Jonathan Duhamel Wins World Series of Poker Main Event

The most exciting day of the year in tournament poker lived up to its billing on Saturday, Nov. 6. Thanks to the thousands in the crowd at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, the over-the-top Hollywood-style introductions, and the thrilling hands that led the way, the “November Nine” took a memorable journey down to a winner at the 2010 World Series of Poker main event.

That journey also was a long one, with the final two players being determined at close to 2 a.m. in the cavernous Penn and Teller Theater. Drama ran high in the elimination hands, and some will be judged as the most exciting in television history.
And while the final heads-up match on Monday, Nov. 8, was less of a roller-coaster ride, it did settle the matter of who was the new world champion.

Here were the chip counts when the final nine took their seats on Saturday, Nov. 6:

Seat 1 Jason Senti 7,625,000
Seat 2 Joseph Cheong 23,525,000
Seat 3 John Dolan 46,250,000
Seat 4 Jonathan Duhamel 65,975,000
Seat 5 Michael Mizrachi 14,450,000
Seat 6 Matt Jarvis 16,700,000
Seat 7 John Racener 19,050,000
Seat 8 Filippo Candio 16,400,000
Seat 9 Soi Nguyen 9,650,000

A Wild Ride From Nine to Two

Soi Nguyen got the elimination train moving when he shoved all in from the button for his last 7.6 million on hand No. 28 of the day. Jason Senti reraised from the small blind to isolate, and Joseph Cheong folded in the big blind. Nguyen showed the A♦ K♣, but he was racing against the pocket queens of Senti. The board came Q♥ 10♣ 3♠ 9♠ K♠, and Nguyen was eliminated in ninth place, for $811,823.

The next elimination was perhaps the most exciting of the tournament, if not the year. Jonathan Duhamel raised to 1,400,000, and Michael Mizrachi made the call. Matt Jarvis then moved all in for his remaining 14,300,000. Duhamel folded, and Mizrachi took a few moments before making the call, showing the A♦ Q♦. Jarvis showed pocket nines, and the two were off to the races. The flop came Q♠ Q♣ 8♦, and the Mizrachi contingent exploded in celebration.

The turn, however, was the 9♠, giving Jarvis a full house and sending his fans into a frenzy. All he needed to do was dodge seven cards to double up, but the river was the A♠, giving Mizrachi a better full house. The improbable river card brought pandemonium from his fans, and Mizrachi was up to more than 42 million in chips, while Jarvis would exit in eighth place, for $1,045,738.

The next elimination hand provided more excitement, although it came many hours later on the 116th hand of play. Senti raised from the button to 1,800,000, and Cheong reraised to 4,950,000 from the small blind. Senti then moved all in, and Cheong snap-called. Cheong showed the 10♣ 10♠, and was racing against Senti’s A♦ K♠. Senti needed to hit, and he did so in a big way when the flop fell K♦ K♥ Q♣.

The turn, however, was the J♦, giving Cheong outs to the straight. The river was the 9♦, and the room erupted once again, like the aftershock of a large earthquake. Senti was eliminated in seventh place, and took home $1,356,708, while Cheong increased his stack to more than 46 million.

John Dolan moved all in from the small blind for his last 13,500,000 a little while later, and Duhamel called from the big blind. Dolan showed the Q♦ 5♦ and was happy to see Duhamel turn over the 4♣ 4♦ for a race situation. The board rolled out with the J♥ 7♥ 6♥ 9♥ 3♣, giving Dolan some sweat but no help, and he was sent to the rail in sixth place ($1,772,939).

The next player to fall was the one no one in the room wanted to see leave. At one time, he was the chip leader, but a series of players had doubled up through him in succession when five-handed, and his chip stack had dwindled. On “The Grinder’s” final hand, Duhamel completed from the small blind, and Mizrachi checked his option in the big blind.

The flop fell Q♣ 5♦ 4♠, and Duhamel checked. Mizrachi bet 2,000,000, and Duhamel raised. Mizrachi then moved all in, and Duhamel instantly called with his slow-played aces. Mizrachi showed the Q♦ 8♥ for top pair, and needed help to stay alive. The turn was the J♦ and the river was the K♦, offering no help to The Grinder, who hit the rail in fifth place ($2,332,960). Duhamel was riding high with more than 91,000,000 in chips.

The energy in the room diminished, thanks to the combination of Mizrachi’s elimination and the lateness of the hour, and then things picked up again when Filippo Candio moved all in from the small blind on hand No. 188, and Cheong made the call from the big blind.

Candio showed the K♦ Q♦, but was behind to Cheong’s A♣ 3♣. The board ran out with the A♥ 7♦ 2♠ 5♥ 4♠, and Cheong’s straight knocked Candio out of the tournament. Candio finished fourth and took $3,092,497 back home to Italy, but he failed to become the first Italian world champion. Cheong now had a slight chip lead over Duhamel, and Racener was in third place.

It was clear from the start of three-handed play that Duhamel and Cheong were going to push the action, and if the cards led them to do so, they were going to play against each other.

Punches were traded back and forth, and then Duhamel doubled up through Cheong in a 177,600,000 pot that was the largest in WSOP history. It crippled Cheong, and was the most important hand that Racener didn’t play in his poker career.

