World Poker Tour’s first Main Event in Canada since 2008 proved to be hugely popular and hugely successful for 25-year-old Canadian pro Jonathan Roy who conquered the 1,173-player field to capture his first WPT title and nearly C$780,000 at the PartyPoker WPT Montreal.
Held at Montreal’s Playground Poker Club, the C$3,300 tournament proved to the be the third-largest event in WPT history and Canada’s largest-ever tournament with a buy-in of more than C$1,000. In addition to its huge field, the tournament also drew one of the world’s best athletes to the Great White North as Olympic legend Michael Phelps made a surprise appearance at the final table to root on his friend and eventual third-place finisher, Jeff Gross.
The day’s action got off to a fast start when Peter Kaemmerlen, who started the day as one of the short stacks, got into a raising war with Jeff Gross before moving all of his chips into the middle before the first flop ever the table. Gross called and tabled Ah 10d, putting him well behind Kaemmerlen’s pocket Jacks. An Ace on the river ended Kaemmerlen’s day in short order, sending him to the rail in sixth place with a payout of more than C$113,000.
Sylvain Siebert, who started the day as the chip leader, was the next player to fall when he came out on the wrong end of a blind-on-blind confrontation versus Jonathan Roy. Siebert, who had an up-and-down day at the final table, moved all in from the small blind with 6c 5d, only to run into Roy’s pocket Queens. A board that ran out Kc Ks 4d As 7s provided no help, and the one-time chip leader went home in fifth position with a payday of more than C$146,000. Blind-on-blind violence was also the cause of Canadian pro Gavin Smith’s demise. Smith tried stealing from the small blind by moving all in with Ad 5s and found himself ahead of Jonathan Roy’s Kc 7s. Smith survived a flop of 8d 8s 2c, but fell behind when Roy spiked the 7d on the turn. A blank on the river brought no help, and Smith left the tourney in fourth position with winnings of more than C$211,000.
Three-handed play turned into a war as Jeff Gross, Jonathan Roy, and Pascal Lefrancois refused to give any quarter for the next five hours. While each player took the lead at various times in the battle, no one was really able to pull away until Lefrancois doubled through Gross on hand 143 when he moved all in with Kh 10s and found himself racing against Gross’ pocket 4s. A flop of Jd 8h 4h gave Gross a set, but the Qh on the turn gave Lefrancois both straight and flush outs. The Ah on the river completed the flush and crippled Gross, who found himself with just 825,000 left in his stack.
Gross tripled up on the next hand, but couldn’t climb back into contention and was eliminated on hand 153 when he moved in with Kd Qc only to find himself dominated by Roy’s As Qs. When both players hit their top cards, Gross found himself headed to the rail in third place with a payout worth more than C$317,000. While Gross was certainly disappointed in his finish, his best friend – Olympic legend Michael Phelps – couldn’t have been prouder to have been on the rail at the Playground Poker Club, tweeting:
[blackbirdpie url=”https://twitter.com/MichaelPhelps/status/273641317081419776″]
Gross’ elimination set up an all Canadian heads-up battle between Roy and Lefrancois, who were separated by less than 5 million chips. After an extended battle, Lefrancois found himself racing for nearly his entire stack when he took his pocket 6s against Roy’s Ks Qc. When the board ran out Kd 7h 7c Qd Jh, Lefrancois found himself with less than one big blind, and was eliminated on the tournament’s next hand. Lefrancois earned nearly C$471,000 for his second-place finish Roy added his name to the WPT Champions Cup and claimed nearly C$780,000 for the victory.
Payouts
1st: Jonathan Roy – $779,710
2nd: Pascal Lefrancois – $470,920
3rd: Jeff Gross – $317,450
4th: Gavin Smith – $211,745
5th: Sylvain Siebert – $146,360
6th: Peter Kaemmerlen – $113,155