2025 WSOPC Calgary Oct – Event #4: $400 NLH Mini Main Event

Nicholas Lee has had good success at WSOP-C Calgary over the years, but it’s typically in the middle of winter. He won his first ring here in January 2023, and he followed that up with #2 a year later in Jan 2024. His 3rd ring came in this year’s January series, and it looked a bit like January was just Lee’s month.

Now he can add ring #4, won in the fall. It’s also the first time he’s won two in one year, along with his first ring outside of January. He was dominant through much of the final table play tonight, holding the big stack most of the way.

He had a lot of competition from Dylan Ellis (3rd, $35,086) and Kezheng Peng (2nd, $50,104), with him and Ellis very close for a while during three-way play, and actually being down to Peng during heads-up.

He played his trademark patient, calculating game, waiting for the right spots. Peng was a bit of a wildcard during the endgame of the tournament, with a relatively rowdy rail and a boisterous, fun demeanor at the table. For much of the endgame, he and his rail were grunting after every pot won, playing “chimpanzee poker” as they called.

“Toronto Street Poker” was another term bandied about by the Chinese transplant’s rail, which included Kevin Huang, who finished 41st in the game, and who Peng told me he’d swapped with for this series. Peng was railing Huang last night at the Mystery Bounty final table (Huang took 6th for $4,243 in that one), and once he busted, Huang returned the favour for this one, no doubt with an eye on watching his swap grow as Peng laddered through the field.

Lee managed the boisterous rail well and had his own, more sedate rail. Zeyu “Skytrain” Huang was among the players at Lee’s side during the battle and joined him for the winner’s photo.

Lee had to come back from behind to take this one down, however. Peng got the lead shortly after he sent Dylan Ellis to the rail, largely on the back of aggressive play that forced Lee off hands.

Lee picked his spots and pulled some back when he hit a gutshot to the low end of an 8-high straight on the turn, and got two streets of value from Peng for more than 3.5 million added to his stack. Shortly after, he was up to a 3:1 lead, and that led to the final confrontation when Lee limped, then called a raise to 2.1 million, with blinds at 300k/600k/600k.

The money went in for the last time on the two-heart three-four-five flop, and it was a heads-up cooler. Peng flopped the wheel with ace-deuce, including the deuce of hearts, while Lee flopped the heart draw and a gutshot to the 8-high straight with 8♥7♥. The jack og hearts on the river gave Lee the flush and left Peng drawing dead to the 10♥ river.

Lee had just shy of $520k in earnings coming into this one, and once the exchange is worked out, this will likely put him up to about $560k.

Top Ten Results from Mini Main Event

See the Payouts tab for a look at the full prize list from Day 2.

Place	Player	Prize
1	Nicholas Lee	$75,190
2	Kezheng Peng	$50,104
3	Dylan Ellis	$35,086
4	Pascal Gregoire	$25,015
5	Reza Aminabadi	$18,165
6	Jacob Parent	$13,439
7	Faramarz Ghorbani	$10,134
8	Paolo Tana	$7,791
9	Gordon Wong	$6,109
10	Russell Watson	$4,888

Kezheng Peng raised to 1.25 million and Nicholas Lee called. Lee check-raised the K♠5♠2♦ flop from 800k to 2.4 million.

Peng called to the 6♣ turn, and Lee fired 4.7 million. Peng called, but mucked the 8♥ river when Lee shoved all-in.

Kezheng Peng raised the button to 1.25 million amd Nicholas Lee called to the Q♠2♦9♠ flop. Lee check-called for 800k, and they both checked the 4♣ turn.

Lee fired 2.9 million on the 7♣ river and Peng called, but folded when Lee showed queen-five for top pair.

I missed the action while I took a quick bathroom break, but Nicholas Lee now has the lead with 30 million to about 20 million for Kezheng Peng.

Nicholas Lee raised to 1.25 million, and Kezheng Peng called. They both checked the 5♠7♥8♠ flop, and Peng fired 1 million on the 6♦ turn.

Lee called to the 10♣ river, and Peng bet 2.5 million. Lee called, and Peng’s ace-deuce of spades was no good against the king-four for Lee, who turned the 8 high straight with his four.

Peng has the lead.

