The tournament clock is reading just 72 players remaining now, and the action has been so fast its been hard to keep up with the bustouts. However, a few notable faces have already left the room, including 2017 Champion Trevor Norlander, who came into Day 2 with a short stack, as well as Casey Nicole, who won't be able to celebrate her birthday tomorrow with SIGA winnings.
Action has been moving very quickly so far today, with calls of "Open Seat" echoing across the Tatanka Tipi Room regularly so far. They've broken down a second table now, and there are just 80 players remaining in action.
Joseph Dumas opened the pot from middle position with a raise to 11,000. James Hart called from his immediate left, and they saw the flop heads-up.
Dumas check-called a bet of 22,000 and the came down on the turn. Once again, Dumas chech-called Hart's 22,000 bet. The river drew checks from both players, and Dumas mucked his hand when Hart showed down for a pair of aces.
The first level of Day 2 action has already seen a lot of carnage. Tournament staff were breaking down the first table just ten minutes into the level, and half-way through Level 17, there are just 86 players remaining now.
Quite a few players came back to short stacks on Day 2 and will need to make something happen in early play for a chance to go deep. Already, a few players have tried and failed as the total numbers are dropping quickly. There have been four cries of "Open Seat" already today with Level 17 barely 10 minutes old.
The tournament room is full, and the announcement to "Shuffle up and deal" has just been made. The remaining 97 players are still fighting for 51 paid spots though, so a lot of players are still slated to go home with empty pockets.
Both Day 1s are now in the books. A total of 40 players (of 146) made it through Day 1a, and another 57 players (out of 200) made it through Day 1b. That means 97 players will be returning for Day 2 play, and with only 51 paid spots, nearly half the field will go home with empty pockets.
The man the everyone is watching is Dallas Larson. Larson had an amazing final level on Day 1b, and ended up bagging well over 400,000 chips, by far the biggest stack from either starting day. His closest competitor, Warren McCallum, is more than 100,000 chips behind him with 307,000, and the Day 1a chip leader, Josh Hopkins, will start Day 2 in third place with 272,000.
2018 Champion Daniel Lefevbre
Among the other notable players to make Day 2 are two former Champions of this event. The 2017 Champ, Trevor Norlander, bagged a modest stack of 63,000 on Day 1a, while last year's winner, Daniel Lefebvre, bagged a top 15 stack with 190,000. Among the other names to make Day 2 are Sheldon Birkeland, John Hashem, Adrian Baran, Skylar Kingdon, Kyle Stronski, and Michael Smith. Day 2 seating assignments won't be out until just before the start of Day 2, so an update will be posted early tomorrow with the starting seat assignments.
Day 2 action is underway at noon CST, and PokerNews Canada will be on the floor from the first hand to the last bringing you the action. As a reminder, the My Stack app is activated for this event, which allows players to update their stacks themselves, as well as share photos and updates from the tournament to their social media. Click here to download the My Stack app for iPhone, or click here to download the My Stack app for Android. Stay tuned here for all the action as they play down to a 2019 SIGA Poker Champion.
flop heads-up.
came down on the turn. Once again, Dumas chech-called Hart's 22,000 bet. The river 
drew checks from both players, and Dumas mucked his hand when Hart showed down 
for a pair of aces.
