Check out live updates and reporting from the 2025 WSOP Circuit Calgary by Lyle Bateman. Chose an event of your choice down below:
Canadian Poker in 2025 Starts in Calgary
The 2025 poker season in Canada kicks off with WSOP Circuit Calgary starting on Jan 8. There are 13 days of Circuit action planned for Cowtown and among the new additions this time around is a HORSE game for the first time in modern Alberta.
Follow the action here on the live reporting links with updates from all games on the schedule throughout the series. See below for a look at all the structures for the ring events and the live satellites.
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159 Players Return for Day 2 of the Main
Event 12: $1,700 Main Event ($1,515 + $185) Date: Day 1a: Jan 16, 11 AM
Day 1b: Jan 17, 11 AM
Day 1c: Jan 18, 11 AM
Day 2: Jan 19, Noon
Day 3: Jan 20, NoonBlinds: 60 Minutes Entries: 159/1371 Prizes: $2,077,065 The Day 2 field is set with 159 players returning all in the money. There are two big stacks that everyone is looking up at — Michael Lin and Sunny Lubana are the only players with more than a million, and they both have at least 1.1 million. Rauno Tahvonen came oh-so-close to the million mark with 995k while Glenn Baker has 970k for 4th and Sarath Samakasekera is just shy of 900k for fifth.
Day 2 action gets underway at noon at the start of Level 18 since all three flights in this one went the distance. The blinds will move to 60 minutes at the start of play and remain there through the final hand on Monday. Day 2 is scheduled to play until the end of Level 27 and all remaining players will bag for Day 3 on Monday.
Day 2 Stacks by Name
Table-Seat Player Chips 65 – 9 Aaron Quon 538,000 52 – 7 Aidan Klingbeil 86,000 48 – 9 Aleksei Ponomarev 566,000 50 – 5 Alemu Makonen 297000 59 – 8 Alen Bakovic 454,000 45 – 6 Alex Liu 425,000 55 – 8 Alexander Wong 72,000 61 – 5 Andrew Fahey 404,000 57 – 2 Andy Truong 177,000 65 – 4 Angelo Jopek 865,000 49 – 2 Ashkan Razavi 765,000 57 – 8 Ben Cooper 445,000 64 – 4 Brayden Brown 109,000 62 – 3 Brian Robitaille Fequet 186,000 62 – 7 Bryan Lin 341,000 48 – 8 Chad Lummerding 273,000 47 – 7 Chris Bowers 368,000 62 – 5 Chris Charlton 233,000 56 – 2 Christopher Bush 211,000 48 – 5 Chun Kit Kwan 579,000 56 – 5 Clint Cockburn 66000 60 – 2 Cody McKay 285,000 54 – 7 Cole Neufelf 528,000 65 – 8 Colin Burton 246,000 54 – 9 Colten Yamagishi 623,000 54 – 1 Connor Daynard 210,000 59 – 9 Corey Chan 571,000 60 – 8 Cuong Nguyen 360,000 57 – 5 Daniel Lefebvre 126,000 62 – 2 David Ko 315,000 55 – 7 David Quang 308,000 57 – 9 David Swaim 413,000 47 – 4 David Swirski 399,000 45 – 4 Dennis Ashmore 284,000 60 – 5 Don Donghoon Lee 570,005 65 – 5 Donald Arsenault 265,000 46 – 9 Dustin Centanni 238,000 57 – 7 Dylan Boyer 133,000 47 – 1 Dylan Payne 306,000 51 – 7 Failsal Al Qutub 380,000 61 – 4 Francis Fortin 333,000 50 – 1 Frank Almond 115,000 56 – 7 G Klimenko 405,000 47 – 3 Gaetano Buda 462,000 64 – 9 Garrett Gilmurray 188,000 55 – 1 Giulio Rosati 561,000 59 – 7 Giuseppe Galluzzo 215,000 65 – 1 Glenn Baker 970,000 46 – 2 Gordon Johnson 514,000 62 – 1 Gordon Wong 875,000 56 – 6 Greg Liow 87,000 51 – 5 Greg Taylor 433,000 49 – 6 Haochen Zhou 374,000 47 – 2 Harman Jassal 380,000 46 – 3 Harpreet Padda 160,000 59 – 4 Hassan Issa 480,000 45 – 1 Hee Sun Lee 805,000 45 – 7 Hoang Quach 81,000 52 – 4 Jackson Oniske 179,000 45 – 9 Jacob Hobday 105,000 56 – 4 Jacob Watrich 368,000 61 – 8 Jae Whan Lee 214,000 46 – 4 Jashua Frazer-James 374,000 61 – 6 Jay Glass 364,000 61 – 2 Jayvee Lumahan 111,000 54 – 5 Jeet Shergill 279,000 47 – 5 Jeff “Ironman” Charlebois 274,000 48 – 2 Jeremie Bilodeau 169,000 47 – 9 Jeremy Lyons 169,000 52 – 3 Jimmy Lee 406,000 51 – 8 Joey Basaraba 249,000 50 – 2 John Dalphond 435,000 55 – 6 John Lawford 124,000 51 – 2 Jorge Artiga Ocheco 347,000 46 – 7 Joshua Hopkins 465,000 52 – 5 Julius Roque 79,000 52 – 1 Kayvan Payman 124,000 65 – 7 Ke’Andre Willis 154,000 57 – 1 Keith McIntosh 96,000 54 – 4 Kevin Javier 243,000 54 – 2 Kevin Jeffrey Huang 480,000 55 – 3 Kevin Keiso 418,000 61 – 3 Kip Howard 205,000 55 – 5 Kris Steinbach 501,000 51 – 6 Kyle CHang 130,000 60 – 1 Louis Collette 61,000 50 – 9 Luteng Li 123,000 51 – 3 Ma Ning 319000 52 – 8 Mal Hagan 137,000 46 – 6 Manish Rach 220,000 45 – 8 Marc-Andre Yelle 185,000 54 – 6 Marco Carreira 142,000 61 – 1 Matthew Busch 256,000 64 – 3 Mehmet Ali Siginc 373,000 52 – 2 Michael Bernstein 600,000 49 – 9 Michael Hooper 180,000 62 – 4 Michael Letal 812,000 64 – 1 Michael Retuya 88,000 49 – 5 Michael Won Taek Lim 1,187,000 50 – 3 Mike Leah 544,000 61 – 7 Nader Aram-Pamaki 578,000 46 – 8 Nicholas Lee 692,000 60 – 6 Nikhil Madadi 231,000 59 – 1 Pascal Gregoire 886,000 64 – 7 Pat DiCosneo 587,000 48 – 1 Pavlo Vertiiko 593,000 45 – 5 Rafael Stern 404,000 60 – 3 Rami Hammoud 187,000 48 – 3 Rauno Tahvonen 995,000 50 – 6 Raymond Cawaling 92,000 64 – 2 Renmei Liu 710,000 59 – 3 Richard Mullen 279,000 50 – 7 Richard Rex 97,000 46 – 1 Rob Lothian 282,000 49 – 1 Robert Kliss 136,000 47 – 8 Robin Bergren 677,000 50 – 8 Rocco Smeriglio 290,000 52 – 6 Roger Grosset 282,000 55 – 2 Roman Gallivan 176,000 56 – 9 Romualdo Cusano 606,000 56 – 1 Ron Campbell 243,000 51 – 9 Ruoxiao SHi 316,000 57 – 6 Rus King 396,000 51 – 4 Ryan Cairns 48,000 59 – 2 Ryan Parungao 120,000 55 – 4 Saeed Ganji 185000 52 – 9 Sam Raz 258,000 57 – 4 Sarath Samakasekera 893,000 48 – 7 Scott Dyck 326,000 48 – 6 Scott Johnson 550,000 62 – 9 Scott Stuve 83,000 56 – 8 Sean O’Reilly 161,000 51 – 1 Shane Brotherwood 634,000 59 – 5 Shawn Leis 115,000 45 – 2 Stephen Dauphinais 345,000 46 – 5 Steve Dejarlais 176,000 64 – 8 Steve Labelle 240,000 62 – 6 Steve Mager 119,000 65 – 2 Steve Zhang 326,000 60 – 4 Steven Filipovic 872,000 56 – 3 Sunny Lubana 1,100,000 49 – 8 Talal Shoush DNR 57 – 3 Teo Sanchez 359,000 47 – 6 Terry Goode 409,000 54 – 3 Thomas Taylor 477,000 49 – 3 Tianshu Liu 379,000 65 – 6 Tier Cong Phung 429,000 54 – 8 Trent Hopper 240,000 64 – 5 Trevor Morrisette 333,000 62 – 8 Wayne Hoffert 135,000 59 – 6 Weston Pring 358,000 55 – 9 Yiming Nie 132,000 65 – 3 Yiquan Zhong 258,000 48 – 4 Yong Lu 499,000 60 – 7 Zeyu Du 257,000 49 – 7 Zhi Xiang Li 70,000 50 – 4 Zhigang George Yang 363000 49 – 4 Zilong Zhao 347,000 45 – 3 Zofimo Xavier 259,000 Day 2 Chips by Seat
