Main Event
Day 5 Completed
2017 partypoker LIVE Million North America
Main Event
Day: 5
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2017 partypoker LIVE Million North America
Buy-in
5,300 CAD
Prize Pool
5,709,750 CAD
Entries
1,168
Level
39
Blinds
6,000,000 / 12,000,000
Ante
1,000,000
Jean-Pascal Savard Wins the partypoker MILLIONS North America Main Event (CA$956,000)!
Level 39
: 6,000,000/12,000,000, 1,000,000 ante
The partypoker MILLIONS North America Main Event has wrapped up an exciting week at the Playground Poker Club in Montreal, Canada. The premiere destination for poker in Canada delivered what was a record-setting festival. The CA$5300/$4000 Main Event set a record in Canadian live poker with a prizepool of CA$5,709,750, beating the guarantee of CA$5,000,000 put up by partypoker.
There were a total of 1,168 entries through online and live satellites, Phase 1 qualifiers, and Day 1 participants. 119 players made the money and were guaranteed to take home at least CA$10,000. When Day 5 finally arrived, there were eight players remaining who made up a star-studded final table. The final four all hailed from the host province, Quebec, which made it extra special.
The tournament reached the money early on Day 3, when the bubble boy, Steven Walburton was left with less than a single ante and was forced all in. He revealed queen-deuce off suit, but Tim West flopped top set with pocket tens and Walburton was drawing dead by the turn. The remaining 119 players were all guaranteed a min cash worth CA$10,000 and that is when the real journey to the big money began.
It was a long final table that lasted over ten hours until heads-up play finally began. Jean-Pascal Savard held a two-to-one chip lead over his country-mate, Jonathan Bussieres. With the two remaining players being close friends, a deal was struck before play would begin, thus resulting in a quick heads-up battle. The pair decided to decrease blinds to just 20 minutes, and to skip a level and begin at 6,000,000/12,000,000. After just 30-minutes of play, Bussieres would shove queen-jack suited into Savard's ace-jack, finding himself in a dominated position. The board would be of no help and the rail rejoiced in loud chants.
Final Result 2017 partypoker MILLIONS North America Main Event
| Place | Player Name | Prize (CAD) |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Jean-Pascal Savard | $956,000* |
| 2nd | Jonathan Bussieres | $693,950* |
| 3rd | Philippe D'Auteuil | $450,000 |
| 4th | Louis Boutin | $335,000 |
| 5th | Ari Engel | $238,350 |
| 6th | Niall Farrell | $160,000 |
| 7th | Matthew Waxman | $110,000 |
| 8th | Rayan Chamas | $80,000 |
*denotes a chop
Two Big Paydays
Savard just took down his first career major title, and he did so in none other than his hometown, with many friends supporting him on the rail. Throughout the final table you could hear his rail chanting "Jean, Jean, Jean!" with every pot he won. Savard would go on to celebrate with his friends off of the final table stage with hugs and high-fives all around.
Savard's biggest cash prior to this event was at the 2015 PCA High Roller in Bahamas where he finished in fourth place for $508,080. With this being his largest live poker cash, Savard's total live earnings have now increased to $1,566,896.
Bussieres came into the final day as one of the shorter stacks among the elite eight. He continued to grow his stack by making strong play after strong play and out-duelling many of his opponents. His passion for the game was visible, as a fist pump followed every major pot he took down.
By Bussieres finishing in second place and scoring a six-figure win of CA$693,950, he has just increased his career live earnings exponentially. Prior to this big score, Bussieres had just $72,763 in live tournament winnings.
Day 5 Action
The elusive final table came together on Day 5 with eight players having their sights set on the CA$1,000,000 top prize, along with the bragging rights that came along with taking down Canada's biggest prizepool in live poker history. The shortest stack of the day belonged to Louis Boutin, but he chipped his way up and brought himself back into contention after cracking Matthew Waxman's queens with ace-jack.
The first player to go in 8th place after three hours of play was Rayan Chamas, who started the day with the third-most chips. He got off to a good start, but found himself raise-folding and playing some big pots with the two chip leaders. Eventually, Chamas found himself in a cooler and four-bet shoved with jacks but ran into Savard's aces, sending him home with CA$80,000 for his deep run.
