hand. In this case, when he got it suited, he raised and found a huge double to the lead. Wong dropped down below 2 million while Sandhu is over 3 million now.
One of the players in the final five is a regular face around the Pure Casino properties, but less for her play at the tables, and more for her role as a server at Yellowhead’s sister casino, Pure Casino Edmonton. She bagged a short stack on Day 1a. but managed to spin that up on Day 2 from less than 100k to start the day into the final five.
Gordon Wong is still the big leader with more than 3 and a quarter million with the rest of the remaining field playing stacks between 1 and 2 million.
Varan Sidhu opened the cutoff to 50k and Jenna Murray called from the big blind. She check-called for 25k on the 6♥J♣7♥ flop, and again for 120k on the 9♥ turn.
She checked a third time when the river came K♣ and Sidhu bet 250k. Murray tanked for a bit but eventually elected to fold the river and send the pot to Sidhu. Sidhu is up to about 1.6 million with Murray on about 1.2 million now. I’ll grab another round of full counts at the upcoming break in about 20 minutes.
Kyle stronski raised to 55k from the cutoff and Jenna Murray and Tyler St Clair called from the blinds. After a check from Murray on the 2♠2♦2♣ flop, St Clair shoved for 180k. Stronski got out of the way, but Murray called with A♠10♠ against pocket fives for St Clair.
Murray bricked the Q♥8♥ runout, sending the double to St Clair.
The flop was already out showing 6♦3♣9♠ and after checks from the blinds, Varan Sidhu fired out 75k. Small blind Garry Sandhu folded, but big blind Jenna Murray flatted to the 6♥ turn where both players checked.
Murray led out for 180k on the 8♣ river, and Sidhu tanked for a few seconds before sliding out the call. His pocket tens were good against K♠7♠.
They are down to 6 left in the Main Event now, and all remaining players are guaranteed a six-figure payout. Jimmy Lee was the most recent casualty from the final table, though I missed the action while I was out of the room for a minute.
They are down to seven after Tom T hit the rail for 8th place. I missed the action while writing another hand and Tom prefers that his full name and picture not be used during poker coverage.
Garry Sandhu opened to 45k from the hijack before Jenna Murray three-bet the cutoff to 140k. Small blind Gordon Wong flatted the three-bet before Sandhu four-bet shoved for about 650k. Murray got out of the way quickly, but it took a bit more time for Wong to reach the same decision.
Jimmy Lee raised to 40k and Garry Sandhu called the button, as did Van Le from the big blind. Le shoved the 10♦3♣5♥ flop for his remaining 85k.
Lee mucked his hand, but Sandhu snapped it off and was dominating with jack-ten into ten-nine for Le. The deuce-six runout bricked for Le, and he was out in 9th place for $6,290.
Matthew Ouellette had a decent run the last time he only looked at one card. In his final hand, it didn’t work out quite so well. Tyler St Clair raised the cutoff to 40k, then tank-called when Ouellette shoved for 185k.
The last time he only looked at one ace, he found a second one, but this time, his kicker was a suited three. St Clair was on queen-ten of hearts, and he spiked his queen on the flop and held to send Ouellette out in 11th place.
Matthew Ouelette raised the button to 50k, leaving just a single 5k chip behind. Kyle Stronski raised the big blind and Ouellette called.
“I only looked at one,” he said, revealing an ace, but his second card was also an ace. Stronski had [invalid notations]Kc6d[/pcn and the aces held to keep Ouellette in the game.
I arrived at the table with the board reading 6♥4♥7♦6♠. Van Le had a 200k bet in front of him from the big blind, but was facing a covering shove from Jimmy Lee in early position with a pot of around 400k already in the middle. Le had around 300k behind and elected to muck his hand to play another rouond.
The $3,605 payout level is now complete after Iona Bliss busted shortly after the break. Brett Worton followed her to the rail shortly after for the first payout of $4,150, and they are now on the final table bubble.
Kyle Stronski is now in the lead with more than 1.4 million, but Gordon Wong and Jenna Murray also have more than a million in play. More than a third of the chips in play are on Table 3 between Stronski, Wong, and Murray.
There was just a huge hand on table 3 with no cards shown. I arrived late to the action but it looked like Varan Sidhu raised the button, Kyle Stronski three-bet the small blind, Sidhu four-bet to 220k, and then faced a covering shove from Stronski. Sidhu eventually gave up his hand to send the big preflop pot to Stonski.
Meanwhile, Ambrose Ng hit the rail for 14th place today just as the break started.
Tyler St Clair raised to 30k early and action folded around to Jenna Murray in the small blind. She slid in a stack of reds for 100k, and after a few seconds St Clair folded his hand. St Clair is now playing just shy of 400k while Murray looks to be at about 1.15 million. I’ll grab full counts for the remaining players at the break in about 5 minutes.
Alemu Makonen raised the cutoff to 25k and Van Le called from the big blind. Le check-called for 20k on the 7♣6♥Q♥ flop and both players checked the 6♠ turn, and Le fired 65k ont eh 2♠ river, forcing a fold from Makonen.
The field is down to 14 now after a couple more quick eliminations. Gordon Wong is still leading with more than 1.4 million, but Jenna Murray has chipped up from less than 100k to start the day to more than 1.1 million now.
Three quick eliminations have brought the game down to 16 players left. There are about 40 minutes to play until the next break, and I’ll grab another round of counts then.
Alemu Makonen raised to 25k under the gun and Garry Sandhu called from his left, as did both players in the blinds. The flop was 10♠2♦A♥ and it checked to Makonen who bet 20k.
Sandhu called, Tom T folded the small blind, and big blind Jimmy Lee called, All three remaining players checked the [invalid notations] turn, and when Lee fired 50k on the 5♣ river, Makonen and Sandhu both sent their hands to the muck.
Hand 1: Van Le opened his button to 21k and took the blinds and antes.
Hand 2: Shawn Taghavi opened his button to 25k and took the blinds and antes.
Hand 3: Taran Parmar opened his button to 22k and took the blinds and antes.
Hand 4: Shawn Taghavi opened the hijack to 25k, then shoved 332k when Varan Sidhu three-bet to 80k from the button. Sidhu called off with more for a con flip between his ace-king and pocket sevens for Taghavi. It looked like the sevens might hold until a king hit the river to send Taghavi home in 20th today.
Hand 5: Big blind Van Le got a walk.
Hand 6: Kyle Stronski raised his button to 20k and took the blinds and antes.
Brett Worton raised the button to 22k and Matthew Ouellette called from the big blind. When the monochrome Q♠2♠5♠ flop hit, Ouellette check-raised from 16k to 53k, leaving just 40k behind. Worton tanked for a bit before mucking his hand.
Meanwhile, Andy Truong hit the rail to bring the Day 2 field down to 20 left. Full prizes are listed under the Payouts tab.
Gordon Wong is still the big leader today and is the only player who has capped 1 million chips so far. Below is a look at how they are seated right now, with stacks counted at the recent break.
Eric Wasylenko was the 2024 Player of the Year on the Pure Poker Tour. That was worth a $15k prize, intended to be used as a buy in to the biggest tournament of the year in Las Vegas.
The field is down to 24 remaining now with about 35 minutes to play in Level 17. There’s a break coming after this level and I’ll grabh a full round of counts then. Meanwhile, full prizes are listed under the payouts tab, with recent cashers below.