Table-Seat Player Chips 45 – 1 Hee Sun Lee 805,000 45 – 2 Stephen Dauphinais 345,000 45 – 3 Zofimo Xavier 259,000 45 – 4 Dennis Ashmore 284,000 45 – 5 Rafael Stern 404,000 45 – 6 Alex Liu 425,000 45 – 7 Hoang Quach 81,000 45 – 8 Marc-Andre Yelle 185,000 45 – 9 Jacob Hobday 105,000 46 – 1 Rob Lothian 282,000 46 – 2 Gordon Johnson 514,000 46 – 3 Harpreet Padda 160,000 46 – 4 Joshua Frazer-James 374,000 46 – 5 Steve Dejarlais 176,000 46 – 6 Manish Rach 220,000 46 – 7 Joshua Hopkins 465,000 46 – 8 Nicholas Lee 692,000 46 – 9 Dustin Centanni 238,000 47 – 1 Dylan Payne 306,000 47 – 2 Harman Jassal 380,000 47 – 3 Gaetano Buda 462,000 47 – 4 David Swirski 399,000 47 – 5 Jeff “Ironman” Charlebois 274,000 47 – 6 Terry Goode 409,000 47 – 7 Chris Bowers 368,000 47 – 8 Robin Bergren 677,000 47 – 9 Jeremy Lyons 169,000 48 – 1 Pavlo Vertiiko 593,000 48 – 2 Jeremie Bilodeau 169,000 48 – 3 Rauno Tahvonen 995,000 48 – 4 Yong Lu 499,000 48 – 5 Chun Kit Kwan 579,000 48 – 6 Scott Johnson 550,000 48 – 7 Scott Dyck 326,000 48 – 8 Chad Lummerding 273,000 48 – 9 Aleksei Ponomarev 566,000 49 – 1 Robert Kliss 136,000 49 – 2 Ashkan Razavi 765,000 49 – 3 Tianshu Liu 379,000 49 – 4 Zilong Zhao 347,000 49 – 5 Michael Won Taek Lim 1,187,000 49 – 6 Haochen Zhou 374,000 49 – 7 Zhi Xiang Li 70,000 49 – 8 Talal Shoush DNR 49 – 9 Michael Hooper 180,000 50 – 1 Frank Almond 115,000 50 – 2 John Dalphond 435,000 50 – 3 Mike Leah 544,000 50 – 4 Zhigang George Yang 363000 50 – 5 Alemu Makonen 297000 50 – 6 Raymond Cawaling 92,000 50 – 7 Richard Rex 97,000 50 – 8 Rocco Smeriglio 290,000 50 – 9 Luteng Li 123,000 51 – 1 Shane Brotherwood 634,000 51 – 2 Jorge Artiga Ocheco 347,000 51 – 3 Ma Ning 319000 51 – 4 Ryan Cairns 48,000 51 – 5 Greg Taylor 433,000 51 – 6 Kyle CHang 130,000 51 – 7 Failsal Al Qutub 380,000 51 – 8 Joey Basaraba 249,000 51 – 9 Ruoxiao SHi 316,000 52 – 1 Kayvan Payman 124,000 52 – 2 Michael Bernstein 600,000 52 – 3 Jimmy Lee 406,000 52 – 4 Jackson Oniske 179,000 52 – 5 Julius Roque 79,000 52 – 6 Roger Grosset 282,000 52 – 7 Aidan Klingbeil 86,000 52 – 8 Mal Hagan 137,000 52 – 9 Sam Raz 258,000 54 – 1 Connor Daynard 210,000 54 – 2 Kevin Jeffrey Huang 480,000 54 – 3 Thomas Taylor 477,000 54 – 4 Kevin Javier 243,000 54 – 5 Jeet Shergill 279,000 54 – 6 Marco Carreira 142,000 54 – 7 Cole Neufelf 528,000 54 – 8 Trent Hopper 240,000 54 – 9 Colten Yamagishi 623,000 55 – 1 Giulio Rosati 561,000 55 – 2 Roman Gallivan 176,000 55 – 3 Kevin Keiso 418,000 55 – 4 Saeed Ganji 185000 55 – 5 Kris Steinbach 501,000 55 – 6 John Lawford 124,000 55 – 7 David Quang 308,000 55 – 8 Alexander Wong 72,000 55 – 9 Yiming Nie 132,000 56 – 1 Ron Campbell 243,000 56 – 2 Christopher Bush 211,000 56 – 3 Sunny Lubana 1,100,000 56 – 4 Jacob Watrich 368,000 56 – 5 Clint Cockburn 66000 56 – 6 Greg Liow 87,000 56 – 7 G Klimenko 405,000 56 – 8 Sean O’Reilly 161,000 56 – 9 Romualdo Cusano 606,000 57 – 1 Keith McIntosh 96,000 57 – 2 Andy Truong 177,000 57 – 3 Teo Sanchez 359,000 57 – 4 Sarath Samakasekera 893,000 57 – 5 Daniel Lefebvre 126,000 57 – 6 Rus King 396,000 57 – 7 Dylan Boyer 133,000 57 – 8 Ben Cooper 445,000 57 – 9 David Swaim 413,000 59 – 1 Pascal Gregoire 886,000 59 – 2 Ryan Parungao 120,000 59 – 3 Richard Mullen 279,000 59 – 4 Hassan Issa 480,000 59 – 5 Shawn Leis 115,000 59 – 6 Weston Pring 358,000 59 – 7 Giuseppe Galluzzo 215,000 59 – 8 Alen Bakovic 454,000 59 – 9 Corey Chan 571,000 60 – 1 Louis Collette 61,000 60 – 2 Cody McKay 285,000 60 – 3 Rami Hammoud 187,000 60 – 4 Steven Filipovic 872,000 60 – 5 Don Donghoon Lee 570,005 60 – 6 Nikhil Madadi 231,000 60 – 7 Zeyu Du 257,000 60 – 8 Cuong Nguyen 360,000 61 – 1 Matthew Busch 256,000 61 – 2 Jayvee Lumahan 111,000 61 – 3 Kip Howard 205,000 61 – 4 Francis Fortin 333,000 61 – 5 Andrew Fahey 404,000 61 – 6 Jay Glass 364,000 61 – 7 Nader Aram-Pamaki 578,000 61 – 8 Jae Whan Lee 214,000 62 – 1 Gordon Wong 875,000 62 – 2 David Ko 315,000 62 – 3 Brian Robitaille Fequet 186,000 62 – 4 Michael Letal 812,000 62 – 5 Chris Charlton 233,000 62 – 6 Steve Mager 119,000 62 – 7 Bryan Lin 341,000 62 – 8 Wayne Hoffert 135,000 62 – 9 Scott Stuve 83,000 64 – 1 Michael Retuya 88,000 64 – 2 Renmei Liu 710,000 64 – 3 Mehmet Ali Siginc 373,000 64 – 4 Brayden Brown 109,000 64 – 5 Trevor Morrisette 333,000 64 – 7 Pat DiCosneo 587,000 64 – 8 Steve Labelle 240,000 64 – 9 Garrett Gilmurray 188,000 65 – 1 Glenn Baker 970,000 65 – 2 Steve Zhang 326,000 65 – 3 Yiquan Zhong 258,000 65 – 4 Angelo Jopek 865,000 65 – 5 Donald Arsenault 265,000 65 – 6 Tier Cong Phung 429,000 65 – 7 Ke’Andre Willis 154,000 65 – 8 Colin Burton 246,000 65 – 9 Aaron Quon 538,000 Event 12 -
Zeki Balic Eliminated in 4th Place ($3,594)
Level: 19 (20,000/40,000/40,000) Entries: 3/146 Prizes: $48,180 Zeki Balic moved all in from under the gun and was called by Jenelle Exner in the big blind. Both players revealed their holdings.
