The second of three flights at the WPT Montreal Championship drew 278 entries and Hasanain Al Ghunaim stood the tallest among the 95 players that will return for Day 2.
Al Ghunaim bagged 289 big blinds — the best of the two opening flights — and his nearest competitors from the second flight are Jonathan Willis and Antonio Pace. Willis, the WPT 500 Montreal champion, finished with 160 big blinds, while Pace had just a few more chips to take the second slot on the leaderboard.
Jonathan Willis won WPT500 Montreal earlier in the series. The three were in a battle for the top spot in the final stages of the evening, but Al Ghunaim picked up a few big pots to take the overall lead. He will return with a chance to build on a big year that started with a runner-up finish in the Main Event at the WSOPC stop in Calgary for over C$200K.
Also in the mix was WPT regular and cigar-chewing enthusiast Steve Buckner. He had chips for most of the day but ran out of room when Roman Pumpernick sent his short stack jam to the rail with a full house.
WPT live reports hand of the day
Jean Rene Plante (left) and Natasha Tatta clashed in Level 8. Mike Patrick and BJ Nemeth were on hand to capture all of the action from Day 1B, including this hand from Level 8:
The board was showing 
on the turn when Steve Daoust bet 16,000 from the big blind with the required bets at 600/1,200/1,200. Jean Rene Plante raised to 40,000 from under the gun and Natasha Tatta called from the next seat over before Daoust folded.
The river was 
and Plante shoved 79,500. Tatta asked for a count and went into the deep tank.
It appeared that a played called the clock, but Tatta then called with 
for a jack-high straight. Not to be outdone, Plante flipped over 
to double up with a straight flush.
Plante stacked up 311,000 after the hand and Tatta was left with 139,000. Both players will return on Sunday for Day 2.
The rest of the way
Also returning for Day 2 are Champions Club members Frederic Normand, Chanracy Khun, Eliot Hudon, Tony Sinishtaj, and Eric Afriat. Joining them are WPT Global's Jon Van Fleet and a second Plante (Santiago.) Christian Harder, Mike Dentale, and Joey Weissman are among the other recognizable faces that will make their way back on Sunday.
Saturday's Day 1C will round out a final Day 2 field that will return on Sunday at 11am. Monday's Day 3 will play down to a televised final table that will be taped on Wednesday.
Photos courtesy of World Poker Tour/Enrique Malfavon
