Day 1c of the Season XVI WPT Montreal Main Event came to a close on Sunday, and it was Robert Rose (pictured) finishing out in front with his stack of 300,600 in chips. Rose dominated on the final starting flight and will be the overall chip leader heading into Monday’s Day 2.
Heading into Monday’s Day 2, the top 10 stacks will be as follows.
1. Robert Rose – 300,600
2. Noeung Troeung – 280,900
3. Michael Mizrachi – 246,900
4. Brian Altman – 239,700
5. Conray Watson – 229,000
6. Grigoriy Shvarts – 216,200
7. Marc-Olivier Tanguay – 215,000
8. Asher Conniff – 210,800
9. Darren Keyes – 208,300
10. Fabrice Pastor – 201,000
Right at the end of Day 1c, Rose took out Chrishan Sivasundaram to gain nearly 30,000 in chips to add to his stack. After Said Michailidis limped in from early position, Rose raised to 3,500. Sivasundaram reraised all in for 25,500 from the hijack seat, Michailidis folded, and Rose made the call with the 
. Sivasundaram held the 
and was at risk.
The flop, turn, and river ran out 
to keep Rose’s nines in the lead and knock out Sivasundaram.
The Day 1c field was the largest of the three starting flights, with 306 entries added to the tournament’s total. The full field size clocked in at 606 entries to generate a prize pool of C$2.057 million. The top 76 finishers were set to finish in the money, with the winner set to take home C$403,570.
Completing Day 1c second in chips behind Rose was two-time WPT Champions Club member Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi. He bagged up a stack of 246,900 in chips and spoke to WPT.com after play.
“I was down to 3,800, but I’ve been in situations like this before,” Mizrachi started. “I was down to 50 chips once and all in with seven-deuce, and I came back and made the final six. I always look back at that, and never give up.”
Mizrachi is certainly no stranger to the felt, especially that of the World Poker Tour variety. Lately though, he’s been a little less heavy on the travel.
“A friend asked me to come,” Mizrachi said of what brought him to WPT Montreal. “This is probably my second tournament since the summer. Been playing a lot of cash games back home. It’s hard for me to travel. As you get older, it gets tiring, but I felt like I needed to get out for a little bit.”
Mizrachi is certainly a formidable opponent no matter his position in the field, and that’s only heightened when he’s yielding a big stack.
“Just do what I did today,” Mizrachi said of his plan for Day 2. “Keep grinding.”
Mike Sexton was another player to advance out of Day 1c, just like Rose and Mizrachi. As the defending of WPT Montreal, everyone was watching Sexton like a hawk. His first two attempts, one from Day 1a and another from Day 1b, resulted in eliminations, but Sexton battled his way to bag on Day 1c.
“On Day 1b, I got to 20 minutes to the end of the day before I got knocked out,” Sexton said of a frustrating Saturday at Playground Poker Club. “I went to the bar, got a few beers, and watched the UFC on TV for a little bit before I went back to the hotel. I got to bed by 2 or 2:30, plenty of time. Woke up at 10, here I am, fresh as a daisy on Day 1c. I made it through the day, just below average in chips.”
If you watch Sexton play live poker these days, you’ll notice a small, wind-up toy monkey next to his chips or on top of his cards. That’s “Flippy.”
“Flippy is my little pet monkey, my good luck charm,” Sexton said. “My son Ty gave him to me for good luck. I didn’t use him on Days 1a or 1b, and I got punished for it. I just left him back in the hotel, saving him until Day 2. But I had to pull him out today, I had to pull out all the stops to try to get through the day to even make it to Day 2. I’m still in the hunt here, and I’m happy to be alive. It’ll be a fun day tomorrow.”
Last season, Sexton topped a field of 648 entries to win the WPT Montreal Main Event and join the prestigious WPT Champions Club. He’s proud to be back to defend his title this year.
“I wanted to come back and defend, and I’ve given it my best effort so far,” Sexton said. “I don’t ever fire three bullets in a tournament anymore. I can’t remember how many years it’s been since I’ve done that. But I made up my mind before I came up here that if it took three bullets, I was gonna fire all three, just to give myself a shot.”
Sexton went on to say how he might’ve approached this tournament if he hadn’t one this year.
“I probably would have taken Saturday off to watch college football, and may have played Sunday if I needed a second bullet, but I don’t think I would’ve fired three,” Sexton said.
Sexton will enter Day 2 with 64,100, eerily close to the 64,600 he entered Day 2 with one season ago when he won the WPT Montreal Main Event at Playground Poker Club.
Day 2 will see 234 players return to action at Playground Poker Club on Monday, November 13. The cards will be in the air at 12 p.m. ET, and the plan is to play through nine 60-minute levels. Based off last season’s event, Day 2 is when the field should reach the money, and this season the top 76 finishers are set to cash in the WPT Montreal Main Event.
Of note, the Action Clock, provided by Protection Poker, will be added to the mix once the tournament reaches the point when the field is one table off of the money. Under the rules of the Action Clock, players will have 30 seconds with each decision and a set amount of 30-second time extension chips should they need addition time.
As always you can keep your browsers pointed right here to WPT.com for continued coverage of the Season XVI WPT Montreal Main Event.
Check out the Day 1a recap and Day 1b recap to find out what happened leading into Day 1c of the Season XVI WPT Montreal Main Event.
Photography by Joe Giron / PokerPhotoArchive.com
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