MacDonald Bags Massive Chip Lead After Day 1a of WSOPC Playground Main Event
Day 1a of the World Series of Poker Circuit Playground Main Event has come to an end. The day attracted 207 entries and ended when the 10% stopping point was reached after nearly 14 hours of play.
The chip leader to end the night was Kevin MacDonald who hit a late night surge to finish with an astounding 1,579,000 which was well beyond the reach of the next closest competitor. The New Brunswick native collected a lot of his stack in a big three-way all in late in the night where his aces held against kings after a flop. MacDonald would not look back at all from that point and only moved up higher before play ended.
Second in chips was Samuel Roussy-Majeau, who finished with 987,000 after he held a steady stack for much of the final few levels of play. Right behind him in third was Haroun Ben Ounis with 890,000 who was spotted early in the day winning pots and never looked back from there as he held a large stack throughout the entire day.
After third, there was a substantial drop off to the fourth largest stack where Hugo Theotol can be found with 511,000. Greg McCann rounds out the top five counts with 500,000 on the nose.
Top 10 Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Hometown | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kevin MacDonald | Miramichi, NB | 1,579,000 |
| 2 | Samuel Roussy-Majeau | Montreal, QC | 987,000 |
| 3 | Haroun Ben Ounis | Montreal, QC | 890,000 |
| 4 | Hugo Theotol | Terrebonne, QC | 511,000 |
| 5 | Greg McCann | Kippens, NF | 500,000 |
| 6 | Jiachen Gong | Verdun, QC | 458,000 |
| 7 | Francis Chevalier | Verdun, QC | 435,000 |
| 8 | Arnaud Bonhomme-Lemieux | Quebec, QC | 411,000 |
| 9 | Zackery Lowrie | Brossard, QC | 300,000 |
| 10 | Douglas James | Abbotsford, BC | 273,000 |
Play ended with 15:37 remaining in Level 18 as the pace of play was fairly steady throughout the day. The only part where things slowed was on the bubble with 30 minutes of hand for hand play needed to burst the bubble which was eventually done thanks to quad aces.
The 21 surviving players will move on to Day 2 on Sunday where they will join everyone who survives Day 1b and Day 1c.
Tune back in to PokerNews on Friday at 11 a.m. when Day 1b will take to the felt.