2026 WSOPC Calgary Jan – Event #17: $3,500 High Roller NLH

The final level of play in the High Roller belonged to Aaron La. He and Jacob Hobday had been trading a small lead back and forth for most of the previous level, but when blinds got to 75k/150k/150k, La seemingly couldn’t lose.

He had Hobday down to about 2 million when the chips went in with Hobday on a suited king-four against pocket sixes for La. The sixes held on a board of A♥5♥J♥9♥3♣, and La had the ring.

He was railed at the end by both his parents, as well as his brother, and they jumped in for a few winner’s photos as well.

Aaron La is back to the lead now, with Jacob Hobday down to about 3 million. La just pipped Hobday when they limped to a flop of Q♦8♣4♥, and Hobday limp-called for 150k.

They both checked the A♠ turn, and Hobday led for 450k on the 3♦ river. La called, and they both announced “eight”. Hobday had a jack kicker, but he was out-kicked by the king for La.

Jacob Hobday is in the lead now to start Level 28, with 7.6 million to about 3.8 million for Aaron La. He got some of those chips in a recent hand where they both limped in to see 6♠7♣3♦ on the flop. La check-called for 200k.

On the J♥ turn, La checked again, and Hobday fired 650k to take it down.

They are very even now, and have been trading the small chip lead. Right now, Aaron La is back in front with about 5.5 million while Jacob Hobday has about 4.7 million.

La just chipped back into the lead after he rivered the nut straight with king-ten on a board of 9♠8♦6♥J♣Q♣. There is a break coming in about 10 minutes, and I’ll get exact counts then.

They are heads up in the High Roller now after Ning Ma ended in 3rd. He was on the short stack for most of 3-handed play.

Aaron La now leads in the final phase with 5.8 million, while Jacob Hobday has about 4.5 million.

Ning Ma limp-called from the small blind when Jacob Hobday raised it to 280k from the big. They both checked the 2♦8♦6♠ flop, and Ma led for 200k on the A♣ turn.

Hobday called to the A♠ river, and after a check from Ma, he fired 600k. Ma tanked for the few seconds before calling, but mucked when Hobday ahowed ace-jack for trips.

Hobday is leading with about 4.3 million, while Aaron La is second with 3.7 million. Ning Ma has just over 2 million for the short stack.

They are three ways in the High Roller now after Nan Cui ran his fours into aces. Aaron La hit an ace on the turn to leave Cui drawing dead.

The final four High Roller players are on a break, and Jacob Hobday is leading on the back of his big triple up. Ning Ma isn’t too far behind, and all the remaining players have more than 20 big blinds going into Level 25.

Steven Labelle got the last of his chips in with king-queen, racing against pocket jacks for Aaron La. La found a jack on the flop to take a huge lead, and Labelle couldn’t find his outs.

I missed the final action, but Allen Shen was left short after the huge hand that saw Jacob Hobday triple, and Alexander Wong hit the rail for 7th place. He had about 10 big blinds after the hand, and he lost that shortly after to leave the game with 5 left.

They are down to 6 left on the High Roller final table now. I missed the action on Shahin Norouzian’s 8th-place exit while I was moving into Chrome, but Alexander Wong ended up in a huge cooler that saw a lot of chips move around. He had ace-queen, and was all in with the smallest stack. Allen Shen was in with the big stack on queen-jack of clubs, but Jacob Hobday woke up with pokcet kings, and held to get a triple up.

Shen still has chips, but he’s down quite a bit now, while Hobday is stacking big. There’s a break coming following Level 25, and I’ll grab full chips then.

Jerry Li’s run in the High Roller came to an end in 9th place today when he got ace-queen into ace-king, and couldn’t find the cards he needed to survive.

The High Roller game has now moved to the big stage in Chrome to finish out the night.

The High Roller is down to nine remaining after Mal Hagan hit the rail for 10th place tonight. He was the short stack coming into the final 10, and was the first to cash out from the final table. The next player out is set to pocket $12,021.

They are down to the final table in the High Roller now, after Danesh Luthra ended his run in 11th place tonight. I missed the final hand, but he was left short after he doubled up Nan Cui. Cui was dominated with ace-eight into ace-queen, but found an eight on the river to save his life, and Luthra got his short stack in shortly after.

Stay tuned for final table faces.

The High Roller is now on the final table bubble with 11 left.

Place	Player	Prize
12	Umang Dattani	$8,830
13	William Doherty	$8,830
14	Ryan Smith	$7,999

Aaron La is the chip leader now, with Alexander Wong in second, and start-of-day leader Allen Shen in 3rd. They are the only three players with a million or more in front of them.

The High Roller game has 14 players left alive as Level 21 comes to a close. They’ll be out for a break following this level, and I’ll get some updated chip counts while they are away from the tables.