Zeki Balic: 4♠4♦
Jenelle Exner: 7♦6♦
The board ran out A♠Q♦7♠3♣K♠ for Exner to take the pot. She sits with a stack of 700,000.
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Geraldene Spears Eliminated in 5th Place ($2,576)
Level: 19 (20,000/40,000/40,000) Entries: 4/146 Prizes: $48,180 Geraldene Spears moved all in from the cutoff for 285,000. Ivanna Soya made the call from the button and both players revealed their hands.
Geraldene Spears: 4♥4♣
Ivanna Soya: J♦J♠
The board ran out 4♦3♦Q♦3♠J♣ for Soya to take the pot. She stands as the chip lead with 1,250,000.
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Kali Shuali Eliminated in 6th Place ($1,923)
Level: 18 (15,000/30,000/30,000) Entries: 5/146 Prizes: $48,180 Kali Shuali moved all in from the cutoff for 240,000. Anne M made the call from the small blind. Both players revealed their holdings.
Kali Shuali: 4♠7♠
Anne M: A♥K♠
The board ran out K♥8♦A♣2♣8♥ for Anne to take the pot.
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Debi Loomer Eliminated in 7th Place ($1,497)
Level: 18 (15,000/30,000/30,000) Entries: 6/146 Prizes: $48,180 Debi Loomer moved all in for 50,000 and was called by Zeki. Both players revealed their hands.
Debi Loomer: A♥2♠
Zeki: 7♠4♦
The board ran out 7♣4♥8♦3♣8♥ for Loomer to hit the rail.
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Zeki Doubles Up
Level: 18 (15,000/30,000/30,000) Entries: 7/146 Prizes: $48,180 Zeki moved all in from middle position for 110,000. Ivanna Soya called from the button and Kali Shuali moved all in for 365,000. Soya made the fold and both players revealed their hands.
Zeki: A♣3♣
Kali Shuali: J♥J♣
The board ran out 5♣2♠K♥10♣2♣ for Zeki to triple up to 370,000. Shuali sits at 255,000.
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Kathy Froment Eliminated in 8th Place ($1,212)
Level: 18 (15,000/30,000/30,000) Entries: 8/146 Prizes: $48,180 Kathy Fromend called all in from the small blind and Anne M checked from the big blind. Both players revealed their holdings.
Kathy Fromend: Q♣8♣
Anne M: K♥10♥
The board ran out A♥3♥3♦K♠7♣ for Anne to take the pot. She now has a stack of 590,000.
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Haven Taylor Eliminated in 9th Place ($1,036)
Level: 17 (10,000/20,000/20,000) Entries: 8/146 Prizes: $48,180 Haven Taylor moved all in from middle position for 165,000. Kali Shuali called from late position and Zeki button called for only 65,000. The three players revealed their hands.
Zeki: J♥J♦
Haven Taylor: K♠8♦
Kali Shuali: A♠K♥
The board ran out Q♦9♣2♥10♠4♥ for Taylor to hit the rail. Zeki now has a stack of 240,000 and Shuali one of 440,000.
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Wendy Sather Eliminated in 10th Place ($926)
Level: 17 (10,000/20,000/20,000) Entries: 9/146 Prizes: $48,180 Kali Shuali limped from early position and Wendy Sather moved all in from late position. Shuali made the call and both players revealed their holdings.
Wendy Sather: A♣K♥
Kali Shuali: K♠K♦
The board ran out 2♠2♥3♠10♣10♠ for Sather to hit the rail. Shuali sits with a stack of 440,000.
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Exner Finds the Double
An all in and call occurred between Jenelle Exner and Zeki Zeki. Both players revealed their holdings.
Jenelle Exner: A♦9♦
Zeki Zeki: J♣J♦
The board ran out 4♥8♠7♣A♠K♥ for Exner to find the double. Exner is no amateur in this tournament as she has previously won back to back titles in the same event. She now sits at 340,000 around tournament average.
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Players on Break
The remaining 12 players are headed on a break. They return to blinds of 10,000/20,000 with a 20,000 big blind ante.
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Soya Finds the Double
Level: 16 (10,000/15,000/15,000) Entries: 12/146 Prizes: $48,180 Haven Taylor raised to 45,000 from the cutoff and Ivanna Soya moved all in for 81,000 from the button. Taylor made the call and both players revealed their holdings.
Ivanna Soya: A♥K♦
Haven Taylor: K♥J♦
The board ran out 7♣6♣8♠Q♣A♦ for Soya to find the double. She currently sits with a stack of 180,000.
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The River is Nice to Taylor
Level: 15 (6,000/12,000/12,000) Entries: 14/146 Prizes: $48,180 The button raised to 30,000 and the small blind moved all in for 87,000. Haven Taylor jammed over the top for 155,000 and the button took little time to fold. Both players revealed their holdings.
Small Blind: K♥10♠
Haven Taylor: 5♠5♣
The board ran out 10♥8♦3♦2♥5♥ for Taylor to send her opponent to the rail. She now sits above the tournament average with a stack of 280,000.
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Hood Finds a Miracle River
Level: 15 (6,000/12,000/12,000) Entries: 15/146 Prizes: $48,180 Lisa Hood moved all in from the button for 96,000 and Haven Taylor found the call from the big blind. Both players revealed their holdings.
Lisa Hood: A♦J♦
Haven Taylor: K♥Q♦
The board looked rough for Hood as it came the 10♠4♦Q♥6♣. Unfortunately for her, she found the three outer as the K♠ completed the board. She now has grown her stack to 186,000 just short of the average.
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Teliani Sends Luebkert to the Rail
Level: 14 (4,000/8,000/8,000) Entries: 17/146 Prizes: $48,180 Action was caught after the turn of A♠Q♦K♣K♦ with an all in and two players in a side pot. Nu Teliani moved all in and her opponent was quick to fold. Both remaining players revealed their hands.
Jenn Luebkert: 10♦8♥
Nu Teliani: A♦4♦
The board completed with the 8♦ for Teliani to take the pot and grow her stack to 416,000.
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Gelinas Doubles Through Taylor
Level: 13 (3,000/6,000/6,000) Entries: 18/146 Prizes: $48,180 Haven Taylor raised to 18,000 from early position. Late position and the cutoff made the call and Angie Gélinas moved all in for 44,000 from the small blind. Taylor raised to 100,000 and the remaining players made the fold. Both players revealed their hands.
Angie Gélinas: A♥J♣
Haven Taylor: A♣9♠
The board ran out 4♥J♥9♥Q♥10♦ for Gélinas to find the double. She sits at 130,000 while Taylor is currently at 185,000. Gélinas is revered as a pioneer of women’s poker in the Calgary scene.
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Another Elimination for Anne
Level: 13 (3,000/6,000/6,000) Entries: 20/146 Prizes: $48,180 An all in and call occured after the turn came the 10♦2♦Q♥K♦. Both players revealed their holdings.
Early Position: K♣J♦
Anne N: Q♦7♦
The river was the A♥ for Anne to send her opponent to the rail. She sits nearly double the tournament average of 162,222 with 300,000.
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Bubble Bursts
Level: 13 (3,000/6,000/6,000) Entries: 22/146 Prizes: $48,180 Anne N raised to 30,000 from the small blind. The big blind called for 12,000 as both players revealed their hands.
Big Blind: 8♥2♥
Anne N: A♠J♥
The board ran out 3♠4♣10♦10♠Q♥ for the remaining players to enter the money.
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Teliani Makes a Move
Level: 13 (3,000/6,000/6,000) Entries: 23/146 Prizes: $48,180 Action was caught after the flop of 3♠A♥5♠ and Nohad Teliani checked from the big blind. Early position fired for 25,000 and Teliani moved all in having her opponent covered.
Her opponent went into the tank. Eventually, they found the fold and revealed A♣J♥. Teliani showed A♦2♦ as her stack is at 303,000.
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Luebkert Finds a Moment of Relief
Level: 12 (2,000/4,000/4,000) Entries: 24/146 Prizes: $48,180 An all in and call occurred between Jenn Luebkert and middle position. Both players revealed their holdings.
Jenn Luebkert: A♥A♣
Middle Position: K♠K♦
The board ran clean for Luebkert as it came 7♠5♣6♣7♣3♣ for her to take the pot. She is still below average with 66,000 in her stack.
