The third go-round of the 2024 Pure Poker Tour (PPT) season is now complete and Ryan Cairns finally broke the 2024 dominance of Eric Wasylenko to bring the PPT Main title back to Alberta. Cairns took down the title after an epic battle from fourth place to the win at the final table.
In total, there were 12 events across the week-long “miniseries” and nearly 1,500 entries were recorded for the whole week. That total excludes entries in the satellite games throughout the week, so the total entries almost certainly cracked that number with the final tally likely approaching 2,000.
That meant more than $700k in prizes were awarded last week at Pure Casino Edmonton, with nearly half of the total awarded in the $1,100 Main Event. Two other events cracked the $50k mark in prize pools.
Summary of 2024 PPT #3
- PPT #3 – July 21 – 29, 2024
- Events: 12
- Entries: 1,467
- Prizes: $718,210
| Start | # | Tournament | Entries | Prize Pool | Winner | 1st Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23-Jul-24 | 1 | $340 Seniors First | 122 | $34,770 | Somsanouk ‘Mike X’ Sitthammavong | $6,895 |
| 23-Jul-24 | 2 | $230 NLH | 134 | $25,460 | Sam Mason | $6,836 |
| 23-Jul-24 | 3 | $340 Survivor | 39 | $11,115 | Carl Schelpe | $2,779 |
| 24-Jul-24 | 4 | $560 6-Max | 124 | $58,900 | Kyle Levicki | $16,030 |
| 24-Jul-24 | 5 | $340 NLH/PLO | 107 | $30,495 | Tony Hoang | $7,824 |
| 25-Jul-24 | 6 | $560 PLO Big Bounty | 81 | $46,170 | Mehmet Siginc | $9,085 |
| 25-Jul-24 | 7 | $340 NLH | 152 | $43,320 | Garry Sandhu | $8,183 |
| 26-Jul-24 | 8 | $1,100 Main Event | 377 | $354,569 | Ryan Cairns | $49,000 |
| 26-Jul-24 | 9 | $200 Turbo | 141 | $24,111 | Brent Baxter | $4,000 |
| 27-Jul-24 | 10 | $230 Tag Team | 39 | $7,410 | Ken Kanada – James Macutchen | $2,805 |
| 28-Jul-24 | 11 | $2,000 High Roller | 35 | $59,850 | Kris Steinbach | $25,730 |
| 28-Jul-24 | 12 | $230 Turbo | 116 | $22,040 | Chun Lee | $4,524 |
| Totals | 1,467 | $718,210 | $143,691 |
Big Start with Seniors First
One of the features of a PPT schedule is typically that the Seniors event comes first. While that isn’t universally true — Calgary started with the 6-max earlier this year for example — the 50+ crowd are usually the ones to kick off a PPT.
This year it was a big turnout for the opener with 122 entries and prizes of nearly $35k. That began a big opening day that also saw the first open event, a low-cost NLH game for $230, draw an even bigger crowd of 134. A third Survivor format game in the evening drew almost 40 more entries for an opening day total of nearly 300 across all the events.
Those decent numbers continued through the series with multiple games exceeding 100 entries. Two games, the 6-Max and the High Roller, both piled up more than $50k in prizes, while the big game of the week for entries (excluding the Main Event) was a $340 NLH game on July 25 taken down by Garry Sandhu in a 3-way chop at the end.
Main is Huge
the 2024 PPT #3
The Main Event, as always, was the “Big Show” in every respect. It crushed the entries and prizes with 377 entries and $354,569 to play for. That prize pool accounted for nearly half the series total and a total of 49 players shared in the money.
Well, the truth is, only 48 “players” shared in the money, though 49 spots were paid out. In a rather unusual situation, Kris “Steiner” Steinbach, local Edmonton businessman and series regular, managed to cash the event twice. He bagged fumes on Day 1a — barely more than a starting stack — so decided to fire again on 1b to see if he could find a bigger bag.
He managed to do it, bagging nearly 4x his 1a stack on Day 1b, so the question remained, what’s up with his 1a stack? In this case, PPT staff decided that both stacks would play on Day 2, but the smaller stack would be immediately busted and taken out of play with the 49th place min-cash going to Steiner while he was still alive playing 150k for a deeper run as well. He managed to run that second stack up to 34th place for nearly $5k combined. He then followed that up the next day by winning the High Roller for ~$25k to cap a ~$30k final weekend.
at Pure Casino Edmonton
But it was local grinder Ryan Cairns who took down the big prizes and it wasn’t an easy run. He came into Day 2 with less than 100k, but ran that up to the chip lead to start the final table about 8 hours later. That’s when things started to get tougher.
The first few hours looked like it would be a fairly quick final table, as they played from nine to four in about three hours. It would then take nearly 5 more hours to decide a winner after an epic four-way battle turned into an epic three-way battle, ending in an evenly-matched HU battle for about an hour.
The epic four-way battle included Zhi Jiang (4th), Gary Rooprai (3rd), and Tyler Panas (2nd). Jiang was dialed in for the endgame, playing his stack with precision. It took a couple of massive coolers against Rooprai to finally end his hopes. In the main hand, the money went in between the two with Jiang on the flopped nut straight against Rooprai’s flopped bottom set. Rooprai needed the board to pair, and it did so in unusual fashion, coming running sixes to leave Jiang on fumes.
He busted a while later in a very similar spot, with Rooprai also on the receiving end of that final hand. The three-way battle was no less epic, as it would be more than an hour again before Rooprai finally hit the rail in third leaving Panas and Cairns heads-up for the title. There was a three-way deal made shortly before Rooprai hit the cage, and the final two also cut another deal about half-way through heads-up while Panas was in the lead. That actually secured him the biggest payday from the game, despite coming second a while later.
Cairns was as dialed in as Jiang for the game. He made a few life changes in the past half-decade or so, and that has translated well to the green felt. He had a deep run back in the final Main Event of 2022 here on the PPT, finishing third for his then-biggest score ever, and during that run, he told me he quit drinking recently and said that it had a major positive impact on his game.
And it shows with his second big result on the Tour since 2022. He now has nearly $240k in lifetime earnings, going back to his first cash in 2013, with almost $100k of that coming since 2022.
Lauzon Named Player of the Series
During the final day of the Main Event for this series, the staff of the PPT, including TDs Joanne Jost, Tressa Corbin, and Karyn Parker, as well as dealers and housepeople involved in the series, selected a Player of the Series. The near-unanimous choice was Ron Lauzon, who is a very familiar face both on the PPT and around the Edmonton poker scene.
The announcement was made early on the final day of play in the Main Event, and it was met with an immediate round of applause from all players. That shows what a good choice Lauzon was, as he is very well-liked in the community both from the players and the staff.
the crowd, and he comes by the white hat legitimately. Giles is
a life-long Alberta rancher & one of the most positive regulars
at the local poker tables.
Sitting down at a table with Lauzon, you know it’s not going to be a quiet, sedate day. Lauzon is among the more animated players at any given poker table, though he never even comes close to crossing any lines. His banter is always upbeat and positive, with self-deprecating humour at least as common as any other comments. While you always know you’re not having quiet day when you see Lauzon in the room, you also know you’ll have a few good chuckles along the way.
Another local legend, “Cowboy” Ron Giles who was in town from his ranch just outside of Calgary for the series, said about poker. “My favorite thing about poker is the people, that’s for sure.” Both Giles and Lauzon are great examples of what makes that statement true.
Get a recap of the event with my 2024 PPT #3 Recap video or look back at all the reporting for the series.
