Jared Mahoney Takes Down WPT Montreal for CAD $453,122

The World Poker Tour has a new champion at the Playground Poker Club in Montreal, Quebec. On Thursday night, Jared Mahoney won 2015 partypoker.net WPT Montreal for CAD $453,122 as well as a seat in the season-ending WPT Tournament of Champions.

It was a long road for the new champion. Action concluded late on Day 5 of the tournament after a grueling week of poker. A total of 697 entries took to the tables over three starting flights before 294 players returned for Day 2. It took a few more days before the official final table of six players was set, and Mahoney was the short stack to begin the day.

Brian Altman was the chip leader when play resumed on the televised WPT final table, and he was the only player with a previous WPT title. Darryll Fish came in as the second-biggest stack and was another favorite as a player with both experience and talent.

The first one eliminated from the final table was AJ Gambino when he got it in with the to Fish's . Fish found an ace on the flop, and by the river, he had improved to a heart flush resulting in the first elimination of the day.

Next out was the only Canadian at the final table, Carter Swidler, who was all in preflop with the to Altman's . Swidler failed to hang on through the runout, which included two jacks.

Altman had a tough level when he found himself going from chip leader with more than half the chips in play to eliminated in about 15 minutes. He doubled up two opponents and then pushed all in with the and ran into Mahoney's . The board ran and Altman hit the exit in fourth place.

Rainer Kempe was here looking for his first WPT win, but his hopes were stolen when he pushed all in with the and was called by Mahoney's . The flop couldn't have been more dramatic if you'd picked the cards from the deck on purpose as Kempe flopped two pair but Mahoney found a flush draw. The flush came in on the turn, and Kempe didn't find the boat he needed on the river. He was eliminated in third place.

Heads-up play between Fish and Mahoney began with the latter holding a narrow chip advantage, but the two of them swapped small pots back and forth, exchanging the chip lead with almost every hand.

Several levels later, Fish three-bet all in with the but Mahoney had woke up with , making the easy call and winning all the chips in the tournament after the board ran out .

Mahoney won the top prize of CAD $453,122 plus the WPT Tournament of Champions entry as well as a Hublot watch and the signature Playground Poker Club trophy belt, not to mention the prestige of the WPT title that will always accompany his name.

That's it for the 2015 edition of partypoker.net WPT Montreal. Thanks for following along.