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The World Poker Tour travels north from the Borgata to the Playground Poker Club outside of Montreal for the partypoker.net WPT Playground Main Event. Our neighbor to the north welcomes players with a $1 million guarantee on the $3,500 Main Event
The largest change in the event this year is the event trimmed its schedule and added a re-entry wrinkle. “This is the third WPT Main Event we’ve hosted in Season XV and it’s a little different than the WPT Canadian Spring Championship and the WPT Montreal,” said Michael Boyle of the Playground Poker Club.
“This time there are two Day 1 starting flights and each one allows one entry and one re-entry until the end of the break following the first six, 60-minute levels,” Boyle added. “WPT Main Events we’ve hosted in the past have always been one entry per day, but with two starting flights, we chose to implement this minor change.”
At the most recent WPT event at Playground, Mike Sexton broke through with his first WPT title for $425,980 in November 2016 after defeating Benny Chen heads-up. Sexton is returning vying to be the first back-to-back champion at any location, but also for Playground.
The first, and largest, WPT Main Event Playground in 2012 posted it drew 1,173 entries. Jonathan Roy won the title for $779,210 at a final table that featured Pascal Lefrancois (2nd), Jeff Gross (3rd) and Gavin Smith. It’s still the venue’s richest event with all three players also topping the venue’s all-time money earners list.
Day 1A kicks off Friday, February 10, Day 2 runs on Sunday with the final table slated on Day 5, Wednesday, February 15. Players have to be Playground Poker Club members prior to play, membership is free and players must be 18 years-old to play.
During the festival at Playground the cash game action ticks up, usually running more than 30 tables in action – enough to rival the East Coast’s largest poker rooms. There is also a private, high-stakes room available should action dictate.
Most players stay in Montreal proper, or the airport area, and commute to the property about 20-minutes outside town. Contact Playground on social media for a local taxi company operating with a negotiated flat rate fares to Montreal and back.
“One of the best things about hosting a big poker event like the Playground Winter Festival is that the cash game action really takes off,” Boyle said. “We have solid action around the clock all the time – but during a festival it’s off the charts!”
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