WPT Montreal, Day 1A Recap

By BJ Nemeth

Here’s a look back at some of the highlights from Day 1A of WPT Montreal.

During a break on Day 1A, Jason Koon tried on the WPT Winner’s Belt to see how it’ll look if (when?) he wins this tournament. But his dream was cut short as a security guard enters the frame and strong-arms him away from the trophy area.

The Playground Poker Club is the host casino for WPT Montreal, the first-ever WPT event in the Canadian province of Quebec.

Royal Flush Girls Angelique Velez (left) and Ivy Teves greet the players as they arrive and pass out swag bags with a WPT sweatshirt and other freebies.

In the early action, Xuan Liu (left) faces off against last season’s WPT Player of the Year, Joe Serock (right). Liu is one of the WPT’s "Ones to Watch" for Season XI.

Former NHL player Guy Carbonneau was one of the Canadian celebrities in the field.

The turnout exceeded expectations, as it neared a capacity field with 478 players on Day 1A.

Before the day was over, there were already more than that pre-registered for Day 1B, so this field will certainly cross the 1,000-player mark, making it one of the largest WPT fields in history.

Two other French-Canadian celebrities in the field were 2010 WSOP Main Event champion Jonathan Duhamel and NASCAR driver Isabelle Tremblay, who competes on the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series.

Royal Flush Girls Ivy Teves (left) and Angelique Velez pose for a photo in front of the potentially record-breaking field on Day 1A.

By the time the dinner break rolled around, a light rain was falling outside the Playground Poker Club, giving the entrance a more dramatic look.

Valerie Ross is an ambassador for the Playground Poker Club, playing in a WPT event at her home casino.

When play ended after 1:00 am, Patrick Lelievre finished as the only player with more than 300,000 in chips (10x what each player started with). It’ll be interesting to see if anyone on Day 1B can beat his stack of 326,100.

Antonio Esfandiari finished the day 10th in chips with 197,400, and was interviewed by WPT Reporter Diana Cox as the ClubWPT.com Player of the Day.

There were 478 entrants on Day 1A, and 141 survived to reach Day 2. Since this is a re-entry event, the players who busted have the option of buying in for another $3,500 to take another shot on Day 1B.

Even if players survived Day 1A, they have the option of trying again today to see if they can survive with a larger stack. (Players who survive both Day 1s will only be able to carry one chip stack forward to Day 2.)

Here’s a look at the top of the leaderboard from Day 1A:

1.  Patrick Lelievre  –  326,100  (163 bb)
2.  Kerry Shears  –  299,300  (149 bb)
3.  Jean-Louis Forino  –  272,000  (136 bb)
4.  Marc-Andre Ladouceur  –  247,300  (123 bb)
5.  Ben Armstrong  –  221,700  (110 bb)

And the members of the WPT Champions Club who survived Day 1A:

Mike Watson  –  207,300  (103 bb)
Antonio Esfandiari  –  197,400  (98 bb)
Dominik Nitsche  –  158,200  (79 bb)
Soren Turkewitsch  –  103,000  (51 bb)
David Williams  –  100,500  (50 bb)

Day 1B begins today at 11:00 am ET. Stay tuned to WPT.com for live coverage and chip counts throughout the day.