Saturday was a huge day at WSOP-C Calgary. The main game on the fourth day of action was the final flight to the Mini Main, which turned out to be Mini in name alone. After the dust settled on the final flight of more than 900 entries, the final total for the Mini Main was an astonishing 2,269.
Going into the final flight, it looked like a pretty sure bet to beat the previous biggest field in Alberta. That was set in Jan 2024 in the 4-Flight with 1,715. My guess was that this game might hit 2,000 by the end, bumping the record by a couple of hundred entries.
Instead, the game didn’t just break the record, it obliterated it by more than 500 entries, for a prize pool of more than $700k in a $400 buy-in. That left more than $100k up top for the winner on Sunday’s Day 2.
2024 & 2025 API Player of the Year Mike Malm is the chip leader going into Day 2 with 2.2 million, and he’s the only player over 2 million. Second-place Ben Cooper is more than 700k behind with 1.5 million, and several other players clustered at that level.
There are 114 players in total returning for Day 2 action, and the ring will be awarded before the finish for the day, so this could be a late one. Follow the Day 2 action on the event page.
Bradley Biship Wins Marathon Mystery
- Entries: 457
- Prizes: $229,175 Total ($137,775 Prizes, $91,400 Bounties)
- Winner: Bradley Bishop ($29,254)
The Mystery Bounty turned into a bit of a marathon on Saturday, with the final hand dealt in the poker room some 15 hours after the first hands were dealt. In part, that was a result of the big field of 457 entries, putting a lot of chips in play and needing to go through a lot of players to get to one.
But the long game was also a result of the final table play, which saw the game stall at six handed for several levels. When they finally broke the 6-handed logjam, the remaining players were playing an avergae of about 10 big blinds, and the stacks didn’t get much bigger from there.
Once Benny Bruneau hit the rail in 6th place just before 6 AM, the action picked up considerably, and within an hour, the game was finished in the poker room. Several players at the final table had solid Sunday plans — Harp Padda (4th, $9,251) & winner Bradley Bishop both had stacks in Day 2 of the Mini Main and needed to be back in action at 1 pm. In addition to them, Bruneau & Jack Vaccarello were both planning to play the Seniors game, which kicked off at 10 AM on Sunday
Bishop looks to have picked up his first ring in what may be his first-ever live cash. I couldn’t find an entry for him on Hendon Mob, which could mean this is the first reportable game he’s cashed in. It could also mean his results are under a different name.
Top Ten Results from Mystery Bounty
Note that the full prizes for Event #5 are listed under the Payouts tab on the event page.
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Bradley Bishop | $29,254 |
| 2 | Zoran Kaniski | $19,940 |
| 3 |  Bertrand Laroque | $13,289 |
| 4 | Harpreet Padda | $9,251 |
| 5 | Weston Pring | $6,579 |
| 6 | Benny Bruneau | $4,781 |
| 7 | Jack Vaccarello | $3,552 |
| 8 | Allen Alejandro | $2,700 |
| 9 | Sunny Lubana | $2,100 |
| 10 | Jaki Knelsen | $1,673 |
