Jonathan Duhamel once again showed the poker community that he is one of the best contemporary poker professionals in the world. Last night, the Canadian topped the star-studded final table of the 2015 WSOP Europe €25,600 High Roller event, collecting his third-ever gold bracelet and the amount of €554,395.
It was this summer that Duhamel captured his second gold piece. He won the $111,111 High Roller for ONE DROP during the 46th Annual WSOP.
Commenting on his third WSOP victory, the player, who also won the $10,000 Main Event in 2010, said that it felt even better than the second one. Duhamel also noted that the €25,600 High Roller was probably the toughest event he has ever been in. And given the fact that he had to face a three-time gold bracelet winner, an online poker champion, and three other prominent poker pros, it certainly could be said without the slightest exaggeration that the official six-handed final table was star-studded.
The High Roller event kicked off on October 21 and it took three days of play for the winner to be determined. It attracted a total of 64 entries who created a prize pool of €1,584,000. The top 7 spots were paid, with payouts starting from €81,420. And it was three-time bracelet winner Jason Mercier who got eliminated on the bubble, missing his chance to add yet another gold piece to his collection.
The official final table was played yesterday. It featured six players, of whom two were from Canada, two from Germany, one was from Belgium, and one from Italy. The two local favorites were the first to leave the final table.
German player Fedor Holz was eliminated in 6th place to collect the amount of €96,625. At the age of 22, the player already has live career winnings of more than $2 million. Not to mention that last year, he bested the field of the World Championship of Online Poker Main Event.
Christoph Vogelsang from Germany took 5th place in the €25,600 High Roller to scoop €121,020. Although he has not won a gold bracelet yet, the player is no stranger to the WSOP. In 2014, he finished 3rd in the $1,000,000 BIG ONE for ONE DROP event and collected almost $4.5 million of the impressive prize pool.
Four-handed play then lasted more than an hour and a half. Canadian Sam Chartier was the next to go. His 4th place in the tournament secured him with a payout of €160,775. Chartier is the proud holder of one WSOP Circuit gold ring. In 2009, the player topped the field of the WSOP $5,150 Championship event to collect the gold piece and the amount of $322,944.
Popular Italian poker pro Mustapha Kanit was eliminated in 3rd place. His payout amounted to €227,145. Kanit started the day as the chip leader but clearly the odds were not in his favor last night and he missed his chance to win his first-ever gold bracelet. The Italian won two EPT High Roller events this year – the €10,000 one in Barcelona and the €50,000 one in Monte Carlo.
The heads-up match between Duhamel and Kitai started with the first holding a little more chips than his opponent. However, he managed to extend his lead after he won a crucial hand. Play lasted for less than an hour. On what turned out to be the last hand for the evening and the event as a whole, Kitai went all in for a total of 1,420,000 and Duhamel called.
The Belgian tabled [Jh][7s] and his opponent turned [7c][7h]. The board ran out [As][Ks][2s] on the flop, with Kitai picking up the flush draw. The [8h] came on the turn and the [7d] appeared on the river, securing Duhamel with a set of sevens and his third career gold bracelet.
As for Kitai, he took €342,620 for his runner-up finish. The player has previously won three gold bracelets. In fact, he became the first Belgian to ever win the most prestigious non-monetary prize in the world of poker. It is also interesting to note that Kitai is no stranger to the Spielbank casino. In 2012, the player won an EPT Main Event at that same casino.
With the €25,600 High Roller being completed, there is only one more gold bracelet to be awarded at this year’s edition of the WSOP Europe. The final table of the €10,450 Main Event is to be played later today. And the 2015 WSOP Europe Main Event Champion will be awarded a gold bracelet and the amount of €883,000 of the entire prize pool.
