Oh, Canada! Jonathan Duhamel Wins 2010 WSOP Main Event
Jonathan Duhamel has won the second-largest WSOP Main Event in history, taking down the 2010 WSOP Main Event for $8,944,310 and his first WSOP bracelet.
"It means so much to me," Duhamel said following his victory. "It’s a dream come true for me. All my life, I’ve dreamed of it, and to have the chance to be called the champion is amazing. I'm the happiest guy on Earth right now."
Duhamel is the first Canadian to win poker’s biggest prize. He topped a 7,319-player field, defeating John Racener heads-up
2010 Poker Players Championship winner Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi had to settle for fifth.
2010 WSOP Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Name | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jonathan Duhamel | Canada | $8,944,310 |
| 2 | John Racener | United States | $5,545,955 |
| 3 | Joseph Cheong | United States | $4,130,049 |
| 4 | Filippo Candio | Italy | $3,092,545 |
| 5 | Michael Mizrachi | United States | $2,332,992 |
| 6 | John Dolan | United States | $1,772,959 |
| 7 | Jason Senti | United States | $1,356,720 |
| 8 | Matthew Jarvis | Canada | $1,045,743 |
| 9 | Soi Nguyen | United States | $811,823 |
It was just after high noon when our 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event November Nine filed onto the stage and into their seats under the bright lights of the made-for-TV set.
They were soon engulfed by a crowd of close to 2,000 spectators all decked out in matching shirts, patched up like your grandfather's trousers, and screaming multi-lingual cheers in unison at full throat.
Bruce Buffer soon took the stage to utter the most famous words in poker, and suddenly a poker game broke out amidst all the madness and pomp.
Final-Table Action
It took 28 hands to find the first casualty of the day, and it was the amateur to fall first. The two short stacks had flipped positions over the opening exchanges, but Soi Nguyen was still content to flip his A♦K♣ against Jason Senti's Q♦Q♠, but a third queen on the flop was all she wrote for Nguyen.
Just a couple of hands later, Duhamel’s chip lead took a knock, with Filippo Candio’s A♣A♦ holding against Duhamel’s A♥K♦, with the Canadian falling to around 50 million chips.
Then, Duhamel tangled with Cheong in a pot that brought out a new chip leader for the first time in four months. Having called a three-bet pre-flop from Duhamel, Cheong called a continuation bet on the A♦10♠4♣ flop.
Both players checked the 6♣ turn, before Cheong bet 8,250,000 on the J♦ river. Duhamel called, and Cheong's 6♦4♦ gave him two pair, a pot of more than 30 million, and the chip lead.
Having watched the big stacks battling, the middle stacks sought to get in on the action as well. Michael Mizrachi was looking for a second WSOP bracelet of the year, after his success in the Poker Players Championship, and was also in with a chance of securing WSOP Player of the Year.
Holding A♦Q♦, Mizrachi loved the Q♦Q♠8♦ flop, but Matthew Jarvis’ 9♣9♥ liked the 9♠ turn a little better. It looked like he'd just saved his tournament life, but the A♠ river gave the pot back to The Grinder and sent Jarvis off in eighth place.
Seven-handed play dragged on for an eternity, and Mizrachi took advantage of the table to build himself a fairly sizable chip lead with more than 60 million. There were still seven when they broke for dinner just before 7 p.m.
When they returned, yet another exciting coin flip broke out. Jason Senti's A♦K♠ out-flopped Joseph Cheong's 10♣10♠ in a big way as the dealer rolled out K♦K♥Q♣.
The turn J♦ was a little sweat for Senti, but the river 9♦ was a total disaster. Cheong's straight pushed his opponent straight out the door, and Senti collected seventh-place money on his way to the bar.
On Hand #129, John Dolan made his final stand. When the table folded around to his small blind, he moved his short stack of about 13 million into the middle. Duhamel was in the big blind and snap-called.
John Dolan: Q♦5♦
Jonathan Duhamel: 4♣4♦
Dolan, who had come in second in chips behind Duhamel, seemed happy to be in a coin flip, and turned 16 outs on the J♥7♥6♥9♥ board to stay alive. However, the 3♣ river bricked and he was eliminated.
Despite that knockout pot, Duhamel's stack was in the midst of a steady decline that got worse before it got better. A short-stacked Racener doubled up into contention, then promptly ran his A♠Q♠ into Duhamel's A♣K♥ for a pot of more than 34 million.