Place	Player	Prize
15	Sunny Lubana	$7,999
16	Jason James	$7,999
17	Graydon Kowal	$7,999

The High Rollers are at the final two tables now, with 18 remaining. It looks like start-of-day leader Allen Shen is still at the top with about 1.4 million, but he’s got company there, as Jerry Li is also playing about the same amount at the other table. Both Shen and Li already have rings from this series — Li bagged his 3rd PLO ring in the PLO Bounty, while Shen took down the record-field Monster Stack.

The High Roller is down to three tables, after coming back for Day 2 with 5 tables. There are 26 players left in the action, and it looks like Jerry Li is the chip leader right now.

27	Alex Liu	$7,173
28	Andy Truong	$7,173
29	James Lahey	$7,173
30	Donald Cowie	$7,173
31	Joel Kogan	$7,173

Only 5 more eliminations are needed until players make the money. The remaining field will lock up $7,173 with $152,266 sitting up top for first place. The average stack is currently 284,000 with a break coming up in just over an hour.

Event #17: $3,500 High Roller NLH Day 2

The final day of the High Roller is set, and Monster Stack winner Allen Shen is leading the counts going into the final day of play. Helicopter pilot and owner of Guardian Helicopters, Graydon Kowal, bagged the second stack of the day with 641k.

There are still 45 players in the game, meaning they still need to lose 14 players before they hit the 31 paid spots. The winner on Monday will pocket more than $150k, while the early busts in the money will collect $7,173. Full prizes are under the Payouts tab.

The Day 2 action kicks off at 1 PM, and note that is different from the time on the structure sheet for this event. Ignore the 2 PM on the structure sheet, and go by the schedule, which says 1 PM. Blinds stay at 40 minutes for the whole game on Monday. The game will finish on Monday.

Allen Shen, who won the Monster Stack earlier this week, is leading for Day 2 of the High Roller. He has 700k, while helicopter pilot Graydon Kowel is second with 641k. Full stacks and Day 2 seats will come later when I set up the Day 2 preview post.

Level 14 is just underway in the High Roller, and this is the second-last level of the night. The bags will come out when they finish Level 15.

The prizes are in, and the field is confirmed at 205 entries for prizes of $641,650. 31 players will get a piece of that, with the winner set to pocket more than $150k, and the earliest busts in the money making just over $7k. Full prizes will be loaded under the payouts tab shortly, with the final table prizes below.

Level 12 has about 5 minutes to play, putting the end of entries for the High Roller about 20 minutes away. The field is nearly 200 entries now, for prizes of almost $650k. With the prizes from Event #16, this series was already over the previous record prizes from Jan 2024, but the HR prize pool now guarantees prizes of $6.4 million at least, and it will probably end up over $6.5 million.

Action was caught after the turn of Q♠6♣2♦5♠, and Renmei Liu fired for 4,000 from the small blind.

The three remaining players were quick to fold.

Renmei Liu: 209,200

The High Roller has seen some early action with 105 players joining the field this far. Of the field, 82 players remain with the total prize pool coming to $329,175. The average stack is currently sitting at 64,000, and registration is open for a little more than five hours. Day 1 will conclude after 15 levels of play with a winner being crowned on Day 2.

The High Roller is currently underway with 45 players having joined the event. Only 43 remain, while late registration is open for another eight hours. The current prize pool sits at $14,108 and is sure as more players join the field. Among the field are WSOP crushers Mike Leah & Thomas Taylor. Also among the field is Alex Liu, who has multiple main event titles from prior WSOPC Calgary series.

Event #17: $3,500 High Roller NLH Day 1 ($3,130 + $370)

The penultimate event on the 2026 WSOP-C Jan schedule is the High Roller. The game kicks off at 2 PM on Sunday, and the field in this game will almost certainly determine whether this series as a whole sets a new record.

That new record looks very likely based on the record prizes in the Main Event this year, but this prize pool is what will likely push the series over the top.

Players start with 50k in chips, and blinds are 40 minutes throughout the game. Players can buy in for 12 levels of poker, which should put the final buy-in chance at about 11 PM. They’ll play another 3 levels on Day 1 after that, and bag the chips after Level 15.

Players who intend to buy into the High Roller should be aware that they will be expected to provide FINTRAC details to the casino upon entry, since a large number of the prizes are likely to be over $10k. Since that is the threshold for AGLC tracking, the staff plan to speed things up by taking the information early from all players.

In October, local player Andy Truong took this game down. He was heads up with Cristian Moldovan, and it was the second time in the series the players had been heads up.

In both cases, they had to settle for second place, but in this one, one of them was guaranteed to take the ring. Truong had the big stack for most of the heads-up, and ended up taking it down. The game got 140 entries for prizes of $438,200.

