Tournament Details

Canadians take their sports seriously. Crossing a Canuck on the subject of hockey is bound to start an argument you wouldn't want to finish. So, when the World Poker Tour took its North American Poker Championship onto Canadian soil for the first time, there was little question how big a deal it would be. By the time the players reached the final table, all but one of them—John Juanda--were flying a Maple Leaf flag. Here's what the chip stacks looked like when the final six sat down to play.

Seat 1: Jim Worth 1,305,000
Seat 2: Marc Karam 1,290,000
Seat 3: Jason Sagle 2,970,000
Seat 4: John Lam 2,285,000
Seat 5: Soren Turkewitsch 1,690,000
Seat 6: John Juanda 425,000

The first battle at the final table at Niagara Falls came on the very first hand between two well-known pros. Jim "Krazy Kanuck" Worth came in for a raise to 90,000 with AsKh and Marc Karam, in the small blind, re-raised almost immediately for 200,000 more with a pair of black sixes. When Jason Sagle got out of the way in the big blind, Worth said, "This is going to be the fastest one in history. I'm All-In."

Karam, known for his final table aggression, asked, "That fast, eh?" Worth could see the wheels spinning in Karam's head. While aggressive with his raise, Karam didn't think for too long before announcing, "Fold. Nice hand. Small pair."

Worth whispered, "You were very dominated. Very dominated." Then, he stood up and told the crowd, "Put on the seatbelts! We're going to for a ride tonight."

It took more than two orbits around the table before the really big guns came out. Jason Sagle had been playing more than his share of pots and not been coming out on the good end. This time, he called in the small blind and John Lam raised it up to 60,000. Sagle called the bet and they saw a flop of JsJc6d. Sagle, hoping to take advantage of his aggressive image, led at the pot for 90,000.

Lam remarked wryly, "What a guy."

Sagle smiled and said, "You wanted to play poker. We're playing."

Lam was not deterred and smooth-called. The turn was the ace of clubs. This time Sagle checked and saw Lam check, too. What Sagle could not have known was the he was drawing dead. Lam held AdJh for a full house. The river, an 8h, surely seemed innocuous to Sagle. He came out firing again for 400,000.

"I need a hat or sunglasses to hide behind now," Sagle said.

Lam didn't need to look at Sagle. His only decision was how much to raise. He decided on making it 1,000,000 to play. Sagle suddenly looked sick.

"Now we're playing poker," he said ruefully.

Sagle, put to a decision for 600,000 more, finally called. Lam showed him the boat. Sagle looked like he needed a sweater to fight off the cold deck. He looked down once more at his JdTh and shipped the pot to Lam.

A few hands later, after outplaying Jim Worth with AJ vs. AK. Karam came in for 90,000. Amateur Soren Turkewitsch—in the tournament on just a $90 satellite—woke up from the small blind and re-raised to 400,000. Karam, rarely one to back down, put his hands on his head and thought about what he should do against the amateur player. Finally he announced, "All-In." Turkewitsch called in a shot. Turkewitsch showed AsAh to Karam's JcJh. Karam beseeched the dealer, "One time," but the board, 5d7h5s4h7h, gave him no help. Karam exited in sixth place, picking up $169,027 for his efforts.

With one player gone, Lam was still feeling strong after the big win earlier against Sagle. He opened the betting for 150,000 with a pair of fives. Sagle looked down at AdAc and made it 400,000 more to play. Sagle must have looked like he was still smarting from the cold deck, because Lam came back over the top All-In. Now, it was Sagle's chance to roll his monster. He showed his aces, a huge favorite over Lam's 5c5h. With a semi-scary board of 7c3s4dKdJd, Sagle survived and doubled up to around 2.4 million chips.

Up until this point, John Juanda had been getting the kind of respect owed to one of the world's greatest tournament players. He'd moved all-in more than half a dozen times and nobody could find a call. He'd worked his way up to 1,000,000 chips when he finally met his match. Facing a small blind All-In from Turkewitsch, Juanda called with AsQh. Turkewitsch held 9h9s. The board, 7s4s2c5s6h, offered Juanda a little hope on the river. Alas, he couldn't get there and left in fifth place for $217,320.

Jim "Krazy Kanuck" Worth had gotten involved in his share of hands, but hadn't found a lot of traction in the early going of the final table. His frustration seemed to be mounting. So, when Sagle came in for a raise to 280,000, Worth moved All-In for 1,145,000 with AhQh. Sagle said, "Alright, let's do it," and made the call with AcKc. The flop could not have hurt Worth much more. With 6s5c2c coming out first, one of his three outs disappeared. The 4s and Jd on the turn and river changed nothing and Worth ended up with a fourth place finish, earning $289,760.

Suddenly it looked like Sagle, the tough pro, would have no problem knocking off the two amateurs left in the event. He bluffed his way to earning a big part of Lam's stack and then went on the attack against Turkewitsch's blind. That's when things would start to turn sour for Sagle.

While Turkewitsch only held T8, he managed to double through Sagle's A5. Right after that, Turkewitsch doubled though Lam with AK vs. AJ. Now shortstacked, Lam had to get his chips in the middle quickly. With Th5s, he moved his stack in and Soren picked up AhQh and called with nary a thought. The board came out Qc2s7c5h3c and the tough, young amateur, John Lam, was eliminated in 3rd place earning $352,541

Heads-up play began with a story no one expected. The amateur auto factory worker, Soren Turkewitsch versus Canadian pro Jason Sagle. Although Turkewitsch had Sagle out-chipped 2-1, few people were counting Sagle out of the match. If he could find the right hand, he could be right back in the fight.

He did just that.

Sagle got 4s4h All-In pre-flop against Turkewitsch's AdQc. Off to the races, the first four cards had to make Sagle sick to his stomach. With the board showing 5cJsJdKd, Turkewitsch had more outs than he could count with the river still to come. However, a blank on the river doubled Sagle up and the amateur missed the card he needed for $1.2 million. Sagle was suddenly the chip leader and could feel the title in his pocket.

On the next hand, Turkewitsch moved all in with Ad3c.

"You don't want to play or nothing?" Sagle asked. "You just want to push?"

Sagle eyed Turkewitsch and thought. Then he said, "I can't believe I'm going to do this. I think he's bluffing." And then he called with Ac9d.

"That's the best read I made in my entire life," Sagle said. "I can't believe I called all my money with ace-nine."

Sagle exploded in celebration when the flop came 5s9h2s. What he didn't realize at the moment was the flop gave Turkewitsch an extra out. Now, any four would give Turkewitsch the pot.

And the turn…was the four of diamonds.

Sagle's face looked like he had lost his job, lost his home, and been kicked in the stomach at the same time. Crippled didn't even begin to describe how bad Sagle's situation was. The perfect read had turned into the worst kind of poker heartbreak.

Sagle managed to double up twice and get back to a 2-1 disadvantage. So, when Turkewitsch moved all in with Kh2d, Sagle said "Let's do it," and made the call with As5d. If his hand could hold up, Sagle would be back in the lead.

It didn't happen.

With chants of "Soren, Soren, Soren!" in the background, the board ran out 7d6c2h4hJs and Sagle was eliminated in second place for $676,107 in prize money.

It was then that Canada realized the power of the World Poker Tour. Soren Turkewitsch entered the event on a $90 satellite. Just a few days later, he was a WPT champion and $1,352,224 richer.