Sebastien Aube Rockets to the Lead As 32 Players Survive Day 2 of the WPT Prime Montreal Championship

Photo: Sebastien Aube

A pair of aces helped both Sebastien Aube and Eric Welsh separate from the pack on Day 2 of the WPT Prime Montreal Championship.

Aube saved his massive pot until nearly the end of the night when he knocked out James Pillon and Zennawi Petros with two aces on his way to finishing as chip leader over the remaining 32 players with 6,270,000. Aube is already at the final table of WPT Choctaw, where he will enter the final table on May 30 in third place, and is in pole position for another final table appearance this week at Playground.

Welsh was also helped by a pair of aces when he took out Sebastian Vezina. Welsh was also responsible for ending the night by eliminating Jeffrey Cormier, ending up in second place with 3,780,000. Matteo Carelli (3,420,000), Jozef Cibicek (3,415,000), and Jikai Zhang (3,075,000) round out the top five. WPT Global ambassador Brad Owen (2,225,000) is also a big stack, while WPT Seminole Rock N’ Roll Poker Open runner-up Rayan Chamas (1,250,000) and 2022 WPT Prime World Championship finalist Alon Messica (850,000) are also still alive.

The day began with 160 players returning from four starting flights and one online flight that combined to build a total field of 1,291, surpassing the $1 million guaranteed prize pool. WPT Global ambassador Patrick Tardif (148th), WPT500 champion Jonathan Willis (140th), WPT Champions Club member Darryll Fish (119th), and start-of-day chip leader Samuel Guillen (49th) were among those to fall over the course of the day.

The remaining 32 players return to play tomorrow at 11 a.m. local time to play down to a final table of six. Action picks up with 26 minutes remaining in Level 22 with blinds of 15,000-30,000 and a 30,000 big blind ante. The final table then takes place on May 21 and will be live-streamed and filmed for television. Everyone left is guaranteed $7,100, with the eventual champion earning $191,300.

Stay tuned to WPT.com tomorrow for all the live updates as the final table will be set.