CHARLES SYLVESTRE LEADS FINAL 18 OF LAC-LEAMY MAIN EVENT

After two days of play it is WSOP bracelet winner Charles Sylvestre who leads the remaining 18 players with 1,227,000 in the Casino Lac-Leamy Main Event. The second day was action packed, as we saw no less than 180 players hit the rail at the Casino Lac Leamy in Gatineau. In total there were 371 entries into the Main Event and the winner will walk away with a check worth $122,435. One of Sylvestre’s biggest rivals for that check will be Mike Leah who’s second in chips with 608,000, less than half of what the chip leader has.

Well over 12 hours before Sylvestre bagged up his chip leading stack we saw Sam Panzica be one of the first players to get knocked out. Panzica, a three-time WSOP Circuit ring winner, ended up all in holding two fives and those were no good against Francine Cousineau’s eights.

Poker super star Mike McDonald would not add to his $5.5 million in career live tournament earnings here at the Lac Leamy casino as he was knocked out twice on Day 2. McDonald entered Day 2 with a decent stack but a big clash sent him packing early on. McDonald used his option to re-enter but his second attempt was also a short-lived one.

Other top pros like Marc-Andre Ladouceur and Sam Chartier were also unsuccessful on Day 2 as we saw them get knocked out during the early stages of the day. Erik Cajelais, winner of a WSOP Europe bracelet in 2010, sparked Sylvestre’s good run when he sent his final chips towards the current chip leader. Cajelais busted out holding queen-jack versus Sylvestre’s ace-eight suited.

On the money bubble it was chip leader Daniel Charette who took care of business. Charette held pocket fives against the short stack’s ace-king suited who did not improve. Charette held the chip lead for quite a while on Day 2 and he will return tomorrow with 599,000.

Players started flying out the door after the money bubble burst and Bryan Moon knocked out two right away. Moon was trailing with pocket nines but he beat both Nicola Basile’s queens and Camille Mikhael’s sixes after flopping a full house. Moon had a lot of swings on Day 2 but he returns tomorrow with 516,000 chips.

The November Niner (2008) that played in this event, Canadian Scott Montgomery, had a very good run but he was knocked out in 39th place for $2,515. Montgomery ended up all in with a straight flush draw but did not improve against Jeremie Trepanier’s kings.

Casino Championship leader Marc Carpentier-Perrault added some more to his total as he made it into the money as well. The French Canadian player finished in 38th place when he ran pocket fours into Adam Postawka’s jacks. The latter returns tomorrow with 295,000 chips. One of the most experienced tournament players left in the field was knocked out a little while later as Pratyush Buddiga busted in 35th for $2,771.

In the final hours of the day things turned into the Sylvestre show as he knocked out players left, right and center. Sylvestre kept adding to his big stack, something Mona Harb failed to do. One of the two remaining ladies was knocked out in 24th when she ran ace-king into both aces and queens. Dinara Khaziyeva will return on Day 3 as she managed to stay alive with a healthy stack worth 576,000.

Action resumes on Day 3 at 1:00 p.m. local time with just 18 players remaining. Depending on the pace of play tomorrow we might crown a WSOP Circuit Main Event champion tomorrow, so make sure to tune back in for all the live updates right here on WSOP.com.

1. Charles Sylvestre - 1,227,000
2. Mike Leah - 608,000
3. Daniel Charette - 599,000
4. Dinara Khaziyeva 576,000
5. Bryan Moon 516,000
6. Sol Bergren 503,000
7. Richard Reimer 461,000
8. Tony Della Sciucca 439,000
9. Gabriel Menard 435,000
10. Jason Sagle 312,000
11. Adam Podstawka 295,000
12. Justin Dean 270,000
13. Vladimir Faubert 248,000
14. Claude St-Pierre 235,000
15. Robert Repaci 209,000
16. John Nelson 189,000
17. John Pentefountas 168,000
18. Jeremie Trepanier 151,000