Varan Sidhu raised to 12k from the middle and Resul Dauti called from the button before Eric Wasylenko shoved his small blind for 131k. That was enough to push the other two off and he collected blinds and antes plus 24k.
The field is down to 35 entries almost immediately on Day 2. Cameron Stewart was the first player to hit the cage for 37th place while Thomas Taylor ended his day in 36th just as they were breaking Table 1.
Both flights to the Main Event have now landed with 37 players arriving for Day 2 on Sunday at noon. Day 1a bagged 13 players, with 24 advancing from 1b.
Gordon Wong rode the Day 1b big stack for most of the night, finishing with 867k, more than 300k more than Day 1a leader Brett Worton with 550k. Van Le, Yulin Wu, and Garry Sandhu round out the top 5 with stacks in the 400s. Full stacks with seat assignments will be posted below.
Day 2 action gets going at noon, with players asked to be in the room by 11:45 so play can start on time. Blinds will start with a bit more than 15 minutes left in Level 15 (2.5k/5k/5k), and Level 16 will be 60 minutes long. The game should finish easily on Sunday, but there’s always the chance of a Monday finish if things go insanely late.
This will be my main focus for the day and I should be on the floor for the opening hands.
The bags are all in and accounted for, and Gordon Wong will start Day 2 with mountains of chips. He has 865k, more than 300k more than 1a leader Brett Worton, so Wong will start as the clear favourite on Sunday. Van Le and Yulin Wu were 2nd and 3rd in the 400s, with Alemu Makonen and Tom T rounding out the 1b top 5 with stacks in the high 300s.
On table 1, Mike Malm opened the cutoff to 17k and Cody McKay called from the button. McKay called 12k on the 2♥6♣8♠ flop, but when Malm checked the 10♣ turn, McKay shoved a covering stack. Malm tanked for a bit before folding.
Over on Table 4, Tom T raised early, then called off when Nadav Bitton shoved his bubble for the effective stack. Bitton was in solid shape with ace-king over king-queen, and the ace-king held with a king on the flop and nothing else.
In the next hand, Paul Brar (Edm) ended up bubbling Day 2. Stay tuned for the end-of-day stacks coming shortly.
Resul Dauti opened early to 19k and Aaron Quon called from the big blind. Quon led for 10k on the 10♠7♣5♦ flop, then snap-called with Dauti shoved the bigger stack. Quon hit the ten with jack-ten against pocket eights, and he rivered a jack for good measure.
Day 1b is on the bubble now with the clock paused at 26:41 remaining in Level 16. They need to eliminate one more player before the end of the night. PLO winner Luteng Li was the player who soft bubbled tonight’s flight.
They are down to 27 players left now on the final three tables. That leaves them three eliminations away from the end of Day 1b. Yan Coderre was the player who bubbled the final 27.
The field is down to 29 players left now, just five off the end of the night. Benny Sarnelli was one of the short stacks with about ~12k in front of him, but he just hit the rail in 30th. Ryan Smith and both Paul Brars (Calgary & Edmonton) are also at risk with less than 10 bigs right now. Cameron Stewart has just over 10 bigs and just got a shove through with pocket aces.
They are down to 32 left and Gordon Wong is the new chip leader with 605k in front of him. Most of the other stacks look pretty even, and it didn’t look like there was anything else bigger than ~300k, but I’ll grab more exact counts if they make it to the break.
They are now down to 32 remaining, so the bags will come out after 8 more eliminations, and while the average stack is still more than 35 bigs, there are some short ones out there who may need to get it in quickly.
It’s unclear how quickly tonight’s flight will play down. The play from 45-40 was quite slow, and it looked like the night would drag on. Then, as I was writing a post about a potentially long night, the field went from 40 to 35 in just a couple of minutes, putting them just 11 off the bags.
Last night, Michael “Berny” Bernstein coined the phrase “you have what you have.” Tonight, I’m modifying that to “It’s gonna end when it ends.”
There are still 39 players left in the final flight to the Main, so it’s looking increasingly like today will play later than Day 1a. There are just over 10 minutes left in Level 14, and they still need to get rid of 15 more players before the bags come out. The average stack is still well over 35 big blinds as well, so it will likely be late in Level 16 before they finish.
Nadav Bitton opened to 6k from the middle before Andy Truong three-bet the cutoff to 21k. Tyler St. Clair was in the small blind and he shoved for 133k.
Bitton folded quickly, but Truong asked for a count. “I have a real hand,” he said. “I’m just not sure if you you are doing this cause you think I’m light or not.”
“Do you think I’d do this just because I think you are light?” St. Clair responded.
“100%,” replied Truong before mucking his hand a few seconds later.
I had a look around on the break following Level 12, and it looks like Nadav Bitton is the chip leader right now. He has 365k in front of him, but Gordon Wong and Resul Dauti also have more than 300k in front of them, while Yulin Wu is playing 265k.
I did the math wrong on the end of the night — today will play until there are 24 players left, not 25 as previously reported. There are 46 players left, so they are 22 off the bags.
The field is down to 49 left, 24 away from the end of the night. There are just over 5 minutes left in Level 12 and they’ll head out for another break following this level. It’s still unclear how late tonight will go, but at the current pace, it looks like they might play into Level 16 before the bags come out.
The prizes are in and the total field is confirmed at 293 entries for prizes of $275,567. A total of 37 players will make Day 2, with everyone guaranteed to make $1,815 and the winner set to pocket more than $58k. Six players on the final table will earn five-figure scores. See the payouts tab for a look at the full prizes.
The 1b field is field is down to 63 players left. and they’ve just broken down to the final 7 tables. They’ll only play down as far as three tables tonight, with the bags coming out at 25 players.
Entries are now closed for the Main Event with a final total of 293 entries and prizes of more than $275k. The numbers are still unofficial, but if it holds at 193 for Day 1b, that will mean 25 players finding a bag at the end of the night.
The opening flight ended with about 15 minutes to play in Level 15, but it remains to be seen if 1b will go longer or not.
The players are now on their dinner break and it looks like Gordon Wong is the chip leader right now. He’s playing a bit more than 250k with the next biggest stack I saw at 155k in front of Van Le. Curtis Singleton also has a decent stack of 123k.
The combined prizes are now over $265k with 182 entries on the board. There are about 5 minutes left to play until the dinner break, and I’ll have a look around during dinner for some big stacks to report on.
Entries for the Main Event will be closed in less than an hour when they return from dinner.
There are about 20 minutes left in Level 9 which puts the end of entries just over an hour away. The 1b field is now at 177 for a combined total of 277 and prizes of more than $260k. While I expect the pace of entry to slow, I’d still expect that the final number for 1b will be 180 or more, though getting as high as 190 seems a bit optimistic at this stage.
The two-day prize pool is now over $250k with 167 entries on the board for 1b. There are still more than 90 minutes left to enter the game as well, so it seems likely today’s field could flirt with 180 or more by the time it closes.
The combined field is now up to 257 entries for total prizes of almost $242k. They only need nine more entries in the next 2 hours to push the prize pool over $250k, so that looks like a decent bet.
The 1b field is one entry shy of 150, for a combined two-day total of 249. There are a bit more than 2.5 hours left to enter this final flight, with the desk set to shut down at about 7:15 when they sit down for Level 10.
It’s looking like the field could hit 160 or more by the time entries close. If they can make it to 166 for today’s flight, the total prizes will be $250k.
The combined prizes are now over $225k with 240 entries across both starting days. 150 entries looks like a lock for today, with more than 3 hours left to enter, and the final numbers could push towards 160 or more.