Bussieres found himself on the ropes as one of the short stacks and got it in with ace-jack. He was well behind Boutin's ace-king but spiked a jack on the turn to stay alive, arguably the turning point for Bussieres on this final table. Waxman was ousted in 7th place (CA$110,000) after losing a big chunk of his stack early on with queens. He got his last remaining chips in the middle with ace-queen but Farrell didn't want to fold 
in the big blind and turned a pair to eliminate the WSOP bracelet winner.
Engel began the day as the chip leader but slowly found himself slipping down the leaderboard. It was clear he was getting hands but was unable to come out on top with the best of it. Despite this, he found a way to ladder up once Farrell trapped Savard with kings, getting him to shove with ace-jack after limping in from the small blind. Farrell snap-called the shove and tabled his hand. The flop came ace-high, sending Farrell home in 6th place for a nice sum of CA$160,000.
After seeing the two big stacks clash, Engel managed to ladder up but then busted out shortly after. He decided to pile his last few chips in with 
on the button but ran into the pocket tens of D'Auteuil in the big blind. Engel leads Canada in the GPI rankings and is 13th in the world, however it is likely this result will bump him up that list quite nicely. He earned himself CA$238,350 for his 5th place finish today.
The four remaining players were all friends and all hailed from Quebec, Canada, making for a fun and interesting dynamic on such a big stage. Boutin started the day as the shortest stack but grinding his way to a 4th place finish, losing a flip with pocket nines to a shove from Bussieres holding queen-ten. Boutin took home CA$335,000 for his impressive run in this event.
Three-handed play would not last long either. D'Auteuil attempted to pull off a bluff against Savard, but he wasn't buying it and snapped him off on the river with jacks on a queen-high board. Shortly after, D'Auteuil called a shove from Bussieres with ace-queen, but his opponent outflopped him and he hit the rail in 3rd place for just shy of half a million dollars.
Savard and Bussieres solidified their deal and the rest is history, with Savard taking home the title on his home turf.
Notables that busted prior to the final table but still took home some money included Scott Montgomery (13th place - CA$45,000), Michael Addamo (24th place - $35,000), Sam Greenwood (27th place - CA$32,500), Joseph Sicko (30th place - CA$32,500), Carlos Mortensen (38th place - CA$30,000), Benny Chen (43rd place - CA$27,500), Ema Zajmovic (48th place), Sam Trickett (50th place), Anthony Zinno (54th place - CA$25,000), Jason Koon (56th place - CA$25,000), Cate Hall (63rd place - CA$22,500), Xuan Liu (71st place - CA$20,000), Upeshka De Silva (81st place - CA$15,000), Darren Elias (101st place - CA$12,500), Mike Mcdonald (109th place - CA$10,000), and Ryan Riess (119th place - CA$10,000)
Congratulations to everyone involved in the partypoker MILLION North America series in Montreal, Canada. It was a record-setting event that will go down in history, with the hopes of breaking through more barriers in the future. Partypoker has started a chain of Live events that are spreading across the globe. Be sure to keep an eye on the schedule for an event near you!
That's it for the PokerNews live reporting team. Thank you for following along! Until next time!
Hand #178: Jonathan Bussieres Eliminated in 2nd Place (CA$693,950*)
Level 39
: 6,000,000/12,000,000, 1,000,000 ante
Hand 178: Jean-Pascal Savard raised to 33,000,000 on the button with 
and Jonathan Bussieres moved all in for 444,000,000 with 
.
Savard wasted no time and quickly called, revealing to Bussieres that he was miles ahead.
The flop came 
and it was of no help to Bussieres. The turn was the 
and the river was the 
, making Bussieres the runner-up in the partypoker MILLION North America Main Event for CA$693,950 after making a deal heads up.
Savard is the new champion, pocketing $956,000 for the win.
Congratulations!
A full recap will be posted tonight.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
1,138,600,000 | 391,600,000 |
|
Busted |
Hand #173-177: Play Goes Back-and-Forth
Level 39
: 6,000,000/12,000,000, 1,000,000 ante
Hand 173: Jonathan Bussieres raised from the button to 30,000,000 and Jean-Pascal Savard folded.
Hand 174: Jean-Pascal Savard raised to 27,000,000 on the button with 
and Bussieres folded.
