The largest live poker event ever staged in Canada has reached its final 30 players, and former WPT L.A. Poker Classic champion Paul Klann holds the chip lead entering Day 5. The CA$5,000 WSOP Super Circuit Canada Main Event at Playground attracted 2,844 entries and created a CA$13,082,400 prize pool, comfortably exceeding the CA$10 million guarantee.
Klann will return with 11.3 million chips, equivalent to 113 big blinds when play resumes at 11 a.m. local time. Guoyan Li is second with 8.1 million, while Nicholas Palma sits third with 7.6 million. Chance Kornuth, who eliminated Daniel Negreanu during Day 4, is also well positioned in sixth with 6.6 million.
The final 30 are scheduled to play six more levels on Wednesday. The survivors will then return Thursday to determine the champion, who will receive the WSOP Circuit ring and the CA$1.5 million first prize. Every player still in the tournament has already locked up CA$51,000, but the largest payout jumps are still ahead.
A Record Field at Playground
The Main Event is the centerpiece of the first WSOP Super Circuit stop of its kind at Playground. The turnout of 2,844 entries pushed the prize pool more than CA$3 million beyond the original guarantee and established a new benchmark for live tournament poker in Canada.
A field that large changes the shape of the event. Players have to survive multiple starting phases and long days before the final table is even visible. By the time the field reached 30, nearly 99% of the entries had already been eliminated. The remaining group is therefore small relative to the starting field, but still large enough that another full day of play is required before the final table.
The size of the prize pool also means that late-stage decisions carry unusually large financial consequences. A single elimination can change a player’s guaranteed return by tens or hundreds of thousands of Canadian dollars, especially once the field approaches the final 13 and nine-handed final table.
Klann Takes Control on Day 4
Klann’s rise to the top was not simply the result of accumulating chips quietly. One of the defining pots of Day 4 came against Will Givens, who had spent much of the session with one of the largest stacks in the room.
Givens attempted a major bluff, but Klann held the nut flush. The pot transferred a substantial portion of Givens’ stack to Klann and helped propel the Canadian toward the lead. Givens never recovered and was eliminated before the players bagged for the night.
The hand was especially costly because Givens had been on course to finish near the top of the counts. In a tournament with six levels still to play before the final day, maintaining a large stack offers flexibility and pressure opportunities. Losing a major pot late in the session can therefore change not only a player’s chip count but the entire range of options available in the next level.
Negreanu and Mizrachi Among the Day 4 Casualties
Day 4 began with several recognizable names still in the field, but many failed to reach the final 30. Poker Hall of Famers Daniel Negreanu and Michael Mizrachi were among the players eliminated, as was Rami Hammoud, who had finished sixth in the 2026 WSOP Main Event.
Negreanu’s run ended against Kornuth. Kornuth called for the river card he needed and got it, sending the Canadian star out of the tournament. Kornuth went on to finish the day with 6.6 million chips and remains one of the better-positioned contenders heading into the next session.
The exits underline how quickly a large-field tournament can change. A recognizable résumé provides experience but no protection from a short stretch of cards or a single decisive pot. By the end of Day 4, the leaderboard had shifted toward Klann, Li, Palma and the other players who managed to survive the session with workable stacks.
Klann Is Chasing a Second Seven-Figure Result
Klann’s position is notable because his live tournament résumé is concentrated around one enormous result. He has $1,170,830 in recorded live earnings, with almost all of that total coming from his victory in the 2013 WPT L.A. Poker Classic Main Event.
That tournament drew 517 entries, and Klann won $1,004,090 for first place. His appearances on the live circuit have been sporadic since then. Before this WSOP Super Circuit run, his most recent recorded cash came at Playground last year, when he min-cashed the CA$2,500 WSOP Circuit Montreal Main Event.
Thirteen years after his L.A. Poker Classic title, Klann now has an opportunity to record another seven-figure score. The CA$1.5 million first prize would exceed his previous best cash when converted into U.S. dollars, and it would come in the biggest live poker tournament Canada has hosted.
The Payout Ladder Gets Steep From Here
All 30 remaining players are guaranteed at least CA$51,000. The next significant milestone comes at 26 players, where the guaranteed prize rises to CA$65,000. The final 13 are assured six figures, which means several of the largest jumps will occur before the final table is even reached.
Making the nine-handed final table guarantees CA$150,000. Seventh place is worth CA$300,000, double the minimum final-table payout. The final four receive at least CA$600,000, while the last three are guaranteed CA$750,000 each. The runner-up will collect CA$1 million and the champion will take CA$1.5 million.
Those numbers create a difficult balance. Players want to preserve tournament life as the payouts rise, but overly passive play can allow larger stacks to accumulate blinds and antes. Chip leaders such as Klann can use that tension to apply pressure, particularly against opponents whose stacks are large enough to protect but not large enough to absorb repeated confrontations.
What Day 5 Could Decide
Day 5 is scheduled for six levels, so the goal is not necessarily to play down to a champion. Instead, the session should determine who reaches Thursday with a realistic chance at the ring and the top two seven-figure prizes.
Klann begins with 113 big blinds, giving him the deepest stack in the field. Li and Palma are close enough that the lead is far from secure, while Kornuth’s 6.6 million keeps another accomplished player near the top. With 30 players still left, even a substantial chip lead can disappear through a few large pots.
The record field also means there is no shortage of chips in play. As tables shorten and break, stack sizes will become more concentrated. The players who can add chips without exposing themselves to unnecessary elimination risk will be best placed when the field reaches the final two tables.
A Major Canadian Poker Moment
Whatever happens over the final two days, the Main Event has already achieved its headline milestone. A CA$13,082,400 prize pool from 2,844 entries made it the largest live poker event held in Canada, and the CA$10 million guarantee was not merely reached but exceeded by a wide margin.
For Playground, the turnout gives the first WSOP Super Circuit stop an immediate place in the venue’s tournament history. For the final 30, however, the focus is much narrower. Each player is now a small number of eliminations away from a final table where every surviving place is worth at least CA$150,000.
Klann enters that phase in front. His previous seven-figure victory came more than a decade ago, but the chip lead has put him in position to chase another. The next six levels will show whether that advantage survives the pressure of a record-breaking field approaching its final day.
What the Result Means From Here
The payout ladder ensures that even players who begin Day 5 far behind Klann still have meaningful decisions ahead. Reaching 26 players raises the minimum cash, the final 13 secure six figures, and the nine-handed final table guarantees at least CA$150,000. Those jumps will influence risk tolerance throughout the session, especially for medium stacks caught between survival and the need to accumulate enough chips for the final day.
Klann’s advantage is substantial but not decisive. A stack of 113 big blinds gives him room to absorb setbacks, yet Li, Palma and Kornuth are close enough to change the order quickly. In a field of 30, the leader still has to navigate table redraws, changing stack distributions and increasingly expensive payout decisions before the final table is set.
The record turnout also gives the final stages unusual weight. Players are not merely competing for a Circuit ring; they are playing for shares of a prize pool that surpassed the guarantee by more than CA$3 million. As the field contracts from 30 to 13 and then nine, the financial value of survival increases sharply. Klann enters that phase with the best stack and one of the most unusual résumés in the field, but the next six levels will decide whether that lead becomes another seven-figure finish or only a strong deep run.
For the rest of the contenders, Day 5 is about staying close enough to the leaders to matter on Thursday. A player who finishes the session with a medium stack can still win the tournament, while a chip leader who loses two major pots can disappear. The Main Event has already broken records; the remaining question is which of the final 30 can convert that scale into the biggest result of the week.