The 1b field is now up to 132 with about 10 minutes to play in Level 5. That puts the two-day total at 232 entries for total prizes of more than $218k. There are still about 3 hours and 45 minutes left to get into this final flight to the Main Event.
The prizes are now pushing toward $200k with 109 entries on the board for 1b so far. That puts 209 entries in the pool combined for total prizes of $196k and climbing. Entries are still open for more than 4.5 hours.
Recent players I spotted in the field include George Broumas, Shane Brotherwood, Alex Liu, Ryan Comely, Ryan Smith, Johnny Dalphond, Xinrui Cui, Alexander Richmond, and Tyler St. Clair.
Within seconds of the start of Level 2, the Day 1b field is already more than the final total for 1a. There are now 102 entries for 1b, for combined prizes of almost $190k and just under 5 hours to enter.
Josh Myers, Jay Tran, Tony Comely, Mike Malm, Pav Braich, Jason Heang, and Bash Ramahi are among the more recent entries today.
There are 98 entries on the board as Level 4 begins, which is just 2 entries shy of the final total for Day 1a. That bodes well for a big field here on 1b, with a very reasonable shot at 150 or more for today alone. If it hits 150 today, that would put the prizes at $235k for a likely first-place prize of ~$50k on Sunday.
There are still about 20 minutes to play in Level 3 and the 1b field is already just 17 entries away from the Day 1a total. There are 83 entries on the board now for nearly $80k in prizes today, and a combined total of more than $172k.
A few more recent entries to the game include Joe Herlein, John Donnelly, Paul Brar (Calgary), Eric Wasylenko, and Brian Wells.
The combined prizes are now over $160k with more than 10 minutes to play in Level 2. There are still just over 6 hours left to enter this final flight to the Main.
Among the players I spotted but haven’t mentioned yet are DJ Sharma, who won his first PPT trophy this week, Ron Lauzon, Keith Sarnoski, Doug Lee, Lynne Stephenson, Michael St Pierre-Porter, and Ed Zurawell.
They are up to 66 entries on the board with about 25 minutes to play in Level 2. I’ve just had another look around the room for a few more familiar faces — Sheraz Nasir, Gaetano Buda, Ian ALvarado, Kim Graham, Hassan Issa, Andy Truong, Holly Berry, Shane Chief, Benny Sarnelli, Nick MIlkovich, Julius Roque, Nadav Bitton, Keith Schultz, Johnny Yu, Sean Sztyler, Chris Klementis, and Scott Johnson are all among the players in action for 1b.
Level 2 is just about to begin with 60 entries on the board already. That puts the combined prizes at more than $150k, and among the players I’ve spotted in the field are Ron Giles, Russ Sluchinski, Kim Pham, Darrell Moore, and Jerry Tria.
The 1b field is starting off well with more than 50 entries on the board during Level 1. The prizes are nearing $150k already with nearly 7 hours to enter. Among the people in the game today are David Ko, in for his first event this series, as well as Rob Limpert, Haven Taylor, Curtis Singleton, and Larry Quon.
Day 1a of the Main Event is now complete with exactly 100 entries recorded. That put a bit more than $94k into the prize pool and meant 13 players would move on to Day 2.
With 17 minutes to play in Level 15, it was Sakine Ousmane who was the unfortunate bubble. He shoved a short stack from the button with a suited king, but big blind Andrew Goertz woke up with a pair of sixes and snap-called. The sixes held and the bags were set.
Brett Worton Bagged biggest with more than 500k, while Garry Sandhu is more than 100k behind in 2nd. Worton got a lot of his chips in a brutal cooler against Taran Parmar that initially looked like it would send Worton home before the bubble. After 5-bet action pre that saw all the money in, Worton had aces against kings for Parmar. A king in the window made Worton exclaim, “You’ve got to be kidding.” But the ace of spades hit the river to reflip it back to the aces and give Worton a double up, and leave Parmar bagging about 100k.
Day 1b is the final chance for players to join the 13 from 1a for Sunday’s final day and the big prizes. The 1b action gets going at noon and there are 9 levels of entry. Including the breaks, that should put the last chance to buy in at ~7:15 PM.
There is no hard stop for the Day 1 flights — they play down to 12.5% regardless of how long it takes. Day 1a finished relatively early, with barely half of Level 15 complete, but with a larger field expected on 1b, it may play later. Day 2 blinds will begin at whatever the earliest finish was, so the largest possible blinds for Day 2 right now are 2.5k/5k/5k, but if 1b finishes earlier, Day 2 might start smaller
I should be on the floor pretty close to the start of the day.
Brett Worton bagged the chip lead at the end of Day 1a, in large part thanks to a huge late-day cooler against Taran Parmar. Parmar had kings into aces for Worton, and while Parmar spiked a king on the flop and looked to be sending Worton home on the bubble, the ace of spades hit the river to double Worton up to the lead. Garry Sandhu bagged the second stack tonight, with Jimmy Lee, Varan Sidhu (who was runner-up in the PLO last night), and Matt Ouellette rounding out the top five counts.
The bags are out and the final 13 players are getting set for Day 2. Sakine Ousmane shoved his button with a suited king, but Andrew Goertz woke up with a pair of sixes in the big blind and called. The sixes held and Ousmane was out in 14th place.
All the money was in before the flop when Brett Worton raised the hijack to 10k, Taran Parmar made it 30.5k to go from the button, Worton came back over top with a four bet, Parmar 5-bet shoved and Worton called with less (275k).
Worton was on aces against the kings for Parmar. Parmar hit a king on the flop, but Worton found his ace on the river of the K♥Q♣10♣6♥A♠ board.
The clock is paused with 14 players left, and the bags will come out after the next elimination. They;ll take 2 minutes off the clock manually for each hand played now until they end the night.
Two quick eliminations after they set the final two tables has brought the field down to 16. Tyler Panas and Haven Taylor busted just off the bags, and three more players will go home before the night ends.
When I first arrived at the table, Varan Sidhu was in the tank. He had 8k out in front of him from the cutoff, but was facing a shove for 48k from big blind Francis Fan. He was in the tank for several minutes before folding. “I’ll ask Berny later what I should have done.”
“You had what you had,” Michael Bernstein replied, to a general laugh from the table.
Two hands later, Ali Razzaq raised early to 8k and Matthew Ouellette called from the big blind. Ouellette check-called for 8k on the J♦9♣J♣ flop, but then switched it up and led for 15.5k on the K♣ turn. Razzaq tanked for a few seconds before mucking his hand.
“Pick one,” Ouellette said.
“Nice hand,” replied Razzaq. “You had what you had.” That got another solid laugh from the table.
In the final hand of Level 13, Ian Alvarado opened to 8k from the middle, and Haven Taylor called from the cutoff before Brett Worton called from the big blind. Worton checked the 5♣7♦3♦ flop and Alvarado continued for 10k. Taylor called, but Worton came back over the top to 40k.
Alvarado hit the tank for a minute or so, seemingly unsure what to do. He finally mucked his hand, but didn’t seem very happy about it. Taylor mucked behind more quickly.
There are 23 players left in Day 1a now after Ambrose Ng and Eric Wasylenko ended their days recently. That puts the field 10 eliminations off the end of the night.
Francis Fan raised to 7k under the gun, and Varan Sidhu called from the button, as did Andrew Goertz from the small blind. Goertz checked the 10♠K♠9♠ flop and Fan shoved for 65k, pushing both Sidhu and Goertz off their hands.