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Exner Finds the Double
Level: 12 (2,000/4,000/4,000) Entries: 24/146 Prizes: $48,180 Early Position made the call and late position raised to 12,000. Jenelle Exner defended her big blind and the other player folded.
The flop came 2♠9♠10♣ and both players checked their option.
After the turn came the 3♥, Exner led out for 12,000 and was called.
The river was the 8♠ and Exner checked. Her opponent moved all in and she made the call and revealed 9♣9♥ to best her opponents A♣Q♣. She currently sits at 65,000 with two players until the money
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What a River for Taylor
Level: 11 (1,500/3,000/3,000) Entries: 29/146 Prizes: $48,180 The button called and Haven Taylor raised to 13,500 from the small blind. The big blind moved all in for slightly more and the button was quick to fold. Taylor made the call and both players revealed their hands.
Big Blind: K♥K♦
Haven Taylor: A♠4♦
The board ran out 7♦3♦6♦4♠A♣ for Taylor to take the pot. She sits with a healthy stack of 188,000 as the bubble draws close.
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Spears Can’t be Topped
Level: 11 (1,500/3,000/3,000) Entries: 40/146 Prizes: $48,180 Middle Position raised to 10,000 and Geraldene Spears raised to 40,000 from the button. Her opponent called with slightly less and both players revealed their holdings.
Middle Position: J♦9♦
Geraldene Spears: 10♣10♥
The board ran out 6♦5♠7♥3♦K♠ for Spears to take the pot. Spears has soared to the chip lead currently at 318,000.
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Prize Pool Announced
Place Prize 1 $12,237 2 $7,843 3 $5,211 4 $3,594 5 $2,576 6 $1,923 7 $1,497 8 $1,212 9 $1,036 10-11 $926 12-13 $870 14-22 $828 -
Belote’s Impressive Resume Won’t Get a New Addition
Level: 10 (1,000/2,000/2,000) Entries: 54/146 Prizes: $48,180 Pamela Belote moved all in for 16,000 from early position. Middle Position made the call and the button moved all in for 58,000. Middle Position made the call. The three players revealed their holdings.
Pamela Belote: Q♠J♠
Middle Position: 9♣9♦
Late Position: A♥Q♥
The board ran out 7♣J♥7♠9♠10♠ for Belote to hit the rail. Belote holds the record for most WSOP circuit rings won by a female with 8 current rings in her possession. Although todays event ends less than ideal, the future looks bright for this representative of women’s poker.
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Updated Stacks and Emerging Big Stacks
Level: 9 (1,000/1,500/1,500) Entries: 63/146 Prizes: $48,180 Currently the average stack sits at 46,349. Below is a list of new, updated, and big stacks around the room.
Haven Taylor: 134,000
Geraldene Spears: 215,000
Kali Shuali: 92,000
Cardelle Szego: 18,500
Yafei Jian: 56,000
Nohad Teliani: 71,000
Ivanna Soya: 39,000
Sunni Pil: 65,000
Fatima Nanji: 41,000
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Rockets for Froment
Level: 9 (1,000/1,500/1,500) Entries: 81/146 Prizes: $48,180 Late position moved all in for 7,500 and Kathy Fremont moved all in for around 70,000. The remaining players folded and both players revealed their hands.
Late Position: K♥8♥
Kathy Fremont: A♥A♦
The board ran out 10♠J♥2♣A♣K♣ for Fremont to send her opponent to the rail. She sits nearly double the average with 78,000.
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Players on Break as Rebuys Close
The remaining players are headed on a 15 minute break. As the break ends registration will close. A prize pool update will shortly follow.
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Pil Risks it All
Level: 8 (500/1,000/1,000) Entries: 81/138 Prizes: $45,540 Action was caught after the flop of A♥4♦Q♥ and under the gun was quick to check. Sunni Pil fired for 7,000 from early position and received a call.
The turn was the 10♠ and under the gun checked to Pil. She moved all in and received a quick fold from her opponent who revealed the A♦. She now sits at a comfortable 50,000.
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Jian Cracks Aces
Level: 8 (500/1,000/1,000) Entries: 81/136 Prizes: $44,880 Action was caught after the turn came the 10♣6♥9♥J♦. The big blind led out for 5,000 and Yafei Jian moved all in for 20,500 from under the gun. Her opponent went into the tank but eventually made the call. Both players revealed their hands.
Yafei Jian: K♠Q♠
Big Blind: A♦A♣
The river was the 9♠, although no card in the deck could make Jian lose. With the double up, Jian sits nearly double the average stack with 62,000.
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Taylor Seems Unstoppable
Level: 7 (400/800/800) Entries: 81/132 Prizes: $43,560 Action was caught after the flop of K♣J♥2♥, and middle position checked. Haven Taylor raised to 5,000 from late position. The small blind was quick to fold but the middle position player made the call.
The turn peeled the 9♣ and the middle position checked to Taylor. She fired for 5,000 and was rewarded with the pot. She currently sits as the chip leader at approximately 98,000. Taylor recently won the Alberta Poker Index’s “Female Player of the Year” for the second year running.
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Hope for Grad
Level: 7 (400/800/800) Entries: 81/128 Prizes: $42,240 Caroline Grad moved all in from under the gun for 14,500. The middle position player made the call and both players revealed their holdings.
Caroline Grad: 4♠4♦
Middle Position: K♥10♦
The board ran out 6♦4♣10♥3♥6♠ for Grad to find the double. She now sits near the tournament average with 31,000.
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Freed up as She Finds the Double
Level: 7 (400/800/800) Entries: 83/125 Prizes: $41,250 An all in and a call occurred between the middle position player and Yolande Freed. Both players revealed their holdings.
Yoland Freed: Q♠Q♥
Middle Position: A♠K♣
The board ran out 4♠4♣2♠6♥3♥ for Freed to find the double. She sits just over starting at 20,800.
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Nuts Only for Taylor
Level: 6 (300/600/600) Entries: 81/123 Prizes: $40,590 Haven Taylor opened from early position and was three bet by late position. The small blind made the call along with Taylor.
The flop came 7♠8♦10♠ and the small blind moved all in. Taylor called and both players revealed their holdings.
Small Blind: Q♣Q♠
Haven taylor: J♠9♠
The board improved Taylor to a straight flush as it completed with the 8♠3♥. She now sits with a stack of 48,500.
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Big Stacks and Notables
Level: 6 (300/600/600) Entries: 82/120 Prizes: $40,260 While the Average Stack is currently 29,268, below are a list of big stacks and notables among the field.
Wendy Sather: 92,000
Zeki Zeki: 54,000
Sunni Pil: 17,700
Cardelle Szego: 53,600
Geraldene Spears: 62,000
Haven Taylor: 34,500
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Szego Gets Paid Off
Level: 5 (300/500/500) Entries: 83/118 Prizes: Late Position raised to 1,500 and four players made the call.
The flop came 9♦8♥Q♥ and both blinds checked their option. The initial raiser checked to Cardelle Szego who fired for 4,500. Only the big blind made the call.
After the turn peeled the 2♠, the big blind was quick to check. Szego continued for 11,000 and was called.
The river was the 3♠ and both players checked their option. Szego revealed Q♦8♦ to best her opponent busted flush draw.
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Set over Set for Soya
Level: 5 (300/500/500) Entries: 83/111 Prizes: Action was caught after an all in and call occurred following the flop of K♦10♣Q♣. Both players revealed their holdings.
Ivanna Soya: K♠K♣
Middle Position: 10♠10♦
The board ran out 5♦3♦ for Soya to take the pot. She now sits with 36,500 in chips.
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Kindopp on the Up and Up
Level: 5 (300/500/500) Entries: 81/109 Prizes: Patricia Kindopp called from late position. The button raised to 1,300 and Kindopp made the call.
The flop came 6♣3♥K♦ and Kindopp led out for 2,000. She received a quick fold from her opponent.
Kindopp sits over the tournament average with approximately 40,000 in play.
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Players on Break
The remaining players are headed on a 15 minute break. They will return to blinds of 300 and 500 with a 500 big blind ante.
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Rockets for Mead
Level: 4 (200/400/400) Entries: 97/98 Prizes: Action was caught after an all in and call occurred after the flop of 3♠3♣4♥ for 17,100. Both players revealed their hands.
Pam Mead: A♠A♦
Late Position: Q♠Q♣
The board completed with the 10♣2♠ for Mead to find the double up. She now sits comfortably at 37,000.