Kezheng Peng had chipped up to second place, leaving Dylan Ellis on the short stack. He got it in with a king against jack-ten for Peng, but Peng ran out to two pair on the turn and river to take it down and send Ellis out in third. Ellis was looking for his second ring, after he picked up his first one in the Black Chip Bounty in Jan 2024.

The action never went to the flop, but it was still pretty big. Dylan Ellis opened the button for a min-raise to 800k, and Nicholas Lee three-bet the small blind to 2.8 million. Kezheng Peng counted out a 7.5 million four-bet from the big blind, and that was enough to push everyone else off.

All three players have picked up rails today, but Peng’s rail is by far the rowdiest.

They are down to three after short stack Pascal Gregoire hit the rail. Nicholas Lee opened his button to 600k, and then called it off when Gregoire shoved just under 5 million from the small blind.

Gregoire was on pocket treys against ace-queen for Lee. The flop was no help for Lee, but when the ten-seven-deuce-queen-ace board was complete, Lee had the river overkill with two pair.

Kezheng Peng opened the button to 600k, and Nicholas Lee called from the big blind. They both checked the 3♣5♣6♣, and Lee fired 825k on the 9♠ turn. Peng raised it to 3.3 million, and Lee called to the 6♠ river.

Bith players checked, and Lee mucked when Peng showed J♣10♣ for the flopped flush. Peng’s rail gave him a bit of grief for checking back the flush, but he reminded them that the river paired the board.

The quotation marks around “Doctor” in front of Nicholas Lee’s name are only temporary, as he’s very close to finishing medical school. He’s also playing half the chips in play four ways at the final table of the Mini Main Event.

They are down to four left. I missed the action, but Reza Aminabadi ended his day in 5th for $18,165.

I missed the final hand, but Jacob Parent was left short after he doubled up Kezheng Peng. Peng had queens against Parent’s ace-x and the queens held for a big double for Peng. That left Parent short and he was out shortly after.

Faramarz Ghorbani raised to 550k under the gun, and it folded around to “Doctor” Nicholas Lee in the small blind. He repopped it to 1.775 million from the big stack, then called when Ghorbani shoved.

It was a classic race between nines for Ghorbani and ace-king for Lee. Lee flopped a gutshot to Broadway, then turned his king on the board of Q♣J♠4♠K♥3♠.

Kezheng Peng raised to 425k from the button, and Paolo Tana called from the big blind. Tana checked the 4♠7♥J♦ flop, then raised to 950k after Peng bet 300k.

Peng shoved, and Tana called. Both players hit the jack, with Tana holding king-jack for the best, but Peng’s jack-ten of diamonds on the backdoor draw. K♦4♦ on the runout improved Tana to two-pair, but Peng ran out to his diamonds for the win.

Russell Watson and Gordon Wong were the first two players off the final table. The action happened while I was having some dinner and sorting out the FT pics, so I didn’t see it.

They are at the final table now after Ryan Cairns lost his stack for 11th place tonight. I missed the action while watching Nicholas Lee beef up his big stack after a limped, three-way pot that checked through the flop. Lee led from the small blind on the turn and took it down just as Cairns was busting from the other table

Dylan Ellis raised the cutoff to 325k, then faced a reraise to 1.7 million from Paolo Tana on the button. Ellis asked for a count behind, and thought for a minute before shoving a covering stack.

Tana snapped it off with kings against ace-jack for Ellis. Ellis said “Sorry” before the board, expecting to hit his ace to crack the kings, but the 4♦7♣J♣K♥9♥ runout had other ideas, sending the double to Tana.

I’ve missed some action on the final two tables of the Mini Main Event while I was doing some work on the Seniors game, and the field is now down to 11 left, with the final table planned for 10 places.

Place	Player	Prize
12	Tony Ma	$3,993
13	Angelo Jopek	$3,993
14	Ryan Kuhn	$3,330
15	Peter Amic	$3,330
16	Laurentiu Iftemie	$3,330
17	Daniele Collu	$3,330
18	Beny Sarnelli	$2,838
19	Kamran Marzigara	$2,838

Peter Amic has been nursing a short stack for a while. He started the day with 1.2 million, and has basically had that stack throughout the day. He shoved the middle, before Russell Watson reshoved for more from his left. It folded to Dylan Ellis in the cutoff, and he smooth called the 1.875 million of Watson to cover both players.

