Big Names Bully Playground, Pace partypoker MILLION North America

After massive events in Europe, the partypoker MILLION moved to Playground Poker Club outside Montreal for another CA$5,000,000 guaranteed event. When play began earlier today, 422 of 1,005 entrants returned for Day 2 of the partypoker MILLION North America Main Event and when registration closed, a record field had come together.

1,168 runners had built up the biggest prize pool in Canadian poker history and when that purse was finalized, the record-breaking field learned that the final 119 players would be competing for a piece of a CA$5,709,750 prize pool. More importantly, CA$1,000,000 awaits the eventual champion and while the field has yet to get into the money, WPT champion James Romero is in the driver’s seat after Day 2.

Romero bagged 19,600,000 to pace 177 survivors, who will all return tomorrow to play into the money and beyond. WSOP bracelet winner Upeshka De Silva sits right below Romero, with 18,500,000 and WPT Montreal champion Ema Zajmovic, who became the first female player to win a WPT event earlier this year, is also near the top of the leaderboard with 15,700,000.

partypoker Pro Sam Trickett is also through to Day 3, with 12,200,000, along with PSC Bahamas champion Christian Harder, who is near that number. High Rollers Jason Koon (10,100,000) and Sam Greenwood (8,970,000) and three-time WPT champion Darren Elias (10,000,000) have also advanced. November Niner Vojtech Ruzicka and Ari Engel will both return, with an above average 9,000,000.

On the other side of average, Mike McDonald and Cate Hall both advanced with just under 5,000,000 and Tony Dunst is through with 1,195,000. Former WSOP Main Event champion and recent WPT winner Ryan Riess is also going to return but he will have his work cut out for him, with a sub-1,000,000 chip stack.

With over a billion, that is not a typo, chips in play, there is plenty of work for the returning Day 3 field. With over CA$5,000,000 up for grabs and a seven-figure score guaranteed for the eventual partypoker MILLION North America Main Event champion, that work will certainly be worth it. Updates for the partypoker MILLION can be found here and Poker Central will bring you nightly recaps until a champion is crowned.