They are down to 26 left now, just 13 players off the end of Day 1a.
They are down to the final three tables on Day 1a with 27 players left. That means the day will end after 14 more eliminations.
There are about 20 minutes to play in Level 12 with another break following this level. I’ll grab some chip counts while they are away from the tables.
They are down to 29 left in Day 1a of the Main Event now with Level 12 just underway. With 13 bags at the end of the night, that puts the game 16 players away from the end of the night.
in one of the final hands of Level 11, Michael “Berny” Bernstein raised to 4k early, and it folded around to Shawn Taghavi in the big blind. He called, then check-called 2k on the K♦K♠K♣ flop. He check-called for 6k on the 6♣ turn, and they both checked the 2♣ river.
Taghavi showed pocket tens for the flopped full house, and Berny mucked his hand.
Tyler Panas was all in and behind for his final 7.5k a few minutes ago. He flopped a straight and rivered a bigger one to grab a double, and he’s now just grabbed another one.
He opened to 5.5k under the gun, and Yulin Wu called to seats to his left, as did Garry Sandhu from the big blind. Sandhu check-folded to a bet of 7k on the Q♦7♠Q♠ flop, but Wu stuck around to see the K♣ turn. Panas fired 3.5k and Wu called to the 5♠ river.
Panas shoved for 11k and Wu made the call, mucking when Panas showed A♠J♠ for the nut flush on the river.
Brett Worton bagged the chip lead at the end of Day 1a, in large part thanks to a huge late-day cooler against Taran Parmar. Parmar had kings into aces for Worton, and while Parmar spiked a king on the flop and looked to be sending Worton home on the bubble, the ace of spades hit the river to double Worton up to the lead. Garry Sandhu bagged the second stack tonight, with Jimmy Lee, Varan Sidhu (who was runner-up in the PLO last night), and Matt Ouellette rounding out the top five counts.
The bags are out and the final 13 players are getting set for Day 2. Sakine Ousmane shoved his button with a suited king, but Andrew Goertz woke up with a pair of sixes in the big blind and called. The sixes held and Ousmane was out in 14th place.
All the money was in before the flop when Brett Worton raised the hijack to 10k, Taran Parmar made it 30.5k to go from the button, Worton came back over top with a four bet, Parmar 5-bet shoved and Worton called with less (275k).
Worton was on aces against the kings for Parmar. Parmar hit a king on the flop, but Worton found his ace on the river of the K♥Q♣10♣6♥A♠ board.
The clock is paused with 14 players left, and the bags will come out after the next elimination. They;ll take 2 minutes off the clock manually for each hand played now until they end the night.
Two quick eliminations after they set the final two tables has brought the field down to 16. Tyler Panas and Haven Taylor busted just off the bags, and three more players will go home before the night ends.
When I first arrived at the table, Varan Sidhu was in the tank. He had 8k out in front of him from the cutoff, but was facing a shove for 48k from big blind Francis Fan. He was in the tank for several minutes before folding. “I’ll ask Berny later what I should have done.”
“You had what you had,” Michael Bernstein replied, to a general laugh from the table.
Two hands later, Ali Razzaq raised early to 8k and Matthew Ouellette called from the big blind. Ouellette check-called for 8k on the J♦9♣J♣ flop, but then switched it up and led for 15.5k on the K♣ turn. Razzaq tanked for a few seconds before mucking his hand.
“Pick one,” Ouellette said.
“Nice hand,” replied Razzaq. “You had what you had.” That got another solid laugh from the table.
In the final hand of Level 13, Ian Alvarado opened to 8k from the middle, and Haven Taylor called from the cutoff before Brett Worton called from the big blind. Worton checked the 5♣7♦3♦ flop and Alvarado continued for 10k. Taylor called, but Worton came back over the top to 40k.
Alvarado hit the tank for a minute or so, seemingly unsure what to do. He finally mucked his hand, but didn’t seem very happy about it. Taylor mucked behind more quickly.
There are 23 players left in Day 1a now after Ambrose Ng and Eric Wasylenko ended their days recently. That puts the field 10 eliminations off the end of the night.
Francis Fan raised to 7k under the gun, and Varan Sidhu called from the button, as did Andrew Goertz from the small blind. Goertz checked the 10♠K♠9♠ flop and Fan shoved for 65k, pushing both Sidhu and Goertz off their hands.
They are down to 26 left now, just 13 players off the end of Day 1a.
They are down to the final three tables on Day 1a with 27 players left. That means the day will end after 14 more eliminations.
There are about 20 minutes to play in Level 12 with another break following this level. I’ll grab some chip counts while they are away from the tables.
They are down to 29 left in Day 1a of the Main Event now with Level 12 just underway. With 13 bags at the end of the night, that puts the game 16 players away from the end of the night.
in one of the final hands of Level 11, Michael “Berny” Bernstein raised to 4k early, and it folded around to Shawn Taghavi in the big blind. He called, then check-called 2k on the K♦K♠K♣ flop. He check-called for 6k on the 6♣ turn, and they both checked the 2♣ river.
Taghavi showed pocket tens for the flopped full house, and Berny mucked his hand.
Tyler Panas was all in and behind for his final 7.5k a few minutes ago. He flopped a straight and rivered a bigger one to grab a double, and he’s now just grabbed another one.
He opened to 5.5k under the gun, and Yulin Wu called to seats to his left, as did Garry Sandhu from the big blind. Sandhu check-folded to a bet of 7k on the Q♦7♠Q♠ flop, but Wu stuck around to see the K♣ turn. Panas fired 3.5k and Wu called to the 5♠ river.
Panas shoved for 11k and Wu made the call, mucking when Panas showed A♠J♠ for the nut flush on the river.
Haven Taylor open-shoved from the hijack, and took the blinds and antes. The table break down to 4 has set up an interesting dynamic with Haven and her husband Thomas on the same table. Thomas is seated two seats to the left of his wife, and was one of the players to fold to her shove.
The field is down to 36 remaining now on the final four tables. The numbers are confirmed at 100 entries for 1a, so tonight will end when they play down to 13 players left.
In the final hand of the last level, Tyler Panas found a double to stay alive. He open-shoved for 7.5k from the hijack, and Ryan Smith raised that up to 15k to isolate from the cutoff.
Snith was ahead with A♥Q♣ against 8♣7♣ but Panas smashed the flop, then improved on the river of 10♣6♦9♣3♠J♦.
Haven Taylor raised to 4k under the gun, and it folded around to Alemu Makonen in the big blind. He called, and then they both checked it down through the [invalid notations] as Makonen mucked his hand.
Ambrose Ng raised to 4k early from a short stack. The action folded around to Ian Alvarado in the big blind and he asked to see Ng’s stack before raising enough to force Ng all in to call. Ng spent a few seconds in the tank before electing to muck and play another hand.
Entries for Day 1a are now closed with 100 on the board. That puts just over $94k into the prizes from today’s action with another full Day 1 to run tomorrow. While the numbers are still unofficial, if it holds at 100, it will mean 13 players bagging chips later tonight.
The prize pool is now over $90k with 97 entries on the board. There are 10 minutes to play until the dinner break, and I’ll have a look around for some big stacks while the players are away from the tables.
Level 9 has just begun, and this is the final level of poker to buy into Day 1a. Entries will remain open during the dinner break that follows this level, with the desk closing at the start of Level 10.
