Day 1D of the Grand Prix Canada – Event #8 in the World Cup of Cards – has officially wrapped up with 31 players qualifying for Day 2 action. Today’s Day 1D chip leader was Hagay Brener with 1,820,00 chips. In a close second was Antonio De La Cruz with 1,440,000, followed by Chalom Atia, who bagged up 1,350,000 chips.

There were 195 entries (including 43 re-entries) in Day 1D that included 10 levels of late registration. Today’s qualifiers for Day 2 action will be added to the Combined Day 1 Results page that now include five completed online flights and five live flights. There are still seven more Live Day 1 flights remaining.

Today’s qualifiers will return for Day 2 action on Sunday Jan 27 at 3:30pm. Day 3 is scheduled for Monday Jan 27, at 7:00pm.

Congratulations to all the qualifiers!

The players at the WCC Event #8 Day 1D have just taken their final break of the evening. And as it stands now Yanick Colpron with 940,000 chips holds a slight lead over Grant Gerard, who clocks in with 915,000 chips. There are two more levels to play, and the surviving players will all qualify for Day 2 action on Sunday, at 3:30 pm.

Name | Nom	Stack | Tapis
Yanick Colpron	940,000
Grant Gerard	910,000
Andre St-Jean	812,000
Fabio Luongo	712,000

While I was walking by table 38, Craig William gestured at me. “Not long ago, I was down to 17,000 chips. Now I’m back over three hundred thousand. That’s a story!”

I feared Craig might have jinxed himself, because a couple of hands later, he lost a good portion of his stack when his opponent, who looked dead in the water, hit a straight on the river, and sank Craig’s ambitions of building an even bigger stack.

But to his credit, Craig managed to grind his way back from the brink once again. His most recent success occurred after he limped into a hand, preflop. But when Bobby Proulx raised to 35,000, he left Craig with something to think about. Craig, however, was undeterred and pushed his entire stack towards the dealer, announcing that he was all in.

When the players showed their cards, Bobby was holding and Craig laid down a .

When the community cards were dealt, Craig was standing up. The the flop was . The turn card was . When the dealer revealed the river, Craig sighed when he saw the . He sat back down, happy to have lived to see another hand.

 

 

The players took a 15 minute break at the end of level 12, and during a chip count it was determined that David Guay is the new Event 8 Day 1D front runner. David has amassed a whopping 897,000 chips. But Andre St-Jean is nipping at his heels with a stack that measures 870,000 chips.

As it stands now, the average stack size is 304,687 chips.

Name | Nom	Stack | Tapis
David Guay	897,000
Andre St-Jean	522,000
Peter Asskandar	780,000
Stephane Houle	732,000

Preflop, Martin Dyotte limped into the hand, splashing 5,000 in chips into the pot. From a late position, Justin Kemp raised to 20,000.

When the dealer revealed the flop, , Justin bet 22,000. Martin wasted no time, announcing he was going all in. Justin called.

Martin’s hole cards were . But Justin was holding pocket queens, . When the turn card was dealt, , Martin stood up. His fate was sealed even before the river was revealed, .

Funny how quickly things can change during a game of poker. After the first 15 minute break, following level 4, Antoine Simon had amassed a huge stack and a gigantic lead. But by the end of of level 8, Simon disappeared from the leader-board.

During the break, just before level 9, we counted the chips and discovered the new big stack is Robert Aho. He has amassed 597,000 chips, and is trailed, in second spot, by Yu Chen Chen with 522,000 chips.

There is still another 45 minutes before the end of late registration, and the average stack size is now 184,000.

Name | Nom	Stack | Tapis
Robert Aho	597,000
Yu Chen Chen	522,000
Bobby Proulx	505,000
Rody Hernandez	459,000

Table 29 is a lively group. When I first started watching their play, Rotem Chen was discussing his playing philosophy with fellow player, Peter Asskandar. “If my stack gets too low I will start playing in a way that will either double me up, or send me home.”

Peter looked over at me. “I hope we’re not too boring a group.”

“No, I feel some excitement.”

The dealer glanced in my direction, and smiled. “You’re putting pressure on me.”

Two hands later, Rotem, and Garry Jansen limped in, preflop, before Yu Chen Chen raised to 2,900.  Both Garry and Rotem called.

The flop came down , and all three players tapped the felt.

When the dealer revealed the turn, a , Rotem bet 4,000. Garry mucked before Yu Chen called.

After the river was revealed, a , both players checked.

Yu Chen showed . But Rotem’s hole cards were , and he won the hand with a pair of fives.

As I walked away from the table, the dealer apologized for not providing me with something more interesting to write about. Little did he know…