Allen Shen, who won the Monster Stack earlier this week, is leading for Day 2 of the High Roller. He has 700k, while helicopter pilot Graydon Kowel is second with 641k. Full stacks and Day 2 seats will come later when I set up the Day 2 preview post.

Level 14 is just underway in the High Roller, and this is the second-last level of the night. The bags will come out when they finish Level 15.

The prizes are in, and the field is confirmed at 205 entries for prizes of $641,650. 31 players will get a piece of that, with the winner set to pocket more than $150k, and the earliest busts in the money making just over $7k. Full prizes will be loaded under the payouts tab shortly, with the final table prizes below.

Level 12 has about 5 minutes to play, putting the end of entries for the High Roller about 20 minutes away. The field is nearly 200 entries now, for prizes of almost $650k. With the prizes from Event #16, this series was already over the previous record prizes from Jan 2024, but the HR prize pool now guarantees prizes of $6.4 million at least, and it will probably end up over $6.5 million.

Action was caught after the turn of Q♠6♣2♦5♠, and Renmei Liu fired for 4,000 from the small blind.

The three remaining players were quick to fold.

Renmei Liu: 209,200

The High Roller has seen some early action with 105 players joining the field this far. Of the field, 82 players remain with the total prize pool coming to $329,175. The average stack is currently sitting at 64,000, and registration is open for a little more than five hours. Day 1 will conclude after 15 levels of play with a winner being crowned on Day 2.

The High Roller is currently underway with 45 players having joined the event. Only 43 remain, while late registration is open for another eight hours. The current prize pool sits at $14,108 and is sure as more players join the field. Among the field are WSOP crushers Mike Leah & Thomas Taylor. Also among the field is Alex Liu, who has multiple main event titles from prior WSOPC Calgary series.

Event #17: $3,500 High Roller NLH Day 1 ($3,130 + $370)

The penultimate event on the 2026 WSOP-C Jan schedule is the High Roller. The game kicks off at 2 PM on Sunday, and the field in this game will almost certainly determine whether this series as a whole sets a new record.

That new record looks very likely based on the record prizes in the Main Event this year, but this prize pool is what will likely push the series over the top.

Players start with 50k in chips, and blinds are 40 minutes throughout the game. Players can buy in for 12 levels of poker, which should put the final buy-in chance at about 11 PM. They’ll play another 3 levels on Day 1 after that, and bag the chips after Level 15.

Players who intend to buy into the High Roller should be aware that they will be expected to provide FINTRAC details to the casino upon entry, since a large number of the prizes are likely to be over $10k. Since that is the threshold for AGLC tracking, the staff plan to speed things up by taking the information early from all players.

In October, local player Andy Truong took this game down. He was heads up with Cristian Moldovan, and it was the second time in the series the players had been heads up.

In both cases, they had to settle for second place, but in this one, one of them was guaranteed to take the ring. Truong had the big stack for most of the heads-up, and ended up taking it down. The game got 140 entries for prizes of $438,200.

The final level of play in the High Roller belonged to Aaron La. He and Jacob Hobday had been trading a small lead back and forth for most of the previous level, but when blinds got to 75k/150k/150k, La seemingly couldn’t lose.

He had Hobday down to about 2 million when the chips went in with Hobday on a suited king-four against pocket sixes for La. The sixes held on a board of A♥5♥J♥9♥3♣, and La had the ring.

He was railed at the end by both his parents, as well as his brother, and they jumped in for a few winner’s photos as well.

Aaron La is back to the lead now, with Jacob Hobday down to about 3 million. La just pipped Hobday when they limped to a flop of Q♦8♣4♥, and Hobday limp-called for 150k.

They both checked the A♠ turn, and Hobday led for 450k on the 3♦ river. La called, and they both announced “eight”. Hobday had a jack kicker, but he was out-kicked by the king for La.

Jacob Hobday is in the lead now to start Level 28, with 7.6 million to about 3.8 million for Aaron La. He got some of those chips in a recent hand where they both limped in to see 6♠7♣3♦ on the flop. La check-called for 200k.

On the J♥ turn, La checked again, and Hobday fired 650k to take it down.

They are very even now, and have been trading the small chip lead. Right now, Aaron La is back in front with about 5.5 million while Jacob Hobday has about 4.7 million.

La just chipped back into the lead after he rivered the nut straight with king-ten on a board of 9♠8♦6♥J♣Q♣. There is a break coming in about 10 minutes, and I’ll get exact counts then.

They are heads up in the High Roller now after Ning Ma ended in 3rd. He was on the short stack for most of 3-handed play.

Aaron La now leads in the final phase with 5.8 million, while Jacob Hobday has about 4.5 million.

