Montreal Festival Main Event attracts record-breaking field

MONTREAL -- (PRESS RELEASE) -- The Full Tilt Poker Montreal Festival Main Event has set a new Canadian attendance record for number of entrants in a tournament with a buy-in of $1,000 or higher. The festival's headline event has surpassed the $1 million guarantee by a long shot, attracting 1,625 entrants to create a total prize pool of $1,576,250.

The winner will walk away from Playground Poker Club with $260,582 and the Main Event title.

The 13-day festival, which began Sept. 21, got off to a record-breaking beginning with the first event, a $135 + $15 no-limit Hold'em tournament, attracting 1,605 runners across three start days –- this more than doubled the $100,000 guaranteed prize pool and broke the attendance record at the time for Playground Poker Club.

"Quebec is a hotbed for poker, home to some of the most talented players in the world, including 2010 world champion Jonathan Duhamel and 2013 November Niner Marc-Étienne McLaughlin, both of whom played in this Main Event," said Geoff Fardy, Full Tilt Poker country manager.

The Main Event has now reached Day 3 and players are in the money; a champion will be crowned Thursday.

Main Event coverage including live reporting, photographs and videos can be found on the Full Tilt Poker blog, while a live stream of the action kicked off yesterday, Sept. 30, and will run until a winner is determined.