Amic was live with K♦10♦ against ace-queen for both other players. The 3♠4♥9♦6♥8♠ board left the ace-queens in front, and Watson and Ellis chopped up Amic’s stack.

The field is down to 15 left, shortly after the start of Level 29. I missed the action, but Laurentiu Iftemie was short after the hand just before the break, and he was out in 16th place tonight.

Faramarz Ghorbani shoved under the gun for a bit more than a million, and Laurentiu Iftemie reshoved a bit more from the cutoff. Everyone else folded, and it was a classic race between pocket queens for Iftemie and ace-king for Ghorbani.

Ghorbani hit his ace on the flop of 4♠J♠A♦8♥2♦ and held for the double, leaving Iftemie short.

Tony Ma raised early to 250k, and Russell Watson called from the middle. Ma led for 300k on the 8♦3♥2♣ flop and Watson called quickly.

“That was quick, sir,” Ma said with a smile. “Did you even think about it?” Both players checked through the rest of the 10♠3♣ board, and Watson mucked his hand when Ma showed 9♣8♣ for the flopped pair.

There is a break in just under 10 minutes, and I’ll update the chips then, but Ma looks like the big leader right now.

Daniele Collu busted from the other table while I was watching the orbit on Table 41, and these hands span levels 27 & 28.

Hand #1

Action folded around Angelo Jopoek, who picked up the pot on the big blind.

Hand #2

Dylan Ellis opened the hijack to 200k, but then folded when Ryan Cairns raised the button to 600k.

Hand #3

Dylan Ellis raised to 205k, and this time, it folded around and he took the blinds and antes.

Hand #4

Gordon Wong shoved for a bit more than a million and got folds to take the blinds and antes.

Hand #5

Peter Amic, who has been joking about supplementing his CPP as he ladders up today, shoved his button for 1.17 million, and took the blinds and antes.

Hand #6

Action folded around, and big blind Dylan Ellis got the blinds and antes.

Hand #7

Tony Ma raised the middle to 205k, saying he “learned it from” Dylan Ellis, but then folded after Gordon Wong shoved his button and Ma got the count of 1.15 million. He showed pocket deuces before he folded, and speculated that he was probably racing against Wong’s hand.

Hand #8

Russell Watson raised the hijack to 325k, and Ryan Cairns called from the big blind. Cairns check-folded to a bet of 515k on the 5♣5♥8♦ flop.

Faramarz Ghorbani shoved the button for 1.125 million, and Benny Sarnelli called with less from the small blind. Pascal Gregoire had a bit of a think in the big blind, but released his hand to set up the confrontation between Sarnelli and Ghorbani.

Sarnelli was in tough with K♠Q♥ against A♥Q♣, and the 7♥5♣7♣3♥10♣ board didn’t change anything.

Kamran Marzigara was the bubble to the final two tables tonight. I’m not sure of the chips at this point, but here’s a look at the current seats for the final two, as well as an approximate look at the chips.

It was limped in the blinds between Russell Watson in the small and Daniele Collu in the big. Watson check-called for 80k on the 9♣2♥J♦ flop, and again for 80k on the Q♣ turn.

Both players checked the 8♠ river, and Watson announced “Two pair” showing nine-eight of hearts for the flopped middle pair and rivered two.

Place	Player	Prize
20	Matt Hall	$2,838
21	Ruoxiao Shi	$2,838

It was blind on blind when Kezheng Peng limped the small and Tony Ma called from the big. The flop was K♠6♦3♦ and Peng fired 80k.

Ma called to the [invalid notations] river and then led for 100k by tossing out a plaque. Ma snap-called it, and his ten-high flush beat the smaller flush for Peng.

Place	Player	Prize
22	Scot Munro	$2,838
23	Brenda Robertson	$2,838

Ryan Kuhn raised the small blind to 175k, and Russell Watson called from the big blind. Kuhn fired 200k on the 9♠J♥3♥ flop, and Watson released his hand pretty quickly.

Recent Busts from the Mini Main

Place	Player	Prize
24	Frank Kaempf	$2,838
25	Geno Dick	$2,838
26	Ronald Berdusco	$2,838

The Mini Main is on a break with 26 players left. They’ll be back in action for Level 26 in a couple of minutes. See below for the current seats and stacks, as well as the recent cashouts.