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A Rollercoaster for Baker
Level: 4 (200/400/400) Entries: 95/96 Prizes: Action was caught after the flop of 10♦8♦6♣ and under the gun led out for 2,400. Middle position made the call and Pamela Baker moved all in for 18,000. Under the gun called for less and the remaining player folded. Both players revealed their holdings.
Under the Gun: K♦8♣
Pamela Baker: J♣J♥
The turn spelled disaster for Baker as it came the K♥. However, the river flipped the odds as it peeled the J♠. Baker now sits with an effective stack of 32,000.
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The Perfect River for Gillespie
Level: 3 (200/300/300) Entries: 93/93 Prizes: Four players limped and the Denise Gillespie checked her option in the big blind.
The flop came 3♣Q♥A♥ and action checked through.
The button fired for 500 after the turn peeled the 4♦. Only Gillespie made the call.
The 2♥ completed the board and Gillespie led out for 1,000. Her opponent made the call and revealed 5♠7♥. Gillespie held the higher straight with 5♥6♦ to take the pot. She sits just under starting with 19,000 in play.
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Chief Finds Maximum Value
Level: 3 (200/300/300) Entries: 88/88 Prizes: Under the gun called as well as Corrine Chief from the small blind. The big blind checked their option.
The flop came 5♠2♠3♠ and action checked through.
After the turn came the 9♦, Chief checked her option. The big blind fired for 500 and both players found a call.
The 10♠ completed the board and both blinds were quick to check. Under the gun fired for 500 and Chief min clicked to 1,000. The under the gun player made the call and Chief showed J♠8♣ to take the pot. She now sits comfortably with 36,500 in her stack.
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Leung is Back in Business
Level: 2 (100/200/200) Entries: 81/81 Prizes: Action was caught after the flop of 7♦5♥K♦ and four players checked their option. The cutoff fired for 1,500 and only Tanya Leung made the call from the small blind.
Both players checked as the turn came the Q♥.
The 7♣ completed the board and Leung led out for 3,000. Her opponent made the fold for her to take the pot. She currently sits with 11,400 chips.
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Nanji Soars to the Chip Lead
Level: 2 (100/200/200) Entries: 78/78 Prizes: Action was caught after the turn of Q♠4♥9♥7♦ and the big blind was quick to check. Fatima Nanji fired for 2,500 from middle position and received a call.
The river came the K♠ and both players were quick to check. Nanji revealed A♦Q♥ to best her opponents 5♥6♥. After this pot, Nanji leads the field with a stack of approximately 64,000.
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Markoff Battles Back
Level: 2 (100/200/200) Entries: 76/76 Prizes: Under the gun raised to 600 and Suzie Markoff defended her big blind.
The flop came J♠5♠2♦ and both players were quick to check.
After the 4♦ peeled off on the turn, Markoff checked her option. Her opponent fired for 600 and received a call from Markoff.
The river was the 9♥ and Markoff fired for 2,000. She was rewarded with the pot bringing her up to 8,000 chips.
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Hansen Risks it All
Level: 1 (100/200/200) Entries: 72/72 Prizes: Action was caught after the flop of 7♦8♦J♠ and Betty Hansen led out for 1,000 from the big blind. Under the gun raised to 3,000 and the button was quick to muck their cards. Hansen found the call.
The K♥ peeled off on the turn and Hansen moved all in for 11,200. Her opponent took little time find the fold. Hansen now sits just over starting stack with 20,400.
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Sather on the Rise
Level: 1 (100/200/200) Entries: 69/69 Prizes: Action was caught after the flop of 3♦K♠8♣, and action checked to Wendy Sather on the button. She fired for 1,100 and was called by three players.
The turn brought the Q♠ and the three callers were quick to check. Sather continued for 4,500 and received a quick fold from her opponents.
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Success Early for Kindopp
Level: 1 (100/200/200) Entries: 61/61 Prizes: The middle position made the call and Patricia Kindopp elected to call from the cutoff. The small blind flicked in the call and the big blind was quick to check.
After the flop of K♥A♠3♣, the three players were quick to check their option. Kindopp fired for 500 and was only called by the middle position player.
The turn peeled the 5♠ and the middle position player again checked. Kindopp continued for 500 and was rewarded with the pot.
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Shuffle Up and Deal!
Level: 1 (100/200) Entries: 47/47 Prizes: Cards are in the air as play enters the first level. Stay tuned for further coverage of this event as this one-day event plays down to a winner.
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Jerry Li Wins PLO Bounty for Second 4-Card Ring
Pei “Jerry” Li, winner of PLO Bounty for his second PLO ring Jerry Li might just know a thing or two about 4-card poker. Coming into today’s bounty event, he already had a ring from the very first WSOP-C Calgary in Jan 2022 from the $600 PLO as well as a bracelet in the PLO Bounty in Vegas later that same year.
He’s now added a PLO Bounty ring to his jewelry collection with the win here in Event #14. He played the big stack very well for most of the final table, maintaining his lead throughout. He almost had the ring about a half hour earlier when he had runner-up Brandon Sampson all in at risk with kings over queens, but Sampson spiked a queen to stay alive.
That didn’t tilt him though, and he stayed on task, chipping Sampson back down pretty quickly. In the final hand, Sampson was double-paired but Li ran out to a straight for the win. The win tonight will likely push him very close to $700k in lifetime winnings.
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Brandon Sampson Out in 2nd Place for $12,861
Level: 30 (100000/200000/200000) Entries: 1/432 Prizes: $142,560 ($99,360 prizes, $43,200 bounties) Brandon Sampson Brandon Sampson always had an uphill climb tonight heads up. Not only did he come into heads up with the chip deficit, but the player across the table was Jerry Li, who has a ring and a bracelet in four-card poker already.
While Sampson was able to claw some chips back a few times, he never did manage to get the upper hand. The closest he came was when he had one foot out the door with queen-queen-x-x against king-king-x-x but spiked his queen for a double. That put him around 3 million but that was as close as he got.
In the final hand Sampson got it in double paired with tens and fours against jack-seven-five-three for Li. Li flopped a pair of threes and an open-ended straight draw, then rivered the straight for the win. After the game, Sampson said he wasn’t even planning to play this one but max-late reg’d after he busted 1b of the Main. He may not have gone quite as far as he wanted, but $12k is a decent consolation prize for busting the Main.
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Sampson Doubles
Level: 29 (100000/150000/150000) Entries: 2/432 Prizes: $142,560 ($99,360 prizes, $43,200 bounties) It looked like it might be all over when Brandon Sampson raised, then shoved over a pot from Jerry Li. Li snapped it off with king-king-jack-ten against queen-queen-ten-six and looked set to take his second PLO ring here in Calgary but Sampson spike a queen on the flop and held for a big double to stay alive. Li still has the chip lead, but it’s closer after that hand.
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Nick Storie Out in 3rd Place for $8,958 + 7 Bounties
Level: 29 (100000/150000/150000) Entries: 2/432 Prizes: $142,560 ($99,360 prizes, $43,200 bounties) Nick Storie They are heads up now after Nick Storie hit the rail in 3rd place tonight. He’d been chipped down over the last level and put the remainder in from the small blind after Jerry Li raised to 350k. Li called it off and he had A♦K♠8♣6♠ against Q♠J♠9♥6♦ for Storie. When the 2♣7♦5♠6♥9♦ board was out, Li had a straight and the win.
Li goes into heads up as the big leader with nearly 6 million of the 8.6 million in play.
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Li Leads at Break
Level: 28 (60000/120000/120000) Entries: 3/432 Prizes: $142,560 ($99,360 prizes, $43,200 bounties) Jerry Li has 4.67 million at the break, with Brandon Sampson on 2.06 million and Nick Storie on 2.02 million. They’ll be back in action at 60k/120k/120k in about 10 minutes.
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Sampson Forces the Fold
Level: 27 (50000/100000/100000) Entries: 3/432 Prizes: $142,560 ($99,360 prizes, $43,200 bounties) Brandon Sampson raised to 300k from the small blind and Jerry Li potted to 900k from the big blind. Sampson repotted all in for 2.26 million and after getting a count and then counting out the call from his stack, Li elected to fold. The hand put Sampson over 3 million with Li still on about 4 million.
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Ed Zurawell Out in 4th Place for $6,361
Level: 27 (50000/100000/100000) Entries: 3/432 Prizes: $142,560 ($99,360 prizes, $43,200 bounties) Ed Zurawell Ed Zurawell was 4th place tonight but I missed the action as he busted while I was writing the previous hand.