Ning Ma limp-called from the small blind when Jacob Hobday raised it to 280k from the big. They both checked the 2♦8♦6♠ flop, and Ma led for 200k on the A♣ turn.

Hobday called to the A♠ river, and after a check from Ma, he fired 600k. Ma tanked for the few seconds before calling, but mucked when Hobday ahowed ace-jack for trips.

Hobday is leading with about 4.3 million, while Aaron La is second with 3.7 million. Ning Ma has just over 2 million for the short stack.

They are three ways in the High Roller now after Nan Cui ran his fours into aces. Aaron La hit an ace on the turn to leave Cui drawing dead.

The final four High Roller players are on a break, and Jacob Hobday is leading on the back of his big triple up. Ning Ma isn’t too far behind, and all the remaining players have more than 20 big blinds going into Level 25.

Steven Labelle got the last of his chips in with king-queen, racing against pocket jacks for Aaron La. La found a jack on the flop to take a huge lead, and Labelle couldn’t find his outs.

I missed the final action, but Allen Shen was left short after the huge hand that saw Jacob Hobday triple, and Alexander Wong hit the rail for 7th place. He had about 10 big blinds after the hand, and he lost that shortly after to leave the game with 5 left.

They are down to 6 left on the High Roller final table now. I missed the action on Shahin Norouzian’s 8th-place exit while I was moving into Chrome, but Alexander Wong ended up in a huge cooler that saw a lot of chips move around. He had ace-queen, and was all in with the smallest stack. Allen Shen was in with the big stack on queen-jack of clubs, but Jacob Hobday woke up with pokcet kings, and held to get a triple up.

Shen still has chips, but he’s down quite a bit now, while Hobday is stacking big. There’s a break coming following Level 25, and I’ll grab full chips then.

Jerry Li’s run in the High Roller came to an end in 9th place today when he got ace-queen into ace-king, and couldn’t find the cards he needed to survive.

The High Roller game has now moved to the big stage in Chrome to finish out the night.

The High Roller is down to nine remaining after Mal Hagan hit the rail for 10th place tonight. He was the short stack coming into the final 10, and was the first to cash out from the final table. The next player out is set to pocket $12,021.

They are down to the final table in the High Roller now, after Danesh Luthra ended his run in 11th place tonight. I missed the final hand, but he was left short after he doubled up Nan Cui. Cui was dominated with ace-eight into ace-queen, but found an eight on the river to save his life, and Luthra got his short stack in shortly after.

Stay tuned for final table faces.

The High Roller is now on the final table bubble with 11 left.

Place	Player	Prize
12	Umang Dattani	$8,830
13	William Doherty	$8,830
14	Ryan Smith	$7,999

Aaron La is the chip leader now, with Alexander Wong in second, and start-of-day leader Allen Shen in 3rd. They are the only three players with a million or more in front of them.

The High Roller game has 14 players left alive as Level 21 comes to a close. They’ll be out for a break following this level, and I’ll get some updated chip counts while they are away from the tables.

Place	Player	Prize
15	Sunny Lubana	$7,999
16	Jason James	$7,999
17	Graydon Kowal	$7,999

The High Rollers are at the final two tables now, with 18 remaining. It looks like start-of-day leader Allen Shen is still at the top with about 1.4 million, but he’s got company there, as Jerry Li is also playing about the same amount at the other table. Both Shen and Li already have rings from this series — Li bagged his 3rd PLO ring in the PLO Bounty, while Shen took down the record-field Monster Stack.

The High Roller is down to three tables, after coming back for Day 2 with 5 tables. There are 26 players left in the action, and it looks like Jerry Li is the chip leader right now.

27	Alex Liu	$7,173
28	Andy Truong	$7,173
29	James Lahey	$7,173
30	Donald Cowie	$7,173
31	Joel Kogan	$7,173

Only 5 more eliminations are needed until players make the money. The remaining field will lock up $7,173 with $152,266 sitting up top for first place. The average stack is currently 284,000 with a break coming up in just over an hour.

Event #17: $3,500 High Roller NLH Day 2

The final day of the High Roller is set, and Monster Stack winner Allen Shen is leading the counts going into the final day of play. Helicopter pilot and owner of Guardian Helicopters, Graydon Kowal, bagged the second stack of the day with 641k.

There are still 45 players in the game, meaning they still need to lose 14 players before they hit the 31 paid spots. The winner on Monday will pocket more than $150k, while the early busts in the money will collect $7,173. Full prizes are under the Payouts tab.

The Day 2 action kicks off at 1 PM, and note that is different from the time on the structure sheet for this event. Ignore the 2 PM on the structure sheet, and go by the schedule, which says 1 PM. Blinds stay at 40 minutes for the whole game on Monday. The game will finish on Monday.