So Bad Beat has changed at Playground. Once the current jackpot (around $65k right now I think?) gets hit with the usual requirements the BBJ going forward will now be a minimum of $100k but the requirements got a bit stricter too.

Still AAAKK minimum losing hand but for a boat or quads to count you must have a pocket pair. Under the old rules a board of 22233 would be a BBJ if one player had 24 and the other had 33 - now that will no longer qualify.

Went to Playground for the 1st time yesterday and was impressed. Was going to play tournament, but was put on alternate list and when I asked for a structure sheet, they said they didn't have one, so I played a $1/$2 game which was a very good decision.

Had a great table, ran great and only lost one big pot, and won $1,000 in 7-8 hours. When I come up to Montreal to play poker, I have always played at the Montreal Casino, but wanted to try Playground out and I will be back. Below is my list of pro's and cons for both places, and yes I am nit picking a little bit.

Montreal Casino:

Pros: Closer to downtown Montreal, more tables/players/stakes, less rake (but still high), casino players who will come up and try poker, spacious room between tables.

Cons: Can't drink alcohol at the table, beverage service (very small glasses, no bottled water) no comps whatsoever, very little given back to players (only $250 high hand per day), TV's on wall, hard to see if in middle of the room.

Playground Poker:

Pros: Very nice interior, great adjustable seats, free food for cash players, TV's all over the room you can see up close, free booze, more drink selections, promos for player (Spin the Wheel, high hand (I won $50 by flopping Quads).

Cons: Tables cramped because of food trays, higher rake (but more back in return), less tables/stakes/players, further from downtown, no public transportation, tables got short-handed quicker than in Montreal (at one point I was playing 4-5 handed for 20 minutes.), got very cold inside of room when doors would open.

Overall, I really enjoyed playing at the Playground Poker Club, and will probably play here more than at the Montreal Casino. Makes more sense for a $1/$2 player to play here that at the Montreal Casino.

What do you mean by a "structure sheet"? Only thing I can think of is a list of the blind levels for the tourney?

Standard PG tourney structure is:
25/50
50/100
100/200
150/300
Break (chip up 25s)
200/400
300/600
400/800 A100
500/100 A100
Break
600/1200 A100
800/1600 A200
1k/2k A200
1.2k/2.4k A200
Break
1.5k/3k A300
2k/4k A400
2.5k/5k A500
(at this point I am mostly guessing as I don't last this long most of the time )
3k/6k A500
Break (chip up 100s)
4k/8k A500
5k/10k A1k
6k/12k A1k
8k/16k A1 (or 2?)k
10k/20k A2k
12k/24k A2k
14k/28k A2k
15k/30k A2k

Standard format is 20 minute blinds and the starting stacks are between 16k and 20k depending on the buyin. Turbo Deepstacks are 15 min blinds (and 5 levels before first break instead of 4) and starting stack is 30k.

(All stacks mentioned above assume you are not an idiot and you take the $5 dealer add-on to begin)

Tourneys usually pay top 10%, rounding up or 10%+1 for smaller (two or three tables) events.

I am like 99% sure there are less levels than that.
Like the 14/28k, theres no way it exists.

Also, the 2.5/5k, I'm not sure it is there.

14/28 may or may not be there you're right - like I said I was going off-the-cuff for this. In either case it's still the best bang-for-your-buck structure in the area. I played in the $80 freeze at Snakes last Friday and with 1/3 of the field left we were already at an avg stack of less than 10BB.

Okay so I actually made it to a 3-way chop in the $60 freeze last night (thinly-veiled brag) so I can give first-hand info about it. No 2.5/5k and no 12k/24k or 14k/28k in the $60 freeze.

January 28 - $550 Deepstack Freezeout at PG. Estimated 170 players + alternates. Should be a good one.

$2500 Freebuy tonight. Last one had an overlay from what I heard.

I'm new to Montreal, and want to check this place out. I plan to ship the free-buy tomorrow night. How long do these tourneys generally take to wrap up? I'll guess I'll probably cab back into Montreal, but I don't know what all this "no public transit" business is. Google maps tells me I can metro/bus it.

Its $25 for taxi from Angrinon metro Station to Playground.

I'll be at Playground for the 1st time on Monday, and am probably gonna hit the downtown casino on Sunday night as well.

What kind of PLO cash action is to be expected? Multiple tables and stakes or just one game? Do any PLO8 or HA cash games ever run? How much over the 3k guarantee does the "3 lives" tourney typically get?

Thanks in advance

PLO action is not guaranteed. Especially on a Monday night. PLO8 never runs. It might be and HA (NL/PL) game instead of a PLO game. I think the 3 lives tourney is on Tuesday if I'm not mistaken and can't comment on prize pool. However I know you can cash your "lives" right away to be sitting deeper.

Do they exchange currency on site? Was going to come up from ny to play and it can be a pain to exchange money on short notice.

Players are really taking advantage of our new guaranteed $100,000 Bad Beat Jackpot. Five days after $131,174 was won, the BBJ went out again for a staggering $100,000! That’s just under a Quarter Million dollars paid out to Playground players within a five day span. Guess what? It’s starting right back at $100,000 and if the past 5 days are any indication, it could again real soon!

As if that wasn’t exciting enough, Phil “The Unabomber” Laak and Antonio “The Magician” Esfandiari will be joining us at the club for a weekend full of action from March 1st – 4th 2012. They will start their stay in Montreal by playing in the $2200 Head Up tournament. We all know how competitive these two buddies are, and this time will be no different. Both think they are better than the other, and have agreed that whoever makes it deeper in the Heads Up tournament will send the loser outside, in the winter weather, and drop him in a dunk tank!! You read correctly, the loser will be dropped into a pool of freezing water right outside of Playground Poker Club!

As long as the loser doesn’t catch pneumonia, they will both be on hand for our $550 Laak & Esfandiari Open 2 day event!

The weekend closes off on Sunday March 4th with a $200 Bounty and the launch of Playground Poker Club’s monthly Iron-Man competition, which will be kicked off by the original Iron Man and Guinness World Record holder, Phil Laak. The last man standing in this event will walk away with $2500 in cash game buy-ins as well as custom Playground Poker swag!

For details on all our upcoming events and promotions, log onto www.playgroundpoker.ca

Hey guys, first post.

If you're interested in watching Laak play HU at Playground live right now, here's the link: http://www.justin.tv/canadapoker#/w/2698770384

Enjoy