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Colin Miller Out in 5th Place for $4,607
Level: 27 (50000/100000/100000) Entries: 4/432 Prizes: $142,560 ($99,360 prizes, $43,200 bounties) Colin Miller They are down to 4 after Colin Miller shoved over button raise from Jerry Li to 150k. Li called it off with A♥Q♥9♥3♣ against A♠A♦K♥4♦ and then hit trip threes on the 3♥7♠3♠7♥8♣ to crack the aces.
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Down to 5
Level: 27 (50000/100000/100000) Entries: 5/432 Prizes: $142,560 ($99,360 prizes, $43,200 bounties) Scott Bodnarek Nick Lloyd They are down to 5 left now with Level 27 just underway. Scott Bodnarek, who was leading earlier in the night, ended his day in 7th place while Nick Lloyd finished 6th.
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7 Left
Level: 26 (40000/80000/80000) Entries: 7/432 Prizes: $142,560 ($99,360 prizes, $43,200 bounties) Wes Peters Gerry Edwards They are down to 7 left on the PLO Bounty FT after Wes Peters (9th) and Gerry Edwards (8th) hit the rail while I was getting the FT pictures uploaded. Jerry Li is still the leader with close to 4 million but Brandon Sampson looks to be in second with around 2 million.
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Final Table Faces
Wes Peters Scott Bodnarek Nick Storie Nick Lloyd Jerry Li Gerry Edwards Ed Zurawell Colin Miller Brandon Sampson -
Final Table Time
Level: 25 (30000/60000/60000) Entries: 9/432 Prizes: $142,560 ($99,360 prizes, $43,200 bounties) They are down to 9 players left now in the PLO Bounty on the final table after bustouts on both tables in the same hand. I’ll grab pics and full names from the final table shortly but in the meantime, below is a look at the recent payouts.
Place Player Prize 10 Brad Ellis $1,250 11 Leanne Brown $1,250 12 Viet Do $1,027 13 Nikhil Madadi $1,027 14 Marc Kalvari $864 15 Ryan Cairns $864 -
Prizes are Updated Under Payouts
Level: 23 (20000/40000/40000) Entries: 15/432 Prizes: $142,560 ($99,360 prizes, $43,200 bounties) The PLO Bounty field is down to 15 players left now with about 15 minutes to play in Level 23. I’ve finally managed to get the prizes updated in the backend — see the Payouts tab for a full look at the prizes to 16th place.
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Bodnarek and Li Over 1 Million
Level: 22 (15000/30000/30000) Entries: 17/432 Prizes: $142,560 ($99,360 prizes, $43,200 bounties) The players are on a break following Level 21 and it looks like Scott Bodnarek is still leading with a bit more than 1.3 million, but Jerry Li, who has both a ring and a bracelet in four-card poker, is playing about 1.1 and they appear to be the only players with a million or more.
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Final Two Tables; Bodnarek Leads
Level: 21 (15000/25000/25000) Entries: 17/432 Prizes: $142,560 ($99,360 prizes, $43,200 bounties) Scott Bodnarek is the chip leader at the moment with 17 players left. He’s playing more than 1.4 million and looks to be the only one in the million range. I don’t have complete names for the remaining players yet, but among the players still alive tonight are Gerry Edwards, Ryan Cairns, Juss Viet, Ed Zurawell, and PLO ring and bracelet winner Jerry Li.
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49 Players Bag from 1b; Pascal Gregoire Bags Biggest
Day 1b went the distance with 17 full levels of play. They made it into the money but fell 8 players short of hitting the 10% early cutoff point.
Pascal Gregoire bagged the big stack on 1b, but he’s still looking up at the 1a bag of Sunny Lubana. Gregoire bagged 886k for what will be the second best stack so far on Day 2 after Lubana’s 1.1 million. Ashkan Razavi, who was at the final table of the Main in August and finished 4th after a short-stack comeback, Nicholas Lee (2 rings), Romualdo Cusano, and Chun Kit Kwan (2 rings and a WPT title) round out the 1b top five.
Full payouts for 1b as well as the 49 stacks are below — seat assignments won’t be posted until the end of day 1c.
Day 1b Payouts
Place Player Prize 50 Holly Lingel $3,421 51 Dj Sharma $3,421 52 Jeffrey Eldred $3,421 53 Daniel Martel $3,421 54 Anthony Mar $3,421 55 Anthony Williams $3,421 56 Ian Monahoyios $3,421 57 D. Nguyen $3,421 58 Conner Daynard $3,421 59 Mahar Al-Mouselly $3,421 60 Ryan Johal $3,421 61 Serge Noel $3,421 Day 1b Bags
Player Chips Pascal Gregoire 886,000 Ashkan Razavi 765,000 Nicholas Lee 692,000 Romualdo Cusano 606,000 Chun Kit Kwan 579,000 Corey Chan 571,000 Aleksei Ponomarev 566,000 Giulio Rosati 561,000 Yong Lu 499,000 Kevin Jeffrey Huang 480,000 Hassan Issa 480,000 John Dalphond 435,000 Greg Taylor 433,000 Alex Liu 425,000 David Swaim 413,000 Terry Goode 409,000 Rafael Stern 404,000 Failsal Al Qutub 380,000 Tianshu Liu 379,000 Teo Sanchez 359,000 Weston Pring 358,000 Ma Ning 319000 David Quang 308,000 Dylan Payne 306,000 Alemu Makonen 297000 Roger Grosset 282,000 Rob Lothian 282,000 Jeet Shergill 279,000 Richard Mullen 279,000 Jeff “Ironman” Charlebois 274,000 Zofimo Xavier 259,000 Trent Hopper 240,000 Manish Rach 220,000 Giuseppe Galluzzo 215,000 Marc-Andre Yelle 185,000 Saeed Ganji 185000 Andy Truong 177,000 Sean O’Reilly 161,000 Marco Carreira 142,000 Mal Hagan 137,000 Dylan Boyer 133,000 Yiming Nie 132,000 Luteng Li 123,000 Ryan Parungao 120,000 Greg Liow 87,000 Aidan Klingbeil 86,000 Julius Roque 79,000 Zhi Xiang Li 70,000 Clint Cockburn 66,000 -
432 Entries for PLO Bounty
Level: 13 (2000/4000/4000) Entries: 65/432 Prizes: $142,560 ($99,360 prizes, $43,200 bounties) The PLO Bounty Event is in the money with 65 places paid tonight. They got 432 entries and the field just hit 65 remaining with no hand-for-hand play tonight. The prizes won’t be in the backend for a little while yet, but the summary of payouts is below.
1 $19,291 2 $12,861 3 $8,958 4 $6,361 5 $4,607 6 $3,404 7 $2,562 8 $1,976 9 $1,555 10-11 $1,250 12-13 $1,027 14-17 $864 18-26 $744 27-35 $656 36-44 $592 45-65 $564 -
403 Entries for 1b; 117 Remain
Level: 14 (3000/5000/5000) Entries: 117/403 (152/722) Prizes: $610,545 ($1,093,830) Day 1b entries ended with the combined prizes just shy of $1.1 million. There were 403 entries on 1b for $610k in 1b prizes. That means there are 61 paid spots from today with at least 40 moving on to Day 2. I’ll have the names of Day 1 payouts and bagging players later in the evening.
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Just Shy of 400
Level: 12 (1500/3000/3000) Entries: 162/397 (197/716) Prizes: $601,455 ($1,084,740) There are just under 30 minutes left in Level 12 with entries set to close on Day 1b at the start of Level 13. They’ll take a 15-minute break following this level with entries open until the end of the break. Right now, it looks like there will be ~60 paid spots with at least 40 players advancing, but that may change if numbers ramp up in the final 45 minutes of entry.
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385 Entries in Level 11
Level: 11 (1500/2500/2500) Entries: 180/385 (215/704) Prizes: $583,275 ($1,066,560) There are about 20 minutes to play in Level 11 in 1b of the Main Event. The 1b field is at 385 entries now for 704 across both flights and $1.066 million in prizes.
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Final Three Levels of Entry for 1b
Level: 10 (1000/2000/2000) Entries: 209/376 (244/695) Prizes: $569,640 ($1,052,925) The Main Event 1b players are back from their dinner break now so there are three levels of entry remaining. The reg-desk will stay open through the 15-minute break following Level 12 but will close at the start of Level 13 around 8:30 PM.
