2026 WSOPC Calgary Jan – Event #14: $800 T.O.R.S.E.

When play was six-handed, Remy Bhend had the nut-low stack, and it looked like he might be the next one out. He managed to find a way to spin it back up again, however, to take down the game.

By the time he got heads-up against Ed Tonnellier, he was the big stack by about 3:1, and Tonnellier had a rough time of it. The early heads-up hands were in razz, and Tonnellier was the bring-in for nearly every razz hand. Few played out to 7th street, but the one that did saw Bhend pip Tonnellier with ninety-five over ninety-six.

Bhend was on a run, and the final hand saw him find trip deuces for the win. Tonnellier had the chance to draw out to trip fives on 7th, but couldn’t get there, to end his run in 2nd place tonight. It was still a pretty strong run for him, though — getting second in a tournament is a decent run no matter who does it, but for Tonnellier, he has a few extra challenges in his game right now.

He is 4 years into a diagnosis of dementia, and is on medication to control it. Despite that, he put in a 14-hour day to come second in a very complex game that requires new strategies every few hands. Bhend was on a great run tonight, but to even be in the game that deep was a win for Tonnellier.

Results from the TORSE

Place	Player	Prize
1	Remy Bhend	$17,164
2	Ed Tonnellier	$11,107
3	Benham Esfahanizadeh	$7,476
4	Tony Ma	$5,239
5	Kyle Rosnes	$3,830
6	Mitch Heidt	$2,926
7	Kwong Au	$2,340
8	Linda Brine	$1,964
9	Deven Lane	$1,734
10	Luteng Li	$1,615
11	Jerod Dobson	$1,615
12	Zachary Nichols	$1,615
13	Chris Watson	$1,615
14	Greg Genge	$1,615

Ed Tonnellier has been the bring in for every hand of Razz so far, and he brought in again with a 4 against a deuce for Remy Bhend. Tonnellier brought in, then called when Bhen completed to 60k.

Bhend drew a jack, to a six for Tonnellier, and Tonnellier led out for 60k. Bhend called to get a three to a ten for Tonnellier.

Tonnellier check-called for 120k and both players drew a nine on 6th street. Tonnellier agains check-called for 120k. He showed down the nut ninety-six, but Bhend was on nine-five-four-deuce-ace, and took it down.

Benham Esfahanizadeh ended his day in 3rd place tonight. He had a pretty good run after entering at the last minute, but his night ended in deuce, when he got it in nine-six-four-three-two, but Remy Bhend, who has gone from worst to first in the chip department, had an eighty-six to take it down.

That leaves Bhend heads up against Ed Tonnellier, with Bhend leading the way.

Tony Ma was the short stack coming back from the break with just 235k, less than 2 big bets. That went in shortly after the break, and he ended his run in 4th place tonight.

There are a couple of stories at the final table right now. Remy Bhend is the chip leader with 1.2 million, almost twice as much as second-place Ed Tonnellier who has 710k. Bhend was the nut low stack when they were five-handed, and nearly felted, before he staged his comeback, thanks in part to getting a low in O8 to survive against Benham Esfahanizadeh.

Esfahanizadeh has his own story to tell. He max-late registered this game after busting late in the Main Event tonight. He got in with less than 10 big bets, but was able to spin that up to survive to at least fourth place. He has 525k for third place right now, a pretty decent run after entering at the last minute.

They are down to 4 in the TORSE game now after Kyle Rosnes ended his run in 5th place. The Ladies event just finished, so I’ll be watching this one now until it ends, barring the odd break.

It looks like Benham Esfahanizadeh is in the lead now, but the only really short player looks to be Remy Bhend. Esfahanizadeh has about 700k, and Ed Tonnelier is a bit behind that, with Tony Ma and Kyle Rosnes close as well.

I’m still watching the Ladies final table, but Mitch Heidt just hit the rail for 6th place in the TORSE game.

Both games are now at the final table, so it’s going to be tricky for me to follow both. I am going to watch the Ladies game until they finish, and then I’ll move over to finish this one, assuming it’s still running.

Place	Player	Prize
10	Luteng Li	$1,615
11	Jerod Dobson	$1,615
12	Zachary Nichols	$1,615
13	Chris Watson	$1,615
14	Greg Genge	$1,615

The TORSE game is now two off the final table of 7 players.

The TORSE Game came back from the break on the bubble, and the players made the money pretty quickly. There are now 14 players left in the Mix, with all players guaranteed a payout.

The TORSE game is now 3 off the money spots, with 17 left. There is a break coming in about 15 minutes, and I should be able to get chip updates for the game then.

