The champ is dead, long live the champ.
With last April’s WSOPC Playground Main Event champion A. Morkos eliminated in 10th place, just nine players remain in the hunt for the $600,000 CAD top prize and a WSOP Circuit ring.
When play resumes at 11am ET, with blinds of 125,000 / 250,000 (250,000), each player is guaranteed at least $60,000 CAD – but the biggest first prize of the Circuit season is just a few eliminations away.
Here's a look at the final contestants, ranging from bracelet winners and tournament pros to a business consultant and a Pokémon pro.
Chip leader: Allen Shen – 19M (76bb, Seat 3)
It’s been a calm run so far for the two-time Circuit ring winner who’s on the verge of a third and his biggest career score to date. He began Day 2 as chip leader and will carry that lead into Monday’s final nine.
Shen said that having a couple of days off before Day 2 helped him hold his lead through Sunday’s play.
“I feel amazing," he told us. "I bagged Day 1A, so I had two days off, got lots of rest, had a nice dinner last night, and I came in ready. It's been smooth sailing, and I'm hoping to take it down.”
With a career resume that totals over $782,000 in cashes, a $600,000 win would best the Torontonian’s $181,777 result from his fourth-place finish in last summer’s WSOP Lucky 7’s event.
2nd: Omid Shabazian – 13.2M (52bb, Seat 7)
Despite $339,992 in career tournament earnings from results dating back to 2013, Shabazian is still looking for his first recorded Hendon Mob victory, and a win here would be quite the way to get it.
His closest calls are a pair of second-place finishes, one of which was here at Playground in a 2017 WPT $600 Bounty event for $12,925 CAD + bounties. Moving a couple more rungs up the payout ladder will also see him secure his biggest-ever cash – a fourth-place finish here in 2018 in a $1,650 WPT Deepstacks event for $82,480 CAD.
3rd: Aaron Gao – 13M (52bb, Seat 8)
Gao has had a great start to 2026 with multiple deep runs, including a runner-up finish in the Potomac Winter Open in February, which he followed up immediately with a 5th place finish just days later in the WSOPC Baltimore Main Event. The following month, he was in Jeju, South Korea, where he finished second in a $2,000 Triton One Event.
While he earned almost $230,000 across those three results, Gao will certainly have his hopes set on closing this one out with a win for his first major title.
4th: ‘Jerry’ Pei Li – 11.8M (47bb, Seat 6)
Li’s unique resume suggests that a no-limit hold ‘em final table may not be his specialty, as the Calgarian’s WSOP bracelet and three Circuit rings have all come in pot-limit Omaha, with the bracelet and two of the rings coming in bounty formats.
Li is one of the most accomplished players at the final table, as along with his WSOP hardware, he boasts a resume that would top $1,000,000 in career tournament earnings with a sixth-place finish or better.
5th: Julien Cargnelutti – 9.8M (39bb, Seat 1)
In contrast to one of the most decorated resumes at the final table is one of the most modest, as Cargnelutti’s Hendon Mob shows just two recorded cashes for the Montreal-based business consultant. However, one of them is a win here at Playground last December in a Mystery Bounty event for just over $10,000 CAD plus bounties.
Having far eclipsed that number already with his final table appearance, Cargnelutti will be looking for some even bigger business on Monday.
6th: Brett Apter – 8M (32bb, Seat 9)
With a WSOP bracelet, three Circuit rings, and now over $2,500,000 in career tournament cashes, Apter is the most accomplished player remaining in the field and certainly a threat to take down the title despite starting the day with a middling stack.
Having made a last-minute change of plans to come to Montreal with his girlfriend, Apter decided to take a single shot at the Main Event, and it’s worked out wonderfully for him in his latest visit to Playground.
“It all feels like gravy right now," he said. "Last series I came for most of it [Apter cashed four times for about $8,000], this just feels fun. I feel like I’m freerolling.”
7th: Weiping Gu – 7.3M (29bb, Seat 5)
Gu is another player who’s earned a new career-high score on the live felt, as the $60,000 CAD he’s guaranteed nearly doubles his previous career earnings of $30,668 USD.
Gu’s results have primarily come from here at Playground, but his biggest cash came with a 36th-place finish at WSOPC Calgary in their 2024 Main Event for $7,455 CAD.
8th: Renhao Zhang – 3.2M (12bb, Seat 4)
Zhang has one of the most unique tournament resumes at the final table, as with just under $250,000 in career earnings to his name, the majority of that came from a $213,539 fourth-place finish in 2011 in a $1,000 WSOP event.
Since then, Zhang has had a scattering of eight more WSOP cashes, ranging from $672 in a 2016 Daily Deepstack to a WSOP Main Event min-cash in 2015.
It will be interesting to see how much more he can earn in his most successful run in 15 years.
9th: Sebastian Crema – 3.2M (12bb, Seat 2)
Poker isn’t the only card game that Crema has experience with, as he’s a former number one-ranked Pokémon Trading Card Game player in Canada.
Crema has parlayed that success into a strong poker career with over $631,000 in career tournament earnings and several smaller wins under his belt.
He's the short stack, so when it comes to the cards today, he’s gonna have to catch ‘em all.
WSOPC Playground final table by seat:
- Seat 1: Julien Cargnelutti – 9,800,000 (39bb)
- Seat 2: Sebastian Crema – 3,200,000 (12bb)
- Seat 3: Allen Shen – 19,000,000 (76bb)
- Seat 4: Renhao Zhang – 3,200,000 (12bb)
- Seat 5: Weiping Gu – 7,300,000 (29bb)
- Seat 6: Pei Li – 11,800,000 (47bb)
- Seat 7: Omid Shabazian – 13,200,000 (52bb)
- Seat 8: Aaron Gao – 13,000,000 (52bb)
- Seat 9: Brett Apter – 8,000,000 (32bb)
