Lane Anderson
PlayNow Poker — B.C. and Manitoba's only government-licensed and operated online poker site — has awarded 100 packages to the 2015 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Monster Stack. Throughout all of April and May, satellites ran on PlayNow Poker every single day, giving players a chance to win their seat in the Monster Stack as well as money for travel and an invitation to an exclusive VIP party.
On Saturday, 46 of those qualifiers received their 15,000-chip starting stack for Event #28: Monster Stack $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em. They took their seats at various tables throughout the vast tournament halls at the Rio bearing their PlayNow patch and dreaming of the gold bracelet awaiting the eventual winner and the huge prize of $1,286,942.
Here are the 46 who began the day:
| Player | City, Province | Monster Stack Starting Day |
|---|---|---|
| Dylan Ellis | Winnipeg, Manitoba | 1b |
| Scott Craig | Vancouver, B.C. | 1b |
| Ho-Yeung Tang | Richmond, B.C. | 1b |
| Kostantinos Segounis | Richmond, B.C. | 1b |
| Jody Howe | Richmond, B.C. | 1b |
| Jaki Knelsen | Steinbach, Manitoba | 1b |
| Cory Parent | Richmond, B.C. | 1b |
| Sharrol Segal | Vancouver, B.C. | 1b |
| James Mcabee | Mission, B.C. | 1b |
| Blake Carriere | Langley, B.C. | 1b |
| Jamie Weiss | Kelowna, B.C. | 1b |
| Stuart Lowery | Victoria, B.C. | 1b |
| Andrew Moncek | Winnipeg, Manitoba | 1b |
| Dung Nguyen | Surrey, B.C. | 1b |
| Jeff Harrison | Winnipeg, Manitoba | 1b |
| Hui Zhou | Aldergrove, B.C. | 1b |
| Alexander Bylicki | Vancouver, B.C. | 1b |
| Sean Lannon | Vancouver, B.C. | 1b |
| Kaan Becer | Richmond, B.C. | 1b |
| Joanne Lewis | Vancouver, B.C. | 1b |
| Amy Wong | Burnaby, B.C. | 1b |
| Daryl Ellis | Winnipeg, Manitoba | 1b |
| Duncan Bell | Richmond, B.C. | 1b |
| Brant Taylor | Vancouver, B.C. | 1b |
| Chris Back | Terrace, B.C. | 1b |
| Berle Sill | Anahim Lake, B.C. | 1b |
| Mark Chomyshen | Kelowna, B.C. | 1b |
| Bernard Yuan Yin Tung | Richmond, B.C. | 1b |
| Matt Madsen | Maple Ridge, B.C. | 1b |
| Keith Carson | Winnipeg, Manitoba | 1b |
| Travis Darroch | Vancouver, B.C. | 1b |
| Fatima Nanji | Vancouver, B.C. | 1b |
| Richard Crowe | Vancouver, B.C. | 1b |
| Jonas Mackoff | North Vancouver, B.C. | 1b |
| Michael Flanagan | Victoria, B.C. | 1b |
| Richard Mullen | White Rock, B.C. | 1b |
| Jay Haraga | Surrey, B.C. | 1b |
| Jeremy Howe | Richmond, B.C. | 1b |
| Tamara Bremner | Burnaby, B.C. | 1b |
| Elliot Attwood | Victoria, B.C. | 1b |
| Ted Sorensen | Vancouver, B.C. | 1b |
| Chris Marta | Vancouver, B.C. | 1b |
| John Phan | Richmond, B.C. | 1b |
| John Warner | Unknown | 1b |
| Jordan Hamilton | Vancouver, B.C. | 1b |
| David Warner | Richmond, B.C. | 1b |
Play began at 10 a.m. and continued through 11 one-hour levels. With breaks added in, the surviving Monster Stack players didn't count up their chips to seal for Day 2 until shortly after midnight, making it a gruelling 14-hour day.
The event saw 7,192 entries in the two days combined, meaning 720 of them will be collecting a prize. There will be 2,060 players returning for the start of Day 2 on Sunday, so there is still a lot of play before the money bubble. Among those returning are 16 PlayNow qualifiers. Ravinder Bedi was the sole survivor of Day 1a and he will be joined by 15 more fellow PlayNow-patched players from Saturday’s Day 1b. Here are all of the surviving Day 1b players with their end-of-day chip counts:
| Player | Chips |
|---|---|
| Kostantinos Segounis | 85,800 |
| Jay Haraga | 63,700 |
| Richard Mullen | 55,000 |
| Stuart Lowery | 50,500 |
| Blake Carriere | 46,700 |
| Ted Sorensen | 41,800 |
| Kaan Becer | 34,400 |
| Chris Back | 32,300 |
| Joanne Lewis | 31,700 |
| Scott Craig | 29,700 |
| Jeff Harrison | 25,900 |
| Dung Nguyen | 22,500 |
| Dylan Ellis | 21,300 |
| Matt Madsen | 15,000 |
| Michael Flanagan | 14,800 |
Kostantinos Segounis has a sizeable lead over the other qualifiers, and with three previous WSOP cashes in $1,500 events, he clearly knows how to position himself for a deep run. With all that money waiting at the final table, all of these players are looking for a nice payout, but they’re also motivated by PlayNow’s generous last-longer challenge. They’re giving a WSOP Main Event seat to that last PlayNow qualifier remaining in this event — added value worth about $13,000. Hopefully that won’t be decided on Day 2, as there should be a number of qualifiers advancing through the day.
PokerNews Canada is on site bringing you updates of the PlayNow qualifiers as they take their run at the bracelet courtesy of their PlayNow Poker Monster Stack package, and we'll also be following any notable Canadians in the field. Follow along on our reporting page and join the conversation on Twitter with the hashtage #PlayNowWSOP.
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