Recent Cashes

Place	Player	Prize
27	Kyle Dery	$2,472
28	Jody Brett	$2,472
29	Nu Teliani	$2,472
30	Nicholas Nowak	$2,472

The Mini Main Event field is down to 30 players left, nearing the final three tables. I’ve finished up most of my other setup work, so I should be over watching the action shortly.

Below is a look at the recent prizes, with the full list saved under the Payouts tab.

Place	Player	Prize
31	Heidi Zekl	$2,472
32	Ricardo Robichaud	$2,472
33	Joshua O’Neill-Trotta	$2,472
34	Calen Mcneil	$2,472
35	Ning Wang	$2,472
36	Jason Chan	$2,203
37	Trevor Bodenham	$2,203
38	Chun Zhang	$2,203

I arrived late to the game today, after a very late Saturday night, and Day 2 of Event #4 is already down to nearly the final four tables. The full payouts so far are updated under the Payouts tab, and I’ll post them below. I have a bit of other setup work to do before I actually get eyes on the play, but I should be there shortly to watch some of the final-stage action.

Place	Player	Prize
39	Tyler Fish	$2,203
40	Phong Truong	$2,203
41	Kevin Huang	$2,203
42	Michael Russell	$2,203
43	Andrew Brendan Le	$2,203
44	Aowei Dong	$2,203
45	Cuong Lieu	$2,008
46	Sheralyn King	$2,008
47	Marlyn Peet	$1,539
48	Craig Watson	$1,539
49	Xiao Deng	$2,287
50	Mohsen Shafizadeh	$1,539
51	Declan Murphy	$1,539
52	Colin Burton	$1,539
53	Dominic Burgess	$1,539
54	Nicholas Teeuwen	$1,539
55	Perry Burrell	$2,200
56	Daniel Bong	$1,452
57	Jacob Hobday	$1,452
58	Keith Sarnoski	$1,452
59	Ryan Biermann	$1,452
60	Erin Pulchinski	$1,452
61	Leonardo Song-Carrillo	$1,452
62	David Macneil	$1,452
63	Robert Lothian	$1,452
64	David Swaim	$1,391
65	Allan Alejandro	$1,391
66	Khuong Ly	$1,391
67	Braeden Criddle	$1,391
68	Michael Malm	$1,391
69	Shariq Khan	$1,391
70	Dallas Larson	$1,391
71	Dustin Speta	$1,391
72	Skyler York	$1,391
73	Paul Sampson	$1,354
74	Frederick Parsons	$2,140
75	Daniel Lefebvre	$1,354
76	Dennis Yano	$1,354
77	Youssef Hmama	$2,100
78	Aren James	$1,354
79	Xiaodong Jia	$1,354
80	Jed Derkaoui	$1,354
81	Micah Quinn	$1,354
82	Shawn Sperber	$1,338
83	DJ Sharma	$1,338
84	Michael Baldwin	$1,338
85	Brian Bond	$1,338
86	Eyal Pevzner	$1,338

Event #4: $400 NLH Mini Main Event ($330 + $70)

Day 2 of the Mini Main Event is set, and the game has been anything but mini. It looks like this was the second-biggest field ever for a Calgary WSOP Circuit series. With 1,668 entries, the only game bigger was the 2024 January 4-Flight, which came in just over 1,700 entries.

There are 86 players returning to play for Day 2 on Sunday, with Josh O’Neill-Trotta leading the way. He has 1.846 million, and there are at least 7 other players with 1 million or more. I’m not 100% certain of all the stacks, as I’ve had a couple of reports from players that they look incorrect on the app, and I think Nu Teliani also has 1 million plus to start the day, rather than the 730k reported in the app.

Day 1b was the biggest flight of the game, but paradoxically, it was the one that ended earliest, with 16:23 remaining in Level 20. That’s where Day 2 will begin, and Levels 21 & 22 will play at the Day 1 length of 30 minutes. Level 23 will begin the Day 2 blinds at 45 minutes.

There is $75,190 up top for the winner, and 7 players at the final table will get a 5-digit payout of at least $10,134. See the Payouts tab for all the prizes.

Cards go in the air at 1 PM, and they’ll play to a winner on Sunday. I expect very quick action to start the day, but I also expect a pretty long day before the ring is awarded.

This game will be my main focus on Sunday until a winner is decided, and I should be on the floor for the start of this one.

Day 2 Seats by Name

Day 2 Players by Seat