There are now 92 entries on the board, so 100 is still within sight with about an hour and 20 minutes left for 1a registration.
The players are now back in their seats for Level 7. The field is up to 84 entries now, and I still expect a reasonable number of reentries before dinner, for a likely final field of 90-100. 100 seems like it might be a bit optimistic at this point, but if they get there, it will mean 1a prizes of just over $94k. 90 entries on 1a would put just shy of $85k into the pool. With 2.5 hours to go in entries, it’s still up in the air, but a final 1a prize pool of $85-$90k seems like a good bet right now.
The field is just a couple of entries shy of $80k in prizes at the end of Level 6. The field is now at 83 entries with 54 players still active at the felt.
Level 7 will be underway in about 10 minutes, and there are three more levels of poker before entries close. Players will still be able to buy in through the dinner break following Level 9, but once they sit down for Level 10, Day 1a will be closed.
There is one more satellite shot to the Main Event happening later today. Action starts at 7:30 PM and will likely be in the Pearl alongside Day 1a.
E8 Winner DJ SharmaEvent #8: $230 NLH Winner DJ Sharma
DJ Sharma picked up his very first PPT trophy this week after taking down Event #8 with textbook “Sharma Time” poker. While he’s far less interested in the prize pools than most players who sit at a poker table (he’s done just fine for himself in his business life, and even winning the Vegas Main Event likely wouldn’t be an appreciable impact on his net worth), he still competes at the tables with a ferocity and passion that is rarely seen.
He’s in the game for challenge and to win, and booking his first win that included a trophy, tangible proof of the win that he can show off on his bar at home, was a major box ticked. That said, he’s here now in the Main Event today looking for a friend to sit alongside his E8 trophy.
The Day 1a prizes are already over $65k with Level 5 about to begin. There are still about 4 hours and 20 minutes left to enter today’s flight, so it looks like a field of ~100 isn’t out of the question.
After another trip around the room, there are a bunch more familiar faces I spotted including Taran Parmar, Andy Truong, Alex Liu, Tony Comely, Michael “Berny” Bernstein, Tony Ma, Ed Zurawell, Shawn Taghavi, Jimmy Lee, Jenna Murray, and Ian Alvarado.
They are a couple of entries away from $60k in prizes with about 30 minutes to go in Level 4. Among the players I’ve spotted in the field today is the winner of the PLO from yesterday, Luteng Li. Li’s story is pretty interesting — yesterday’s PLO was the very first tournament he’s ever played on the Pure Poker Tour, and he scored a trophy in it.
The field is now over $50k with 55 entries on the board during the break following Level 3. Players will be back in action shortly for Level 4 with about 5 hours left to get into 1a.
The prizes are now over $40k with 43 entries on the board and 25 minutes to play in Level 3. I’ve just had a closer look at the field, and in addition to the names mentioned in my opening post, I spotted Tyler Panas, Kim Graham, Ali Razzaq, Alemu Makonen, Yan Coderre, Rob Lothian, Rob Limpert, Josh Myers, Larry Quon, Keith Sarnoski, John Donnelly, Haven Taylor, Julius Roque, Brett Worton, Johnny Dalphond, and Ryan Comely.
Level 3 has just begun with 37 entries on the board so far. That puts the prizes at $34,799 after two levels of play, and I’m expecting at least twice this number by the time entries close around 8 PM tonight.
I’ve just arrived at the casino after a bit of a late night last night, but on first glance I’ve spotted Thomas Taylor, Curtis Singleton, Keith Schults, Ryan Smith, and Gaetano Buda among the players in their seats early today.
While the High Roller caps it in price, the Main Event remains the jewel in the crown for PPT players. It’s almost certain to have the biggest prize pool of the series with the biggest score up top, though the HR will likely rival those numbers.
Players have two shots to bag a stack for the money round of the Main Event. Day 1a runs on May 23, with Day 1b on May 24. Both flights start at noon and play until 12.5% of the field remains. Entries are open for about 7.25 hours during Day 1 play, with the desk closing after the dinner break following Level 9 (~7:15 PM).
Day 1 blinds are 40 minutes long, jumping to 60 minutes on Day 2 (heads up drops to 30 minutes). Players can play both Day 1 flights and, in the event of two bags for the same player, they’ll play the biggest one on Sunday.
The bags are all in and accounted for, and Gordon Wong will start Day 2 with mountains of chips. He has 865k, more than 300k more than 1a leader Brett Worton, so Wong will start as the clear favourite on Sunday. Van Le and Yulin Wu were 2nd and 3rd in the 400s, with Alemu Makonen and Tom T rounding out the 1b top 5 with stacks in the high 300s.
On table 1, Mike Malm opened the cutoff to 17k and Cody McKay called from the button. McKay called 12k on the 2♥6♣8♠ flop, but when Malm checked the 10♣ turn, McKay shoved a covering stack. Malm tanked for a bit before folding.
Over on Table 4, Tom T raised early, then called off when Nadav Bitton shoved his bubble for the effective stack. Bitton was in solid shape with ace-king over king-queen, and the ace-king held with a king on the flop and nothing else.
In the next hand, Paul Brar (Edm) ended up bubbling Day 2. Stay tuned for the end-of-day stacks coming shortly.
Resul Dauti opened early to 19k and Aaron Quon called from the big blind. Quon led for 10k on the 10♠7♣5♦ flop, then snap-called with Dauti shoved the bigger stack. Quon hit the ten with jack-ten against pocket eights, and he rivered a jack for good measure.
Day 1b is on the bubble now with the clock paused at 26:41 remaining in Level 16. They need to eliminate one more player before the end of the night. PLO winner Luteng Li was the player who soft bubbled tonight’s flight.
They are down to 27 players left now on the final three tables. That leaves them three eliminations away from the end of Day 1b. Yan Coderre was the player who bubbled the final 27.
The field is down to 29 players left now, just five off the end of the night. Benny Sarnelli was one of the short stacks with about ~12k in front of him, but he just hit the rail in 30th. Ryan Smith and both Paul Brars (Calgary & Edmonton) are also at risk with less than 10 bigs right now. Cameron Stewart has just over 10 bigs and just got a shove through with pocket aces.
They are down to 32 left and Gordon Wong is the new chip leader with 605k in front of him. Most of the other stacks look pretty even, and it didn’t look like there was anything else bigger than ~300k, but I’ll grab more exact counts if they make it to the break.
They are now down to 32 remaining, so the bags will come out after 8 more eliminations, and while the average stack is still more than 35 bigs, there are some short ones out there who may need to get it in quickly.
It’s unclear how quickly tonight’s flight will play down. The play from 45-40 was quite slow, and it looked like the night would drag on. Then, as I was writing a post about a potentially long night, the field went from 40 to 35 in just a couple of minutes, putting them just 11 off the bags.
Last night, Michael “Berny” Bernstein coined the phrase “you have what you have.” Tonight, I’m modifying that to “It’s gonna end when it ends.”
There are still 39 players left in the final flight to the Main, so it’s looking increasingly like today will play later than Day 1a. There are just over 10 minutes left in Level 14, and they still need to get rid of 15 more players before the bags come out. The average stack is still well over 35 big blinds as well, so it will likely be late in Level 16 before they finish.
Nadav Bitton opened to 6k from the middle before Andy Truong three-bet the cutoff to 21k. Tyler St. Clair was in the small blind and he shoved for 133k.
