On Thursday, Nathan Hall emerged victorious in the Season XV WPT® National Montreal Main Event from Playground Poker Club, topping a field of 817 entries to win the C$80,000 ($60,800) first-place prize.
Hall’s triumph came after a lengthy 93-hand battle versus runner-up Jeffrey Cormier at a final table that played 226 hands in total. On the final hand, Hall moved all in with the 
and Cormier called with the 
. The flop, turn, and river were completed 
, and Hall earned the title with a pair of sevens.
Season XV WPTN Montreal Final Table
1st: Nathan Hall – C$80,000 ($60,800)
2nd: Jeffrey Cormier – C$55,792 ($42,402)
3rd: Jason Mandanici-Turcot – C$36,000 ($27,360)
4th: Alexander Villa – C$23,500 ($17,860)
5th: Michael Mellor – C$18,000m ($13,680)
6th: Senthuran Vijayaratnam – C$15,000 ($11,400)
Senthuran Vijayaratnam began the final table as the short stack and busted on Hand #6 to Jason Mandanici-Turcot when his 
couldn’t hold up against the 
. Then, following a long period of five-handed play, Michael Mellor went out in fifth.
Mellor first took a big hit when he doubled up Cormier. Cormier’s 
got there against the 
for Mellor with the money going in preflop and the board running out 
to give Cormier quads with an ace kicker. A few orbits after that, quads were made against Mellor again, and this time it was Hall who wound up with four-of-a-kind. Holding the 
, Hall flopped quad deuces on the 
flop and got value on the endafter the 
turn and 
river. On his final hand, Hand #58, Mellor’s 
lost to Cormier’s .
Alexander Villa, who began the final table as the chip leader, went out in fourth on Hand #71. He called all in on the 
flop with the 
and lost to Cormier’s 
.
With three players left, Cormier was in the lead, Hall was second with about half the chips, and Mandanici-Turcot was a distant third. Less than 10 hands after three-handed play started, Hall won a huge pot to take the lead.
The blinds were 30,000/60,000 with an ante of 10,000 and Hall completed the bet from the small blind. Cormier raised to 235,000, and Hall called to see the 
flop. Hall check-called a bet of 325,000 from Cormier, and the turn was the . This is where Hall took the lead and fired 485,000. Cormier raised to 1.375 million, and Hall wasted little time in sliding a chunk of chips forward for a reraise. As reported, the raise was more than half the valid raise, but not the entire full raise amount and the dealer committed Hall to a raise to 2.265 million. Cormier tanked, but had thought the action was on Hall and not him. He then made the call, and the dealer placed the out on the river. Hall moved all in for 1.525 million, and Cormier shot up from his chair, removing his hood and going into the tank. He would eventually decide to fold and said to Hall, “Show the bluff, one time.” Hall didn’t show and moved into a big lead.
Plenty of punches were thrown between the trio, and Cormier would move back into the lead. Then, on Hand #133, Mandanici-Turcot busted to Cormier and set up heads-up play. At the start, Cormier had the lead with 8.79 million in chips to Hall’s 3.445 million.
Cormier clawed his way to over 10 million, but then Hall came roaring back with two doubles, first holding kings and second holding aces. Despite the two doubles, Cormier still maintained a small edge with 6.815 million in chips to Hall’s 5.42 million.
About 50 hands after his two doubles, Hall doubled again. This time it was to take the lead in the match, and he wouldn’t give it up because 12 hands later it was all over.
For Cormier, the second-place finish earned him C$55,792 ($42,402).
Next up on the Season XV WPT National schedule is the partypoker WPT National Ireland festival running Sept. 14-18, 2016. For a preview of that event, please click here.