POKERSTARS PLAYER JONATHAN DUHAMEL BECOMES FIRST CANADIAN TO BE CROWNED WORLD
CHAMPION
TORONTO, Nov. 9 /CNW/ - PokerStars player Jonathan Duhamel saw off the challenge of John Racener in the final heads-up of the 2010 World Series of Poker* World Championship on Monday, November 8, to take the $8,944,310 first prize and coveted WSOP* bracelet.
Duhamel from Boucherville, Quebec had dominated the nine-handed final table on Saturday, November 6, to enter heads-up play at the Rio Casino, Las Vegas, with a massive six-to-one chip advantage against his American counterpart Racener. And when the two players returned to the felt on Monday night to compete for the title, Duhamel was crowned World Champion after just 43 hands when his A-J held up against Racener's K-8.
The result means that Duhamel has become the first ever Canadian player to win the WSOP Main Event, and he has achieved it in a field of 7,319 players - the second biggest live tournament field ever. Surrounded by 150 friends and family members all clad in the red jerseys of his ice hockey team, Montreal Canadiens, Duhamel shouted, "Thank you to everybody for being here, it's a dream come true."
Former WSOP World Champions and Team PokerStars Pros Joe Cada and Greg Raymer were also present at the final table to cheer on Duhamel, and millions of poker fans will also be able to watch the PokerStars player capture the 2010 World Championship tonight (Tuesday, November 9) on TSN and RDS at 10 p.m. ET.
Jonathan Duhamel's poker achievements
PokerStars player and former finance student Duhamel first stepped onto the international poker scene when he finished tenth at the Season 5 PokerStars European Poker Tour event in Prague, Czech Republic for nearly US$60,000.
Going into the WSOP Main Event this summer, the 23-year-old from Quebec had already cashed in two events at the 2010 World Series, coming 15th in a $2,500 NLHE tourney for $37,276 and 50th in a $1,500 NLHE Six-max event for $5,724. His live tournament winnings now amount to a staggering $9,045,870!
Duhamel will now be hoping to add another zero to that figure when he sits down to play at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event from January 8-14. For full details of PokerStars' flagship festival, please visit: www.pokerstarscaribbeanadventure.com.
PokerStars qualifiers at the WSOP
This year, PokerStars awarded more than 1,000 seats to the 2010 WSOP, with over 800 players actively vying for the mammoth $68,798,600 prize pool - the second largest in WSOP history. Of the 839 PokerStars players who participated in the tournament 145 made the money, racking up more than $23 million in winnings.
For a full recap of PokerStars at the 2010 World Series of Poker*, go to www.pokerstarsblog.com or see video blogs from the tournament at www.pokerstars.tv.
About www.pokerstars.net:
PokerStars.net is the world's largest regulated gaming operator and poker site, with more than 40 million members. It's the first choice of the world's top players, with more daily tournaments than anywhere else, and with the best security online.
Recent additions to the PokerStars family include PokerStars.fr, which operates in France under the French government license, as well as PokerStars.it, which operates in Italy under the Italian government license, and PokerStars.ee, which operates in Estonia under the Estonian government license.
PokerStars.net is the official sponsor of some of the biggest live poker tournaments in the world, including: the North American Poker Tour, the Asia Pacific Poker Tour, the Latin American Poker Tour, the Australia New Zealand Poker Tour and the Russian Poker Series.
PokerStars.net is also home to an elite team of sponsored players known as Team PokerStars.net Pro - a group of established and up-and-coming players that travel the world competing in international tournaments. For a list of Team PokerStars.net Pros visit: www.pokerstars.net/team-pokerstars/
*WORLD SERIES OF POKER and WSOP are trademarks of Harrah's License Company, LLC ("Harrah's"). Harrah's does not sponsor or endorse, and is not associated or affiliated with PokerStars.com or its products, services, promotions or tournaments.
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