The players in Day 3 of the $3,500 World Poker Tour Playground Championship have a million things on their mind as they navigate their way to a chance to play for $213,666 and a seat in the WPT World Championship. Santiago Plante has a little bit less to worry about as a Montreal native – Playground Poker is home for him.
“There’s nothing like sleeping in your own bed for a deep run,” Plante said while smoking a cigarette with two tables remaining. “I use those exact words when people ask me about playing here. I’m so happy tournaments are back.”
Extra special to win at home
Plante’s poker career could come full circle with a signature win, as Playground Poker is where he cut his teeth learning the game. “It would be double extra special to win here over everything else,” he said.
“All my friends play here and I know everyone that works here,” he added. “I had my first few good scores here that helped launch my poker journey.”
Plante’s friends periodically walked by for a slap on the shoulder, or a fist bump – one player even handed a cigarette and joked, “For ten percent.” Plante’s support is tangible and vocal.
Plante had two huge runs in 2023 – he finished fourth in the EPT Barcelona Main Event and had a third-place run in a $10,000 Six-Max event at the PCA. His largest cash in Playground came in 2018 when he took ninth place in the WPT partypoker Main Event for $65,753.
Living in the moment
He’s working to not let the opportunity overwhelm him. “I can taste it [the win],” said Plante. “I’m focusing on one hand at a time, but I can feel the moment getting real.”
If he does make the final table, Tuesday is an off day for the finalists. “I won’t study; I’ll review a little bit,” Plante said. “I think studying something right now would confuse me more than help.”
One tool he uses is to only study when he’s in the mood or curious about something. Studying when he’s not motivated feels like a burden to him. “I’ll study a lot at once but then don’t force myself to keep going,” said Plante.
“I heard there’s a juicy $10,000 tournament so I’ll probably play that,” he added. “I don’t have that many opportunities to play these.”
Everyone’s familiar with the adage, “the first million is the hardest,” and should everything run in Plante’s favor – he could cross the $2 million threshold for his career. So, was it harder?
“The bigger your bankroll gets, the easier it is to climb,” Plante said. “It wouldn’t mean anything to hit that particular threshold, but the win would mean something. I’m not playing for rankings or to hit certain numbers.”
All photos courtesy of World Poker Tour - Alicia Skillman