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Main Event 1b at 369 Entries
Level: 9 (1000/1500/1500) Entries: 228/369 (263/688) Prizes: $559,035 ($1,042,320) The 1b field is up to 369 entries with the action in Level 9. They’ll go for the dinner break following this level, then return for three more levels of entry before the second flight closes at the start of Level 13. The current combined prizes are just shy of $1.05 million.
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Four-Card Bounty Action on Deck for Friday
Event 14: $400 PLO Bounty ($230 + $100 + $70) Date: Jan 17, 6 PM Blinds: 20 Minutes Starting Stack: 20k Late Entry: 9 Levels (~9:30 PM) The side action on Friday night is four-card bounty fun with the $400 PLO Bounty. The action kicks off at 6 PM and entries are open for about 3.5 hours until the start of Level 10. Players start with 20k in chips for 20 minute levels throughout so it’s a bit of a turbo.
That said, I still expect a fairly long day with action going until at least 3 AM. I won’t be watching the early action very closely in this one, but I’ll be around at the end for endgame coverage.
Event 14 -
More than $1 Million in Prizes
Level: 7 (500/1000/1000) Entries: 249/349 (284/668) Prizes: $528,735 ($1,012,020) The combined prizes are now over $1 million for the Main Event with Day 1b at just shy of 350 entries. There are about 5 minutes to play in Level 7 and entries are still open for more than 4 hours so I expect to see another 50+ entries at least before the desk shuts down at about 8:30 PM.
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Ladies Take the Stage on Saturday – With Reporting from Alek Gillies
Event 15: $400 Ladies ($330 + $70) Date: Jan 18, 4 PM Blinds: 30 Minutes Starting Stack: 20k Late Entry: 8 Levels (~8:30 PM) Day 1 Ends: One-Day Event The Ladies are set to take the stage on Saturday and this year there will be exclusive coverage of the game with a dedicated reporter, Alek Gillies. Gillies has gone through the “boot camp” of the summer Vegas series two years running, so he’s well-equipped to handle the duties.
The Ladies action kicks off at 4 PM on Saturday with 20k in chips and 30-minute blinds. They can get into the game or rebuy until about 8:30 PM, when Level 9 starts. After that it will be a race to the ring and the big question on everyone’s mind will be if Jenelle Exner can make it three for three — she’s won the last two of these rings on the trot, so she’ll be one to watch on Saturday.
Event 15 -
$1 Million in Sight
Level: 6 (400/800/800) Entries: 252/328 (287/647) Prizes: $496,920 ($980,205) There is more than $980k in prizes now with the 1b field at 328. That puts the combined field at almost 650 with players heading out for the break following Level 6.
In 2024, 1b got 435 entries so this year is still about 100 entries away from last year’s numbers, but entries are still open for more than 5 hours today.
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More than $900k in Prizes
Level: 5 (300/600/600) Entries: 252/296 (287/615) Prizes: $448,440 ($931,725) The 1b field is closing in on 300 entries with action in Level 5. That puts the 1b prizes just shy of $450k with the field 23 off the 1a numbers. Combined, the two flights are over 600 entries for prizes of more than $930k already.
I expect today’s flight to push that well above $1 million in total prizes with at least 100 more entries today, but time will tell what the final numbers will be.
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Second Flight to the Main Event Now Boarding
Event 12: $1,700 Main Event ($1,515 + $185) Date: Day 1a: Jan 16, 11 AM
Day 1b: Jan 17, 11 AM
Day 1c: Jan 18, 11 AM
Day 2: Jan 19, 11 AM
Day 3: Jan 20, 11 AMBlinds: 40/60 Minutes Starting Stack: 40k Late Entry: 12 Levels (~8:30 PM) Day 1 Ends: 17 Levels (~12:10 AM) Entries: 35/319 Prizes: $483,285 The opening flight to the Main Event is in the books and 35 players advanced to Day 2 from a starting field of 319 entries. The stack to beat at the moment belongs to Sunny Lubana (who donates 10% of all his winnings to an educational charity that puts underprivileged kids through school in his homeland of India) with 1.1 million
Players sit down with 40k in chips to play 40-minute levels on Day 1. Players can enter for 12 levels during Day 1, meaning the entry desk should close around 8:30 PM. After that, they’ll play 5 more levels on Day 1 (at most) but they’ll bag early if they hit 10% of the field before then. Note that’s a change from most events in the series where bags come out at 5%.
I likely won’t be watching Day 1a or 1b very closely as there are Day 2s running on both of those days, but I should be there for the duration of 1c (with a likely late start).
Event 12 -
Sunny Lubana Bags Biggest on 1a
Level: 17 (5000/10000/10000) Entries: 35/319 Prizes: $483,285 It looks like Sunny Lubana bagged the biggest stack from Day 1a with 35 players advancing to Day 2 from the opening flight. He had 1.1 million in his bag at the end of the night, the only player in seven digits.
Shane Brotherwood, Colten Yamagishi, and Michael “Berny” Bernstein bagged in the 600k range with Pavlo Vertiiko rounding out the top five with 593k. Full qualifying stacks for Day 1a are below with the caveat that there was no chip count on one bag so Talal Shoush is listed as DNR, but he for sure has a bag in play for Day 2.
Day 1a Qualifying Stacks
Player Chips Talal Shoush DNR Sunny Lubana 1,100,000 Shane Brotherwood 634,000 Colten Yamagishi 623,000 Michael Bernstein 600,000 Pavlo Vertiiko 593,000 Mike Leah 544,000 Kris Steinbach 501,000 Thomas Taylor 477,000 Joshua Hopkins 465,000 Gaetano Buda 462,000 Ben Cooper 445,000 Jimmy Lee 406,000 G Klimenko 405,000 David Swirski 399,000 Rus King 396,000 Haochen Zhou 374,000 Joshua Frazer-James 374,000 Jacob Watrich 368,000 Zhigang George Yang 363000 Zilong Zhao 347,000 Scott Dyck 326,000 Ruoxiao Shi 316,000 Rocco Smeriglio 290,000 Dennis Ashmore 284,000 Kevin Javier 243,000 Roman Gallivan 176,000 Jeremie Bilodeau 169,000 Jeremy Lyons 169,000 Harpreet Padda 160,000 Kyle Chang 130,000 Kayvan Payman 124,000 Jacob Hobday 105,000 Keith McIntosh 96,000 Alexander Wong 72,000 Day 1a Payouts (Complete)
Place Player Prize 36 Glen Slater $3,459 37 Trevor Morrisette $3,459 38 Eun Park $3,459 39 Jason Chan $3,459 40 Kelly Becker $3,459 41 Fat Wong $3,459 42 Robert Kliss $3,459 43 Dave Mcleod $3,459 44 Anthony Mar $3,459 45 Nicholas Peterson $3,459 46 Michael Farrow $3,459 47 Yan Lin $3,459 48 Maurizio Candeloro $3,459 -
15 Minutes Left in the Night
Level: (17 (5000/10000/10000) Entries: 37/319 Prizes: $483,285 The Day 1a field is confirmed at 319 entries for prizes of $483,285 and they are now less than 15 minutes from the end of the scheduled day. There are 5 more players left until they hit 10% of the field, so it looks like 1a will go the distance and bag more than 10%.
Day 1a Payouts So Far
Place Player Prize 38 Eun Park $3,459 39 Jason Chan $3,459 40 Kelly Becker $3,459 41 Fat Wong $3,459 42 Robert Kliss $3,459 43 Dave Mcleod $3,459 44 Anthony Mar $3,459 45 Nicholas Peterson $3,459 46 Michael Farrow $3,459 47 Yan Lin $3,459 48 Maurizio Candeloro $3,459 -
Curtis Singleton Wins Monster Stack for $68,505
Curtis SIngleton picked up his first Circuit ring in his very first live win. He previously had a few final table finishes around Alberta events, but his best score prior to tonight was 3rd place in a PPT game in Nov of 2023 and his total lifetime cashes before today were less than $20k USD.
Now, with this win in the Monster, he’ll more than double his lifetime earnings and record his first win with the ring. He had to overcome a chip deficit heads up, and he was short-stacking for much of the final table.
A close look at the winners photo will reveal his rubber duck card capper, and the ducks were working for him tonight. He won several pots with a deuce in his hand including a four-card club flush with the deuce of clubs. The biggest one came when both players had a duck in the hand and two more came on the board. All the money went in with Singleton at risk, but he was boated up against the bare trips for runner-up Kalyan Cheekuri.
