Jonathan Duhamel Wins 2015 WSOP $111,111 One Drop High Roller

Just over 36 hours after the first card was dealt in the 2015 World Series of Poker $111,111 One Drop High Roller event the final river card came off the deck. As that rectangle of plastic hit the felt Jonathan Duhamel embraced runner-up Bill Klein before raising his arms in victory. For the win the Canadian poker pro and 2010 WSOP world champion earned his second gold bracelet and the massive $3,989,985 first-place prize.

“I feel so amazing right now,” said Duhamel. “It doesn’t get any better than that. I mean, the biggest buy-in of the summer, its for a charitable cause in One Drop… all those things combine to make probably like my second best day ever. After the main event.”

Duhamel increased his lifetime earnings to $16,738,193 as a result of the win, climbing into eighth place on the all-time money list.

The 27-year-old from Boucherville, Quebec overcame a field of 135 entries in this six-figure buy-in eight-max no-limit hold’em event. As you might expect the field was made up of many of poker’s biggest stars, top high-stakes specialists and a number of successful businessmen. The strong turnout built a prize pool of $14,249,925 and raised over $750,000 for the One Drop Foundation, which supports access to safe drinking water around the world. Only 46 players survived to day 2 due to the fast-paced structure.

The chip leader after day 1 was none other than 2014 WSOP $1 million Big One For One Drop champion Dan Colman. The 24-year-old won that massive event for $15,306,668 and looked like he had a great shot to win back-to-back One Drop events when he made it to the final table in second chip position. It wouldn’t be easy, of course, with a number of elite players joining him including high-stakes cash game specialist Ben Sulsky, current 2015 Card Player Player of the Year leader Anthony Zinno and 14-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth.

Hellmuth held the lead early in the final table, but lost some key hands to Duhamel along the way and eventually succumbed in sixth place, earning $696,821 and bringing his lifetime WSOP earnings to $12,814,916.

Colman knocked out Dan Perper in fifth place and Ben Sulsky in fourth to take a sizable chip lead into three-handed play with Duhamel and retired manufacturing company owner Bill Klein. Duhamel was able to pick up some big pocket pairs in key spots against Colman to find two huge double ups. Colman was left short and got his last chips in preflop with the KJ against Klein’s pocket aces.

During the runout, a spectator in the stands experienced what some reported as a heart attack and play was halted for nearly half an hour. The spectator was rushed to the hospital and play resumed with a more somber energy filling the Rio. Colman was not able to come from behind in the hand and was eliminated in third place, earning $1,544,121.

“I give all my prayers and all my thoughts to the guy,” said Duhamel regarding the incident. “We all wish he’s going to be alright. This is just a poker tournament, so when you put things in perspective, it’s not that important compared to what happened over there.”

Duhamel began heads-up play with 23 million in chips to Klein’s 17.5 million. The blinds were quite high by this point, and the battle lasted only 21 hands. On the final hand of the tournament Duhamel raised to 1.2 million from the button and Klein made it 3.6 million to go. Duhamel then moved all-in and Klein made the call for around 13 million total with the KJ. Duhamel was in a commanding position with the KK.

The board ran out J95A4 to secure the pot and the title for Duhamel and send Klein to the rail as the runner up with $2,465,522. Klein reportedly has promised to donate the entirety of his winnings in this event to the charity, which will help to improve many lives.

“They really do some good things and help out a lot of people,” said Duhamel of the One Drop Foundation, which he has been a spokesperson for in recent years. “It’s one thing to win a tournament, but knowing that it’s going to help to save so many lives as well makes it even better and makes it like a double win tonight.”

In addition to helping to raise money for charity and winning the title, the bracelet and the money, Duhamel also earned 1,320 Card Player Player of the Year points in this event. This was his second title of the year, and as a result he moved into 41st place in the overall standings. Anthony Zinno earned 333 points for his sixth-place finish. This was his ninth final table showing of the year, including three wins along the way. He was already leading the overall standings, but has now widened the gap between him and current second-place occupant Joe Kuether. Zinno has accumulated 5,396 and $2,296,131 in earnings so far in 2015.

Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at this final table:

For more coverage from the summer series, visit the 2015 WSOP landing page complete with a full schedule, news, player interviews and event recaps.

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