The TORSE game is down to 23 players, with 20 minutes to play in Level 15. That puts them 9 off the money, and it’s looking like both games running in Chrome tonight will be finding the final table around the same time.

The TORSE game is playing down towards the money now, with 38 players left. There’s still a fair bit of poker before the payouts start, but it looks like Chris Bond is the chip leader at the moment with 180k in play. Chris Watson, Ed Tonnelier, Benham Esfahanizadeh, Jerod Dobson, Kayvan Payman, Henry Oh, Chris Alcindor, Brady O’Hara, Tony Ma, and Deven Lane are among the other players still playing a stack in this one.

The prizes are in with more than $17k up top for the win tonight. 14 players will share in $61,855 in prizes, with the eary payouts set at $1,615.

Entries for the TORSE game are now closed, with 89 confirmed on the board. That means 14 players will get a piece of the prizes later tonight, with the winner set to pocket $17k. The full prizes will be in the backend shortly, but there is still a lot of poker to play before anyone gets paid.

The TORSE game is into the final level of entries now, with 85 buy-ins currently in the pot. That puts the prizes a couple of entries shy of $60k, with about 10 minutes left in Level 10. Entries close at the end of this level (there is no break, so there’s no grace period following the level to get into this one.

The TORSE game has a bit less than an hour left to get into the game, with 70 entries right now. That’s good for a prize pool just shy of $50k, but it seems likely a few more players will jump into this one before it closes, though I never expect the numbers in this specialty game to get very big compared to more familiar formats.

The only true mixed game event of the series is underway. So far, 52 people have entered with no eliminations this far. Registration is open for just over four hours, and a prize pool of $37,000 has been collected thus far. Action will playbdown a winner within the night, as mixed game prowess is put to the test.

Event #14: $800 T.O.R.S.E. ($695 + $105)

It’s time for some mixed-game poker. The TORSE game first ran in October of 2025, replacing a HORSE game that ran in Jan 2025.

The action gets going at 2 PM on Saturday, and players can enter the game until the end of Level 10, which should be about 8:30 PM. After that, they’ll race to the ring.

Players start with 30k in chips, and blinds are 30 minutes throughout the event. Players who buy in at the last moment will have about 7.5 big bets when they sit down for Level 11.

In October, Stephen Dauphinais picked up the ring in the very first TORSE game run in Alberta. That game got 95 entries for prizes of $66,025. Dauphinais bagged the win over James To and Fat Wong at the end.

When play was six-handed, Remy Bhend had the nut-low stack, and it looked like he might be the next one out. He managed to find a way to spin it back up again, however, to take down the game.

By the time he got heads-up against Ed Tonnellier, he was the big stack by about 3:1, and Tonnellier had a rough time of it. The early heads-up hands were in razz, and Tonnellier was the bring-in for nearly every razz hand. Few played out to 7th street, but the one that did saw Bhend pip Tonnellier with ninety-five over ninety-six.

Bhend was on a run, and the final hand saw him find trip deuces for the win. Tonnellier had the chance to draw out to trip fives on 7th, but couldn’t get there, to end his run in 2nd place tonight. It was still a pretty strong run for him, though — getting second in a tournament is a decent run no matter who does it, but for Tonnellier, he has a few extra challenges in his game right now.

He is 4 years into a diagnosis of dementia, and is on medication to control it. Despite that, he put in a 14-hour day to come second in a very complex game that requires new strategies every few hands. Bhend was on a great run tonight, but to even be in the game that deep was a win for Tonnellier.

Results from the TORSE

Place	Player	Prize
1	Remy Bhend	$17,164
2	Ed Tonnellier	$11,107
3	Benham Esfahanizadeh	$7,476
4	Tony Ma	$5,239
5	Kyle Rosnes	$3,830
6	Mitch Heidt	$2,926
7	Kwong Au	$2,340
8	Linda Brine	$1,964
9	Deven Lane	$1,734
10	Luteng Li	$1,615
11	Jerod Dobson	$1,615
12	Zachary Nichols	$1,615
13	Chris Watson	$1,615
14	Greg Genge	$1,615

Ed Tonnellier has been the bring in for every hand of Razz so far, and he brought in again with a 4 against a deuce for Remy Bhend. Tonnellier brought in, then called when Bhen completed to 60k.

Bhend drew a jack, to a six for Tonnellier, and Tonnellier led out for 60k. Bhend called to get a three to a ten for Tonnellier.

Tonnellier check-called for 120k and both players drew a nine on 6th street. Tonnellier agains check-called for 120k. He showed down the nut ninety-six, but Bhend was on nine-five-four-deuce-ace, and took it down.