That gave Singleton a big lead and the game ended shortly after when the money went in preflop with Singleton on king-ten against queen-ten for Cheekuri. The king-ten held despite Cheekuri turning open-ended and the ring went to Singleton.
Final Results from Day 2 of the Monster Stack
Place Player Prize 1 Curtis Singleton $68,505 2 Kalyan Cheekuri $45,670 3 Calvin Lake $32,025 4 Korey Dadgar $22,861 5 Johnny Yu $16,618 6 Hoangwei Liu $12,306 7 Michael Malm $9,286 8 Kuan-Yu Tsai $7,143 9 Evan Casey $5,604 10 Gregory Taylor $4,484 11 Giulio Piredda $4,484 12 Don Mccall $3,663 13 Terrill Coughlin $3,663 14 Jeffory Saunders $3,055 15 Marc- Andre Kudjick- Paquin $3,055 16 Pete Fylyma $3,055 17 Raymond New $3,055 18 Clair Ramsay $2,602 19 Raymond Trieu $2,602 20 Marco Di-Nardo $2,602 21 Michael Noor $2,602 22 Pawan(Pav) Braich $2,602 23 Thomas Sloan $2,602 24 Michael St. Pierre-Porter $2,602 25 Sam Raz $2,602 26 Graham Lupton $2,602 27 Craig Caldwell $2,265 28 Ghislaine Johnson $2,265 29 Haochen Zhou $2,265 30 George Jurovich $2,265 31 Karen Dodd $2,265 32 Ryan Permis $2,265 33 Raymond Cawaling $2,265 34 Joshua Frazer-James $2,265 35 Lisa Powell $2,265 36 Dale Foyle $2,016 37 John Scalise $2,016 38 Faisel Al-Qutub $2,016 39 Ross Henderson $2,016 40 Laurence Louie $2,016 41 David Tran $2,016 42 Jim Zanidean $2,016 43 Zhi Yang $2,016 44 Rishilal Makkar $2,016 45 Jay Glass $1,836 46 Rauno Tahvonen $1,836 47 Brett Worton $1,836 48 Seseung Oh $1,836 49 Zhiyu Chen $1,836 50 Lorne Voth $1,836 51 Maciej Baumgart $1,836 52 Christian Wallmuth $1,836 53 Uldis Sokolovskis $1,836 54 Aaron Quon $1,748 55 Ronald Simon $1,748 56 Shawn Lange $1,748 57 Ravdeep Brar $1,748 58 Eric Davis $1,748 59 Alexander Byliccki $1,748 60 Srinivas Gottiparthi $1,748 61 Aaron Froese $1,748 62 Hassan Issa $1,748 63 David Van-Der-Torre $1,748 64 Jeffrey Cormier $1,748 65 Malcolm Bolger $1,748 66 Jason Hayashi $1,748 67 David Swirski $1,748 68 Jinrong Zhang $1,748 69 Allan Mckinnon $1,748 70 Michael Cartwright $1,748 71 Antoine Saddleback $1,748 72 Duff Charette $1,748 73 Kelly Dalke $1,748 74 Zoran Pribilovic $1,748 75 Jayvee Lumahan $1,748 76 Yvan Gravel $1,748 77 Glenn Slater $1,748 78 Sevon Zargarian $1,748 -
Kalyan Cheekuri Out in 2nd Place for $45,670
Level: 34 (250000/500000/500000) Entries: 1/1536 Prizes: $506,880 Kalyan Cheekuri After Curtis Singleton doubled up, they had a huge all in confrontation preflop with Kalyan Cheekuri on queen-ten against king-ten for SIngelton. Cheekuri flopped open-ended but then bricked the rest of the board to send the win to Singleton.
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Singleton Flips the Script for the Lead
Level: 34 (250000/500000/500000) Entries: 2/1536 Prizes: $506,880 Curtis Singleton uses a rubber ducky for his card protector, and at least tonight, the ducks are working for him. He’s won several hands in heads up with a deuce in his hand, but the most recent was the biggest.
They both limped it preflop, then checked the flop of 2♠10♣8♦. Singleton fired 500k on the 7♠ turn and Kalyan Cheekuri called to the 2♦ river. Singleton bet 1.5 million, then shoved over the raise to 6 million. Cheekuri called and the both had a deuce, but Singleton also had a ten for the boat and the big win.
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Singleton Chips Up Before Break
Level: 33 (250000/500000/500000) Entries: 2/1536 Prizes: $506,880 I was a bit premature with the break chips as there were still a couple of minutes left in the level when I reported. Curtis SIngleton managed to pull some back just before the break and he’s sitting on 22 million now with Kalyan Cheekuri still ahead with just under 40 million.
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Cheekuri with Big Lead at Break
Level: 32 (200000/400000/400000) Entries: 2/1536 Prizes: $506,880 Kalyan Cheekuri is now the big leader with Curtis Singleton down to about 14 million. There are 62.5 million in play, so Cheekuri is on about 48 million.
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Aces Hold for Cheekuri
Level: 33 (200000/400000/400000) Entries: 2/1536 Prizes: $506,880 Kalyan Cheekuri raised to 900k and Curtis Singleton called to the flop of Q♦K♠6♣. Singleton check-called for 675k on the 10♥ turn and then for 9 million on the 3♦ river. Cheekuri turned over A♣A♥ and Singleton showed K♣ as he mucked.
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Even Stacks
Level: 33 (200000/400000/400000) Entries: 2/1536 Prizes: $506,880 They are basically even now with about 31 million each after a huge hand saw Curtis Singleton force a fold on the river. Kalyan Cheekuri opened to 1 million from the button and Singleton called to the flop of 9♦8♣5♥.
Both players checked to the Q♦ turn where Singelton check-raised from 1.5 million to 4 million. Cheekuri called but them mucked when Singleton shoved the 8♥ river.
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Calvin Lake Out in 3rd Place for $32,025
Level: 32 (150000/300000/300000) Entries: 2/1536 Prizes: $506,880 Calvin Lake They are heads up now after Calvin Lake hit the rail in 3rd place. After he had to fold the river to a shove by Kalyan Cheekuri he was left with 13.3 million, but then doubled up Curtis Singleton with ace-king over pocket fives. Singleton flopped a set and held for the win. That left Lake with under a million, and the rest went to Cheekuri on his way to the cage.
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Cheekuri To Big Lead
Level: 32 (150000/300000/300000) Entries: 3/1536 Prizes: $506,880 Calvin Lake opened the button to 700k and Kalyan Cheekuri called from the small blind. Lake fired 800k on the A♣10♣K♥ flop and got the call to the 3♦ turn. Lake bet 2.5 million and Cheekuri called.
The river was 2♥ and Lake slide out 4.7 million. Cheekuri came over the top with a shove that would have been most of Lakes stack and he elected to muck his hand. The pot left Cheekuri with 35.8 million while Lake has 13.3 million and Curtis Singleton is on 12.325 million.
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319 Entries for Day 1a
Level: 13 (2000/4000/4000) Entries: 102/319 Prizes: $483,285 Entries for the opening flight to the Main Event are now closed with 319 entries on the board. That number is still unofficial, but if it holds it should mean 48 paid spots from today with at least 32 moving forward to Day 2.
I’ll confirm the numbers later once the Day 1a prizes are posted. They now have a bit less than 5 levels left in the schedule, with the early exit at 32 players if they get there before the end of Level 17. Note that Level 17 is a one-hour level.
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Korey Dadgar Out in 4th Place for $22,861
Level: 32 (150000/300000/300000) Entries: 3/1536 Prizes: $506,880 Korey Dadgar They are down to three left after Korey Dadgar hit the rail for 4th place tonight. I missed the action while I was in Sundance checking on the opening flight to the Main Event.
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Johnny Yu Out in 5th Place for $16,618
Level: 32 (150000/300000/300000) Entries: 4/1536 Prizes: $506,880 Johnny Yu They are down to four left after Johnny Yu couldn’t win a flip with jack-ten of hearts over pocket fives for Kalyan Cheekuri. Yu turned open-ended but bricked the river for the pocket fives to hold.
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Hongwei Liu Out in 6th Place for $12,306
Level: 31 (150000/250000/250000) Entries: 5/1536 Prizes: $506,880 Hongwei Liu They are down to 5 now in the Monster after Hongwei Liu hit the rail in 6th place tonight. There are about 10 minutes to play in Level 31 and the average stack is around 50 big blinds.