The queen-high flop robbed Duhamel of that big pot, though, and Racener's second double-up knocked Duhamel all the way back to 27 million.
On the very next hand, Duhamel opened with a raise from the small blind before Mizrachi moved all-in from the big. Duhamel called off his stack with A♠9♥ and was racing for double or nothing against The Grinder's 3♥3♠.
A nine landed on the flop and another on the turn, and Duhamel was right back up over 50 million. He and Mizrachi continued to mix it up in several big pots, most of them eventually being pushed into the French-Canadian's corner.
The demise of Mizrachi had begun when his A♦8♦ doubled up Racener's A♠K♦ to knock him out of the chip lead. Now, after doubling Duhamel, it all came crashing down a few minutes later.
Duhamel played his A♦A♣ slow, and he lured Mizrachi into a shove when his Q♦8♥ flopped top pair on the 5♦4♠Q♣. The chips went in, and there was no further help for Mizrachi, ending his near-legendary run in fifth place. That officially gives Frank Kassela the title of 2010 WSOP Player of the Year.
Three hands later, the volatile Italian (who was surprisingly un-volatile Saturday) fell in fourth place. Candio got his chips in with K♦Q♦, but he could not get there against Cheong's A♣3♣. Cheong flopped an ace and made a wheel by the time it was all said and done, and Candio took just over $3 million for his efforts.
Fireworks Three-Handed
When they began three-handed play, Cheong and Duhamel were running away with the show. They were each approaching 100 million while Racener sat patiently by with his 20-ish million. Cheong, however, was in no mood to sit patiently. He went to work quickly and was the first player to crest that magical 100-million-chip mark.
However, that changed in a flash.
On Hand #197, Duhamel raised to 2,800,000, and Cheong came along with him from the small blind.
Cheong check-raised on the 6♣6♥10♣ flop, then barreled on the 9♠ turn and K♣ river.
Duhamel finally paused to think on the river but called off 13,500,000 of his chips with A♦K♥ to win the massive pot and take the chip lead once again.
He and Duhamel waged an all-out war, hand after dramatic hand, while Racener folded his buttons, sat on his hands, and waited for the fireworks.
And the fireworks came. In Hand #213, 25 hands into the three-way, a battle of the big-stacked blinds broke out.
It started with Cheong opening, and the betting action ended with him six-bet shoving all in with A♠7♥. Duhamel probably didn't like the idea of playing a 180-million-chip pot, but he didn't waste any time calling with Q♣Q♦, putting himself at risk in the process.
A board full of blanks crushed Cheong from 95 million down to less than 10 million in a pot that will live on in WSOP history, shooting Duhamel up into a near-decisive chip lead. It was, as far as we can tell, the largest pot in the history of the WSOP.
Six hands later, Duhamel cued the end of Day 9 when his A♠2♣ eliminated Cheong and his Q♠10♣ in third place.
Heads-Up Play
With the luxury of the chip lead, both players had a night’s sleep to contemplate ahead of the final day’s play.
Holding a 6:1 chip lead, heads-up play lasted 43 hands before Duhamel could finally finish off Racener.
Racener could only manage one double-up off of Duhamel when he woke up to pocket queens in the big blind after he was shoved on by Duhamel with K♥4♣. Racener's queens held and there was some hope.
That one double-up would be the only all-in confrontation that Racener would win, though, because the next time the two put all of the chips in, Duhamel left with the title.
Duhamel shoved all-in on the final hand with the A♠J♥. Racener was too short to pass it up and called off the last of his chips with the K♦8♦.
The board came 4♦4♣9♦6♣5♣ and Duhamel was swarmed by a sea of red Montreal Canadians jerseys. Then his fans hoisted him high into the air and bounced him up and down.
On hand to present the gold bracelet to Duhamel was none other than last year's champion and youngest Main Event winner ever, Joe Cada. As Jack Effel announced and Duhamel was handed the bracelet, confetti fell from the sky while his friends and family chanted away.
"Thank you to everybody for being here, it's a dream come true," Duhamel said afterwards, clearly in shock. "I don't know what to think, I don't know what to say."
With thanks to original reporting from Donnie Peters and Eric Ramsey.