Bitton folded quickly, but Truong asked for a count. “I have a real hand,” he said. “I’m just not sure if you you are doing this cause you think I’m light or not.”
“Do you think I’d do this just because I think you are light?” St. Clair responded.
“100%,” replied Truong before mucking his hand a few seconds later.
I had a look around on the break following Level 12, and it looks like Nadav Bitton is the chip leader right now. He has 365k in front of him, but Gordon Wong and Resul Dauti also have more than 300k in front of them, while Yulin Wu is playing 265k.
I did the math wrong on the end of the night — today will play until there are 24 players left, not 25 as previously reported. There are 46 players left, so they are 22 off the bags.
The field is down to 49 left, 24 away from the end of the night. There are just over 5 minutes left in Level 12 and they’ll head out for another break following this level. It’s still unclear how late tonight will go, but at the current pace, it looks like they might play into Level 16 before the bags come out.
The prizes are in and the total field is confirmed at 293 entries for prizes of $275,567. A total of 37 players will make Day 2, with everyone guaranteed to make $1,815 and the winner set to pocket more than $58k. Six players on the final table will earn five-figure scores. See the payouts tab for a look at the full prizes.
The 1b field is field is down to 63 players left. and they’ve just broken down to the final 7 tables. They’ll only play down as far as three tables tonight, with the bags coming out at 25 players.
Entries are now closed for the Main Event with a final total of 293 entries and prizes of more than $275k. The numbers are still unofficial, but if it holds at 193 for Day 1b, that will mean 25 players finding a bag at the end of the night.
The opening flight ended with about 15 minutes to play in Level 15, but it remains to be seen if 1b will go longer or not.
The players are now on their dinner break and it looks like Gordon Wong is the chip leader right now. He’s playing a bit more than 250k with the next biggest stack I saw at 155k in front of Van Le. Curtis Singleton also has a decent stack of 123k.
The combined prizes are now over $265k with 182 entries on the board. There are about 5 minutes left to play until the dinner break, and I’ll have a look around during dinner for some big stacks to report on.
Entries for the Main Event will be closed in less than an hour when they return from dinner.
There are about 20 minutes left in Level 9 which puts the end of entries just over an hour away. The 1b field is now at 177 for a combined total of 277 and prizes of more than $260k. While I expect the pace of entry to slow, I’d still expect that the final number for 1b will be 180 or more, though getting as high as 190 seems a bit optimistic at this stage.
The two-day prize pool is now over $250k with 167 entries on the board for 1b. There are still more than 90 minutes left to enter the game as well, so it seems likely today’s field could flirt with 180 or more by the time it closes.
The combined field is now up to 257 entries for total prizes of almost $242k. They only need nine more entries in the next 2 hours to push the prize pool over $250k, so that looks like a decent bet.
The 1b field is one entry shy of 150, for a combined two-day total of 249. There are a bit more than 2.5 hours left to enter this final flight, with the desk set to shut down at about 7:15 when they sit down for Level 10.
It’s looking like the field could hit 160 or more by the time entries close. If they can make it to 166 for today’s flight, the total prizes will be $250k.
The combined prizes are now over $225k with 240 entries across both starting days. 150 entries looks like a lock for today, with more than 3 hours left to enter, and the final numbers could push towards 160 or more.
The 1b field is now up to 132 with about 10 minutes to play in Level 5. That puts the two-day total at 232 entries for total prizes of more than $218k. There are still about 3 hours and 45 minutes left to get into this final flight to the Main Event.
The prizes are now pushing toward $200k with 109 entries on the board for 1b so far. That puts 209 entries in the pool combined for total prizes of $196k and climbing. Entries are still open for more than 4.5 hours.
Recent players I spotted in the field include George Broumas, Shane Brotherwood, Alex Liu, Ryan Comely, Ryan Smith, Johnny Dalphond, Xinrui Cui, Alexander Richmond, and Tyler St. Clair.
Within seconds of the start of Level 2, the Day 1b field is already more than the final total for 1a. There are now 102 entries for 1b, for combined prizes of almost $190k and just under 5 hours to enter.
Josh Myers, Jay Tran, Tony Comely, Mike Malm, Pav Braich, Jason Heang, and Bash Ramahi are among the more recent entries today.
There are 98 entries on the board as Level 4 begins, which is just 2 entries shy of the final total for Day 1a. That bodes well for a big field here on 1b, with a very reasonable shot at 150 or more for today alone. If it hits 150 today, that would put the prizes at $235k for a likely first-place prize of ~$50k on Sunday.
There are still about 20 minutes to play in Level 3 and the 1b field is already just 17 entries away from the Day 1a total. There are 83 entries on the board now for nearly $80k in prizes today, and a combined total of more than $172k.
A few more recent entries to the game include Joe Herlein, John Donnelly, Paul Brar (Calgary), Eric Wasylenko, and Brian Wells.
The combined prizes are now over $160k with more than 10 minutes to play in Level 2. There are still just over 6 hours left to enter this final flight to the Main.
Among the players I spotted but haven’t mentioned yet are DJ Sharma, who won his first PPT trophy this week, Ron Lauzon, Keith Sarnoski, Doug Lee, Lynne Stephenson, Michael St Pierre-Porter, and Ed Zurawell.
They are up to 66 entries on the board with about 25 minutes to play in Level 2. I’ve just had another look around the room for a few more familiar faces — Sheraz Nasir, Gaetano Buda, Ian ALvarado, Kim Graham, Hassan Issa, Andy Truong, Holly Berry, Shane Chief, Benny Sarnelli, Nick MIlkovich, Julius Roque, Nadav Bitton, Keith Schultz, Johnny Yu, Sean Sztyler, Chris Klementis, and Scott Johnson are all among the players in action for 1b.
Level 2 is just about to begin with 60 entries on the board already. That puts the combined prizes at more than $150k, and among the players I’ve spotted in the field are Ron Giles, Russ Sluchinski, Kim Pham, Darrell Moore, and Jerry Tria.
The 1b field is starting off well with more than 50 entries on the board during Level 1. The prizes are nearing $150k already with nearly 7 hours to enter. Among the people in the game today are David Ko, in for his first event this series, as well as Rob Limpert, Haven Taylor, Curtis Singleton, and Larry Quon.
Day 1a of the Main Event is now complete with exactly 100 entries recorded. That put a bit more than $94k into the prize pool and meant 13 players would move on to Day 2.
With 17 minutes to play in Level 15, it was Sakine Ousmane who was the unfortunate bubble. He shoved a short stack from the button with a suited king, but big blind Andrew Goertz woke up with a pair of sixes and snap-called. The sixes held and the bags were set.
Brett Worton Bagged biggest with more than 500k, while Garry Sandhu is more than 100k behind in 2nd. Worton got a lot of his chips in a brutal cooler against Taran Parmar that initially looked like it would send Worton home before the bubble. After 5-bet action pre that saw all the money in, Worton had aces against kings for Parmar. A king in the window made Worton exclaim, “You’ve got to be kidding.” But the ace of spades hit the river to reflip it back to the aces and give Worton a double up, and leave Parmar bagging about 100k.
Day 1b is the final chance for players to join the 13 from 1a for Sunday’s final day and the big prizes. The 1b action gets going at noon and there are 9 levels of entry. Including the breaks, that should put the last chance to buy in at ~7:15 PM.