Benham Esfahanizadeh ended his day in 3rd place tonight. He had a pretty good run after entering at the last minute, but his night ended in deuce, when he got it in nine-six-four-three-two, but Remy Bhend, who has gone from worst to first in the chip department, had an eighty-six to take it down.

That leaves Bhend heads up against Ed Tonnellier, with Bhend leading the way.

Tony Ma was the short stack coming back from the break with just 235k, less than 2 big bets. That went in shortly after the break, and he ended his run in 4th place tonight.

There are a couple of stories at the final table right now. Remy Bhend is the chip leader with 1.2 million, almost twice as much as second-place Ed Tonnellier who has 710k. Bhend was the nut low stack when they were five-handed, and nearly felted, before he staged his comeback, thanks in part to getting a low in O8 to survive against Benham Esfahanizadeh.

Esfahanizadeh has his own story to tell. He max-late registered this game after busting late in the Main Event tonight. He got in with less than 10 big bets, but was able to spin that up to survive to at least fourth place. He has 525k for third place right now, a pretty decent run after entering at the last minute.

They are down to 4 in the TORSE game now after Kyle Rosnes ended his run in 5th place. The Ladies event just finished, so I’ll be watching this one now until it ends, barring the odd break.

It looks like Benham Esfahanizadeh is in the lead now, but the only really short player looks to be Remy Bhend. Esfahanizadeh has about 700k, and Ed Tonnelier is a bit behind that, with Tony Ma and Kyle Rosnes close as well.

I’m still watching the Ladies final table, but Mitch Heidt just hit the rail for 6th place in the TORSE game.

Both games are now at the final table, so it’s going to be tricky for me to follow both. I am going to watch the Ladies game until they finish, and then I’ll move over to finish this one, assuming it’s still running.

Place	Player	Prize
10	Luteng Li	$1,615
11	Jerod Dobson	$1,615
12	Zachary Nichols	$1,615
13	Chris Watson	$1,615
14	Greg Genge	$1,615

The TORSE game is now two off the final table of 7 players.

The TORSE Game came back from the break on the bubble, and the players made the money pretty quickly. There are now 14 players left in the Mix, with all players guaranteed a payout.

The TORSE game is now 3 off the money spots, with 17 left. There is a break coming in about 15 minutes, and I should be able to get chip updates for the game then.

The TORSE game is down to 23 players, with 20 minutes to play in Level 15. That puts them 9 off the money, and it’s looking like both games running in Chrome tonight will be finding the final table around the same time.

The TORSE game is playing down towards the money now, with 38 players left. There’s still a fair bit of poker before the payouts start, but it looks like Chris Bond is the chip leader at the moment with 180k in play. Chris Watson, Ed Tonnelier, Benham Esfahanizadeh, Jerod Dobson, Kayvan Payman, Henry Oh, Chris Alcindor, Brady O’Hara, Tony Ma, and Deven Lane are among the other players still playing a stack in this one.

The prizes are in with more than $17k up top for the win tonight. 14 players will share in $61,855 in prizes, with the eary payouts set at $1,615.

Entries for the TORSE game are now closed, with 89 confirmed on the board. That means 14 players will get a piece of the prizes later tonight, with the winner set to pocket $17k. The full prizes will be in the backend shortly, but there is still a lot of poker to play before anyone gets paid.

The TORSE game is into the final level of entries now, with 85 buy-ins currently in the pot. That puts the prizes a couple of entries shy of $60k, with about 10 minutes left in Level 10. Entries close at the end of this level (there is no break, so there’s no grace period following the level to get into this one.

The TORSE game has a bit less than an hour left to get into the game, with 70 entries right now. That’s good for a prize pool just shy of $50k, but it seems likely a few more players will jump into this one before it closes, though I never expect the numbers in this specialty game to get very big compared to more familiar formats.

The only true mixed game event of the series is underway. So far, 52 people have entered with no eliminations this far. Registration is open for just over four hours, and a prize pool of $37,000 has been collected thus far. Action will playbdown a winner within the night, as mixed game prowess is put to the test.

Event #14: $800 T.O.R.S.E. ($695 + $105)

It’s time for some mixed-game poker. The TORSE game first ran in October of 2025, replacing a HORSE game that ran in Jan 2025.

The action gets going at 2 PM on Saturday, and players can enter the game until the end of Level 10, which should be about 8:30 PM. After that, they’ll race to the ring.

Players start with 30k in chips, and blinds are 30 minutes throughout the event. Players who buy in at the last moment will have about 7.5 big bets when they sit down for Level 11.

In October, Stephen Dauphinais picked up the ring in the very first TORSE game run in Alberta. That game got 95 entries for prizes of $66,025. Dauphinais bagged the win over James To and Fat Wong at the end.