Hand 175: Jonathan Bussieres limped on the button with 
and Jean-Pascal Savard raised to 42,000,000 with 
. Bussieres called and the flop came 
. Both players checked. The turn was the and again both players checked. The river was the 
and Savard bet 57,000,000. Bussieres folded.
Hand 176: Jean-Pascal Savard called with 
on the button and Jonathan Bussieres checked with 
. The flop was 
and Bussieres checked. Savard bet 17,000,000 and Bussieres called. The turn was the 
and both players checked. The river was the 
and both players checked again. Bussieres took down the pot with a flush.
Hand 177: Jonathan Bussieres raised to 30,000,000 and Savard moved all-in with 
. Bussieres folded.
Hands #162-172: Back and Forth
Level 39
: 6,000,000/12,000,000, 1,000,000 ante
Hand 162: Jonathan Bussieres raised to 25,000,000 on the button with 
and Jean-Pascal Savard called with . The flop came 
and Savard check-called a bet of 12,000,000 from Bussieres. The turn was the 
and both players checked to the on the river. Savard led out for 92,000,000 and Bussieres folded.
Hand 163: Jean-Pascal Savard raised to 25,000,000 with 
and got no action.
Hand 164: Jean-Pascal Savard got a walk.
Hand 165: Jean-Pascal Savard raised to 25,000,000 with 
and took down the pot.
Hand 166: Jonathan Bussieres raised to 25,000,000 with 
and took down the pot.
Hand 167: Jean-Pascal Savard called with and Jonathan Bussieres raised to 40,000,000. Savard called. The flop came and Bussieres led out for 30,000,000. Savard folded.
Hand 168: Jean-Pascal Savard got a walk.
Hand 169: Jean-Pascal Savard raised to 25,000,000 and Jonathan Bussieres folded.
Hands 170-172 were missed due to a break in the stream.
Hand #157-161: Savard's Lead Increases
Level 39
: 6,000,000/12,000,000, 1,000,000 ante
Hand 157: Jean-Pascal Savard raised to 30,000,000 from the button with and Jonathan Bussieres called with . The flop came 
and Boussieres checked. Savard bet 18,000,000 and Bussieres called. The turn was the and the action was checked. Bussieres bet 38,000,000 when the hit the river and Savard folded.
Hand 158: Jean-Pascal Savard received a walk.
Hand 159: Jean-Pascal Savard raised to 25,000,000 with and Jonathan Bussieres moved all in with 
. Savard folded.
Hand 160: Jean-Pascal Savard received another walk.
Hand 161 was missed due to a break in the stream.
Level: 39
Blinds: 6,000,000/12,000,000
Ante: 1,000,000
A Deal Has Been Made
Level 37
: 4,000,000/8,000,000, 1,000,000 ante
Jean-Pascal Savard and Jonathan Bussieres have made a deal while they were on the break before heads-up play began. Blinds have been cut to 20-minute levels and will start off at 6,000,000/12,000,000 with a 1,000,000 ante.
Savard will be taking home CA$791,000 and Bussieres will pocket CA$693,950. The remaining 165,000 is what they are playing for along with the title.
Break Before Heads Up Play Begins
Level 37
: 4,000,000/8,000,000, 1,000,000 ante
Jean-Pascal Savard and Jonathan Bussieres are headed into a quick 15-minute break and will return shortly for heads-up play. The winner will become Canada's newest millionaire! Here is a look at how they stack up:
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
747,000,000 | -3,000,000 |
|
|
395,000,000 | 5,000,000 |
Hand #156: Philippe D'Auteuil Eliminated in 3rd Place (CA$450,000)
Level 37
: 4,000,000/8,000,000, 1,000,000 ante
Hand 156: Jonathan Bussieres was in the small blind with and moved all in for 234,000,000. Philippe D'Auteuil called from the big blind with for 155,000,000.
The flop came 
, giving Bussieres a pair of sixes and the lead.
The turn was the and the river was the , sending D'Auteuil home in 3rd place for a payday of CA$450,000.
The remaining players are heads up, with the runner-up guaranteed CA$650,000 and the winner taking home CA$1,000,000
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
750,000,000 | 15,500,000 |
|
|
390,000,000 | 265,500,000 |
|
Busted |