There is no hard stop for the Day 1 flights — they play down to 12.5% regardless of how long it takes. Day 1a finished relatively early, with barely half of Level 15 complete, but with a larger field expected on 1b, it may play later. Day 2 blinds will begin at whatever the earliest finish was, so the largest possible blinds for Day 2 right now are 2.5k/5k/5k, but if 1b finishes earlier, Day 2 might start smaller
I should be on the floor pretty close to the start of the day.
This was Varan Sidhu’s first live win, and the prize money will likely be very nearly equal to his previous lifetime earnings. He came into Day 2 with just over 300k, but spun that up to the win. In one particularly big hand, he sent Garry Sandhu home in 3rd when he got flush over flush to take a massive lead into heads up.
It wasn’t an easy table. Runner-up Gordon Wong was the chip leader for Day 2, and played solid poker throughout both his Day 1 flight and the final day. The final table also included Kyle Stronski, Tyler St Clair, and Jimmy Lee, so Sidhu was up against some tough competition.
In the final hand, he found a great spot with a cooler on king-jack against queen-jack. Both players hit the jack and the kind played for the win.
Gordon Wong came into Day 2 with the biggest stack, and he held that for most of the day until play got short handed on the final table. He still managed to hold on for second place, worth $45k after a heads-up deal with winner Varan Sidhu.
It was a swingy game heads up, with Wong starting very short, but spinning it up to about 3.5 million, when they made the deal. That deal saw Sidhu guaranteed $47k to $45k for Wong with $7k to play for. In the final hand, Wong raised to 240k, then called it off when Sidhu shoved the big stack. It was a cooler, with Sidhu on a black king-jack against the dominated queen-jack for Wong. They both hit the jack, but the king played and Wong had to settle for second place.
It looked like the game might be over, and Varan Sidhu actually thought it was, but it turned into a chop pot instead. Gordon Wong raised to 240k, then tanked for a bit. Paul Brar, who was in Day 2 earlier today, and Wong were playing together on the Day 1 flight, and Wong mentioned Brar laddering up a bit from the nut low stack today. Brar responded he had just 5 bigs, and that prompted Wong to call, as he was debating pocket fives.
Sidhu had overs with [invalid notations] and when the board ran out Q♣Q♥A♠8♠8♣ he initially thought he won it until Wong noted it was two pair, ace-high for both of them and the pot was chopped.
The final two players have agreed to a deal that will see Varan Sidhu guaranteed $47k with Gordon Wong guaranteed $45k. They’ll play for the remainder, which is about $7k.
Varan Sidhu shoved his button and Gordon Wong called off with the small stack. Wong needed to hit with 7♣6♣ against 10♥8♠ but he found a six on the 6♦A♣2♣3♥7♠ runout and held for the double to about 1.5 million.
It wa sa huge cooler that sent Garry Sandhu to the rail in 3rd place tonight. He had just doubled up to second stack, but then, in the next hand, both he and Varam Sidhu turned clubs with Sidhu holding the bigger cards.
That sent Sandhu to the rail for 3rd and gave Sidhu a massive chip lead heads up against Gordon Wong.
It was a cooler that sent Jenna Murray out in 4th tonight. Varan Sidhu raised to 120k under the gun preflop and Murray called from the small blind.
She checked dark before the 2♣6♣Q♥ flop, then called when Sidhu bet 180k. She checked again on the 7♠ turn, then tanked for around a minute when Sidhu shoved a much bigger stack.
She eventually put in the call with top pair, second kicker, but her king-queen was in trouble to pocket kings for Sidhu. The 4♠ river was a brick and Murray was out in 4th place after a very solid run from one of the shortest stacks to start the day up to a $20k payday.
It was limped preflop between Gordon Wong and Varan Sidhu in the blinds. Wong check-called for 60k on the 8♥Q♦9♣ flop. He checked again on the 5♠ turn, but raised to 420k after Sidhu fired 150k.
Sidhu called to the 8♦ river, but quickly mucked when Wong shoved.
Garry Sandhu raised under thr gun to 150k, and Varan Sidhu called from the big blind. Sidhu check-raised the 3♦2♠5♣ flop from 100k to 250k, and Sandhu called to the 4♦ turn.
Both players checked to the 6♥ river, which put the deuce to six straight on the board. Sidhu fired big for 1 million, and Sandhu mucked his hand.
Varan Sidhu limped in under the gun, and Gordon Wong checked his option. Wong check-called for 60k on the A♠8♠4♠ flop and they both checked the Q♦ turn. Wong bet 120k on the 6♦ river, then called when Sidhu raised to 300k. Sidhu showed ace-six for the rivered two pair, and Wong mucked his hand.
It was limped preflop between Garry Sandhu and Jenna Murray. Sandhu fired 40k on the J♦5♥6♦ flop and Murray called to the 9♣ turn. Sandhu led for 100k, then called when Murray pumped it up to 300k.
They both checked the 9♥ river, and Murray showed eight-seven for the straight to take it down after Sandhu mucked.
It was all in before the flop when Varan Sidhu raised his button to 100k, Garry Sandhu three-bet the big blind to 420k, Sidhu shoved for 1.065 million and Sandhu snapped it off.
Sidhu was on pocket queens, with Sandhu looking for an ace or diamonds with A♦Q♦. The board ran 2♣K♣7♠8♥10♦ and the queens held. Sidhu is up to more than 2.3 million now, while Sandhu is down to about 1.5 million.
Kyle Stronski and Garry Sandhu limped to the Q♦3♣J♥ flop from the blinds. Stronski led out for 40k and Sandhu called to see K♥ on the turn.
Both players checked to the 2♣ river where Stronski check-called for 80k. Sandhu showed Q♣5♥ and Stronski mucked. The pot puts Sandhu at about 2.7 million now with Stronski on a bit more than a million.
Garry Sandhu raised the button to 60k, and Gordon Wong called from the big blind. Wong check-called for 50k on the 2♦A♣9♣ flop, and checked again on the K♣ turn.
Wong check-raised to 320k, then hit the tank for several minutes when Sandhu shoved for he remaining 1.39 million. Wong was on [pcm]AsQs[/pcn] for top pair, but Sandhu was on 8♣2♣ for the turned flush.
A few hands earlier, Wong raised into Sandhu’s big blind and Sandhu folded, saying he had eight-deuce. “If it was suited, I call,” he said after that hand. In this case, when he got it suited, he raised and found a huge double to the lead. Wong dropped down below 2 million while Sandhu is over 3 million now.
One of the players in the final five is a regular face around the Pure Casino properties, but less for her play at the tables, and more for her role as a server at Yellowhead’s sister casino, Pure Casino Edmonton. She bagged a short stack on Day 1a. but managed to spin that up on Day 2 from less than 100k to start the day into the final five.
Gordon Wong is still the big leader with more than 3 and a quarter million with the rest of the remaining field playing stacks between 1 and 2 million.
Varan Sidhu opened the cutoff to 50k and Jenna Murray called from the big blind. She check-called for 25k on the 6♥J♣7♥ flop, and again for 120k on the 9♥ turn.
She checked a third time when the river came K♣ and Sidhu bet 250k. Murray tanked for a bit but eventually elected to fold the river and send the pot to Sidhu. Sidhu is up to about 1.6 million with Murray on about 1.2 million now. I’ll grab another round of full counts at the upcoming break in about 20 minutes.
Kyle stronski raised to 55k from the cutoff and Jenna Murray and Tyler St Clair called from the blinds. After a check from Murray on the 2♠2♦2♣ flop, St Clair shoved for 180k. Stronski got out of the way, but Murray called with A♠10♠ against pocket fives for St Clair.
