Poker players on the east coast of Canada certainly didn’t hesitate to grab a seat in the 2011 Atlantic Canada Poker Championships, currently underway at the Red Shores Casino and Racetrack in Charlottetown Prince Edward Island; the starting field is now completely sold out at 320 players and taking a wait list, making it pretty much a lock that Sunday’s winner will pocket the estimated top prize of $40,000.
The $500 plus $50 buy-in tournament features four qualifying rounds with a maximum of 80 players, starting twice daily on Friday, October 14th and on Saturday October 15th. The top 20%, from each round (in this case final 16 players), advance to the Championship Round on Sunday to battle it out for the prize money.
Players started with 5000 in their stacks and 30 minute blind levels, with those that make it through carrying their chips forward from the qualify rounds, but both stages have separate structures; play “re-sets” on Sunday.
With the completion of the events opening day, several familiar names are already present on the chip counts and clearly this event has attracted participants from across Canada; Shane Brotherwood for one we know to hail from Alberta, with many miles behind him since last week’s events in Edmonton.
Eric Place is in the top chip counts after the first few rounds, as the winner of both the 2010 BCPC $2,500 and 2011 Halifax Poker Classic, we can assume he will be one of the top contenders in this one.
Norm Overdijk also already sits with a monster chip count to start with on Sunday and finished just behind Eric in the same Halifax Poker Classic early this year, in addition to securing a player sponsorship at the beginning of the year as part of a 3 way deal with Gavin Smith in a Calgary event. Norm also has the extra motivation of looking to better his 3rd place finish the 2010 Atlantic Canada Poker Championships.
Here are the Chip Counts after 2 Rounds:
| Player Name | Chip Standing | Player Name | Chip Standing | |||
| 1 | Ryan Drake | 83,600 | 17 | Gary Lucci | 22,125 | |
| 2 | Norman Overdyke | 53,825 | 18 | Robert Gringas | 22,000 | |
| 3 | Jeff Kennedy | 48,100 | 19 | Craig Rout Gallant | 21,950 | |
| 4 | Kyle Myers | 39,275 | 20 | Renee Miller | 21,500 | |
| 5 | Danny Lee | 32,700 | 21 | Shane Brotherwood | 21,125 | |
| 6 | Matt LeBlanc | 29,150 | 22 | Justin Cummings | 19,550 | |
| 7 | Ryan Theriault | 27,925 | 23 | Trevor Mercer | 18,900 | |
| 8 | Vandra Duff | 26,075 | 24 | Dale Carrol | 18,750 | |
| 9 | Dave Edgett | 25,425 | 25 | Todd Webb | 18,275 | |
| 10 | Gerald MacLeod | 25,250 | 26 | David Meunier | 18,150 | |
| 11 | TJ Burke | 24,600 | 27 | Jerry Atlas | 17,650 | |
| 12 | Eric Place | 24,250 | 28 | Allison Amero | 12,875 | |
| 13 | Jack MacDonald | 23,750 | 29 | Mitchell Proctor | 11,650 | |
| 14 | Troy Gallant | 23,275 | 30 | Rob Gardiner | 8,725 | |
| 15 | Daniel Tomah | 23,025 | 31 | Allen McLaughlin | 7,250 | |
| 16 | Eli Critchley | 22,200 | 32 | Danielle Casario | 7,100 |
Be sure to check back here for more photos, chip counts and coverage from the 2011 Atlantic Canada Poker Championships!
