Griffin Benger Bags Day 1C Chip Lead at WSOPC Playground Colossus

Griffin Benger, the Canadian pro with $1.64 million in lifetime tournament earnings and two WSOP final tables, bagged 1,300,500 chips to lead Day 1C of the $1,000 NLH Colossus at the WSOP Circuit stop at Playground.

Benger — who has zero Circuit rings to his name — nearly doubled the second-place stack. Ricardo Cermeno Sandoval, a one-ring holder with $202K in career cashes, finished Day 1C with 729,000.

Third through fifth were all Canadian. Michael Khan, the most decorated name in the group with one WSOP bracelet, two Circuit rings, and 16 lifetime final tables ($468K in earnings), bagged 531,000. Ruben Perceval (527,000) and Jeremie Trepanier (467,000) round out the top five from the flight.

The Colossus is Event #9 of the current WSOPC Playground series. Day 1C survivors will merge with Day 1A and 1B qualifiers as the field plays down toward a gold ring.

Benger's résumé includes deep runs on some of poker's biggest stages, but a Circuit ring isn't on it yet. At nearly 1.8× the next stack from his flight, he'll enter Day 2 with room to maneuver.