WPT Montreal on record-setting pace

The World Poker Tour is making its first stop north of the border since 2008 (when the WPT hosted a tournament in Niagara Falls) this week, and after the huge turnout on Day 1a of the event it looks as if the WPT Montreal could very well set a couple of Canadian records; potentially breaking the record for the largest prize-pool and the most entrants.

The tournament was split into two Day 1 starting flights (as the Playground Poker Club is only able to accommodate 500 or so players) and on Day 1a the final tally reached 478 players at the end of the late registration period. Day 1b will likely see even more entrants. Not only is Day 1b usually the better attended day, but like most WPT events nowadays the WPT Montreal is allowing players who busted on Day 1a to reenter on Day 1b. It’s likely the Day 1b field will top 500 players and a waiting-list will be created as players bust out.

In order to break the Canadian record the WPT Montreal will have to attract 554 players on Day 1b (the World Series of Poker Circuit Series stop in Vancouver earlier this year is the current record-holder, having attracted 1,032 players) a seemingly attainable number.

In addition to sheer numbers, the WPT Montreal also saw quite a few big names at the poker tables on Day 1a. Among the players in attendance were a litany of Canadian pros like Daniel Negreanu, Mike McDonald, Peter Jetten, Jonathan Duhamel, Xuan Liu, and Mike Watson, as well as other top pros like Dominik Nitsche, Marvin Rettenmaier, David Williams, Joe Cheong, Tony Dunst, Andy Frankenberger, Tom Marchese, and the dynamic duo of Antonio Esfandiari and Phil Laak.

At the end of play two big names landed in the Top 10, Antonio Esfandiari and Mike “SirWatts” Watson. Here is a look at the Top 10 players on the leader-board from Day 1a of the WPT Montreal:

1. Patrick Lelievre — 326,100
2. Kerry Shears — 299,300
3. Jean-Louis Forino — 272,000
4. Marc-Andre Ladouceur — 247,300
5. Ben Armstrong — 221,700
6. Guillaume Decaen — 214,200
7. Kevin MacDonald — 212,200
8. Mike Watson — 207,300
9. Tamer Alkamli — 204,600
10. Antonio Esfandiari — 197,400

According to the World Poker Tour website, Day 1b of the event already has over 500 players pre-registered for the tournament, so it would appear that the final tally will be well over 1,000 players, constituting a $3+ million prize-pool. We’ll keep you posted on Day 1b of the tournament as well as the final prize-pool and payouts when they are released.