Murray bricked the Q♥8♥ runout, sending the double to St Clair.
The flop was already out showing 6♦3♣9♠ and after checks from the blinds, Varan Sidhu fired out 75k. Small blind Garry Sandhu folded, but big blind Jenna Murray flatted to the 6♥ turn where both players checked.
Murray led out for 180k on the 8♣ river, and Sidhu tanked for a few seconds before sliding out the call. His pocket tens were good against K♠7♠.
They are down to 6 left in the Main Event now, and all remaining players are guaranteed a six-figure payout. Jimmy Lee was the most recent casualty from the final table, though I missed the action while I was out of the room for a minute.
They are down to seven after Tom T hit the rail for 8th place. I missed the action while writing another hand and Tom prefers that his full name and picture not be used during poker coverage.
Garry Sandhu opened to 45k from the hijack before Jenna Murray three-bet the cutoff to 140k. Small blind Gordon Wong flatted the three-bet before Sandhu four-bet shoved for about 650k. Murray got out of the way quickly, but it took a bit more time for Wong to reach the same decision.
Jimmy Lee raised to 40k and Garry Sandhu called the button, as did Van Le from the big blind. Le shoved the 10♦3♣5♥ flop for his remaining 85k.
Lee mucked his hand, but Sandhu snapped it off and was dominating with jack-ten into ten-nine for Le. The deuce-six runout bricked for Le, and he was out in 9th place for $6,290.
Matthew Ouellette had a decent run the last time he only looked at one card. In his final hand, it didn’t work out quite so well. Tyler St Clair raised the cutoff to 40k, then tank-called when Ouellette shoved for 185k.
The last time he only looked at one ace, he found a second one, but this time, his kicker was a suited three. St Clair was on queen-ten of hearts, and he spiked his queen on the flop and held to send Ouellette out in 11th place.
Matthew Ouelette raised the button to 50k, leaving just a single 5k chip behind. Kyle Stronski raised the big blind and Ouellette called.
“I only looked at one,” he said, revealing an ace, but his second card was also an ace. Stronski had [invalid notations]Kc6d[/pcn and the aces held to keep Ouellette in the game.
I arrived at the table with the board reading 6♥4♥7♦6♠. Van Le had a 200k bet in front of him from the big blind, but was facing a covering shove from Jimmy Lee in early position with a pot of around 400k already in the middle. Le had around 300k behind and elected to muck his hand to play another rouond.
The $3,605 payout level is now complete after Iona Bliss busted shortly after the break. Brett Worton followed her to the rail shortly after for the first payout of $4,150, and they are now on the final table bubble.
Kyle Stronski is now in the lead with more than 1.4 million, but Gordon Wong and Jenna Murray also have more than a million in play. More than a third of the chips in play are on Table 3 between Stronski, Wong, and Murray.
There was just a huge hand on table 3 with no cards shown. I arrived late to the action but it looked like Varan Sidhu raised the button, Kyle Stronski three-bet the small blind, Sidhu four-bet to 220k, and then faced a covering shove from Stronski. Sidhu eventually gave up his hand to send the big preflop pot to Stonski.
Meanwhile, Ambrose Ng hit the rail for 14th place today just as the break started.
Tyler St Clair raised to 30k early and action folded around to Jenna Murray in the small blind. She slid in a stack of reds for 100k, and after a few seconds St Clair folded his hand. St Clair is now playing just shy of 400k while Murray looks to be at about 1.15 million. I’ll grab full counts for the remaining players at the break in about 5 minutes.
Alemu Makonen raised the cutoff to 25k and Van Le called from the big blind. Le check-called for 20k on the 7♣6♥Q♥ flop and both players checked the 6♠ turn, and Le fired 65k ont eh 2♠ river, forcing a fold from Makonen.
The field is down to 14 now after a couple more quick eliminations. Gordon Wong is still leading with more than 1.4 million, but Jenna Murray has chipped up from less than 100k to start the day to more than 1.1 million now.
Three quick eliminations have brought the game down to 16 players left. There are about 40 minutes to play until the next break, and I’ll grab another round of counts then.
Alemu Makonen raised to 25k under the gun and Garry Sandhu called from his left, as did both players in the blinds. The flop was 10♠2♦A♥ and it checked to Makonen who bet 20k.
Sandhu called, Tom T folded the small blind, and big blind Jimmy Lee called, All three remaining players checked the [invalid notations] turn, and when Lee fired 50k on the 5♣ river, Makonen and Sandhu both sent their hands to the muck.
Hand 1: Van Le opened his button to 21k and took the blinds and antes.
Hand 2: Shawn Taghavi opened his button to 25k and took the blinds and antes.
Hand 3: Taran Parmar opened his button to 22k and took the blinds and antes.
Hand 4: Shawn Taghavi opened the hijack to 25k, then shoved 332k when Varan Sidhu three-bet to 80k from the button. Sidhu called off with more for a con flip between his ace-king and pocket sevens for Taghavi. It looked like the sevens might hold until a king hit the river to send Taghavi home in 20th today.
Hand 5: Big blind Van Le got a walk.
Hand 6: Kyle Stronski raised his button to 20k and took the blinds and antes.
Brett Worton raised the button to 22k and Matthew Ouellette called from the big blind. When the monochrome Q♠2♠5♠ flop hit, Ouellette check-raised from 16k to 53k, leaving just 40k behind. Worton tanked for a bit before mucking his hand.
Meanwhile, Andy Truong hit the rail to bring the Day 2 field down to 20 left. Full prizes are listed under the Payouts tab.
Gordon Wong is still the big leader today and is the only player who has capped 1 million chips so far. Below is a look at how they are seated right now, with stacks counted at the recent break.
Eric Wasylenko was the 2024 Player of the Year on the Pure Poker Tour. That was worth a $15k prize, intended to be used as a buy in to the biggest tournament of the year in Las Vegas.
The field is down to 24 remaining now with about 35 minutes to play in Level 17. There’s a break coming after this level and I’ll grabh a full round of counts then. Meanwhile, full prizes are listed under the payouts tab, with recent cashers below.
Varan Sidhu raised to 12k from the middle and Resul Dauti called from the button before Eric Wasylenko shoved his small blind for 131k. That was enough to push the other two off and he collected blinds and antes plus 24k.
The field is down to 35 entries almost immediately on Day 2. Cameron Stewart was the first player to hit the cage for 37th place while Thomas Taylor ended his day in 36th just as they were breaking Table 1.
Both flights to the Main Event have now landed with 37 players arriving for Day 2 on Sunday at noon. Day 1a bagged 13 players, with 24 advancing from 1b.
Gordon Wong rode the Day 1b big stack for most of the night, finishing with 867k, more than 300k more than Day 1a leader Brett Worton with 550k. Van Le, Yulin Wu, and Garry Sandhu round out the top 5 with stacks in the 400s. Full stacks with seat assignments will be posted below.
Day 2 action gets going at noon, with players asked to be in the room by 11:45 so play can start on time. Blinds will start with a bit more than 15 minutes left in Level 15 (2.5k/5k/5k), and Level 16 will be 60 minutes long. The game should finish easily on Sunday, but there’s always the chance of a Monday finish if things go insanely late.
This will be my main focus for the day and I should be on the floor for the opening hands.
Brett Worton
Yulin Wu