After Racener mucked on the button, Cheong raised to 2,900,000 from the small blind, and Duhamel reraised to 6,750,000 from the big blind. Cheong four-bet to 14,250,000, and Duhamel reraised once again to 22,750,000. Cheong thought it over for a bit before announcing that he was all in, and Duhamel snap-called.

Cheong let out a moan and turned over the A♠ 7♥, while Duhamel excitedly showed the Q♣ Q♦. The flop came 9♥ 3♦ 2♣, and Duhamel remained in the lead. The turn was the 6♠, and Cheong was left looking for one of the last three aces. The river was the 8♠, and Duhamel doubled up to take the monster chip lead. Cheong was left with about 8,000,000 in chips after the hand.

Duhamel finished the job when Cheong moved all in from the small blind with the Q♣ 10♠, and the Canadian called from the big blind with the A♠ 2♣. The board fell K♠ 9♣ 6♣ 6♥ 7♣, and Cheong was eliminated in third place ($4,129,979), which brought play to an end at around 2 a.m. after 219 hands had been played.

Heads Up: The Final Battle of the War

It takes many battles to win a war, and even though the last battle is sometimes one of the smaller skirmishes, a competitor has to take care of business if he wants to be ultimately victorious. Heads-up play lasted 43 hands, and it took just over an hour and a half to determine the world champion. Duhamel took an arsenal of 188,450,000 in chips into the final battle, and Racener was looking for reinforcements for his 30,750,000.

The first hand was dealt much later than planned on the final day, thanks to some important business that recognized this year’s top player at the WSOP and some of the biggest names in poker history. First, Frank Kassela, who clinched the 2010 WSOP Player of the Year award on Saturday when Mizrachi was eliminated from the main event in fifth place, was introduced to the capacity crowd. Kassela received $30,000 in tournament buy-ins for his accomplishment.

After that, Nolan Dalla took the stage to introduce one of the 2010 Poker Hall of Fame inductees, Dan Harrington. Doyle Brunson then came to the stage to present another Hall of Fame inductee, Erik Seidel. Both inductees were introduced with anecdotes pertaining to their poker pasts, and then were formally inducted. After that, they both gave their acceptance speeches and were welcomed by standing ovations from the audience.

Following those pleasantries, it was time to get back to the final bit of business. The outcome was never really in doubt. Racener was able to double up once, after Duhamel shoved from the small blind and Racener snap-called for his last 18,250,000 preflop. Racener showed pocket queens, and Duhamel disgustedly tossed his K♥ 4♣ across the felt. The board ran out with the J♥ 8♦ 6♣ 2♥ 7♥, and Racener doubled up. Racener was still close to his starting-stack amount with 37,000,000, and the large chip advantage of Duhamel proved to be too much to overcome.

Racener had less than 10 big blinds when he made his final all-in call with the K♦ 8♦ for 14,000,000 after Duhamel open-shoved preflop with the A♠ J♥. The board came 9♠ 4♣ 4♦ 6♣ 5♣, and Duhamel was awarded the championship gold bracelet and the top prize of $8,944,138. Racener took home $5,545,855 after surviving the most intense final days of tournament poker in his life.

Duhamel was mobbed by a sea of family, friends, and supporters wearing Montreal Canadians National Hockey League jerseys after the final card fell. He was very gracious after the win, and promised to be a good ambassador for Canadian poker as the first world champion from the Great White North.

Final-Table Results

1 Jonathan Duhamel $8,944,138
2 John Racener $5,545,855
3 Joseph Cheong $4,129,979
4 Filippo Candio $3,092,497
5 Michael Mizrachi $2,332,960
6 John Dolan $1,772,939
7 Jason Senti $1,356,708
8 Matt Jarvis $1,045,738
9 Soi Nguyen $811,823

Michael Mizrachi: ‘The Grinder’ Books His Best-Ever World Series of Poker Main Event

By Ryan Lucchesi

Each year, the poker community unites behind one player at the World Series of Poker main-event final table in November. They always show up to support one of their own. In years past, Phil Ivey, Jeff Shulman, and Chino Rheem were the professionals’ horses of choice, and this year, the poker world was on Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi. His supporters were easily identifiable throughout the Penn and Teller Theater, as they were wearing bright red “Go Grinder” shirts, and the cast of characters included not only his family, but poker-playing friends such as Mike Matusow, Rheem, and J.C. Tran.

Mizrachi sat down at the main-event final table firm in the knowledge that he had put on the best summer performance of his career, and the Card Player 2006 Player of the Year knew that a win in the main event would make this the banner year of his professional life.

Mizrachi won the WSOP $50,000 Players Championship to take home his first gold bracelet and $1,559,046 in prize money, and then continued to perform well at the Series, making the final table of both the $10,000 seven-card stud championship (sixth place) and the $10,000 limit hold’em championship (sixth place). He added a fourth cash with a 26th-place finish in a $2,500 mixed event, and ultimately finished fifth in the $10,000 no-limit hold’em main event, for $2,332,960, the largest cash of his impressive career. His WSOP winnings this year totaled $4,017,043, and he finished second in the WSOP Player of the Year race behind Frank Kassela.

Mizrachi now has $11,216,264 in lifetime tournament winnings, putting him in fifth place on the all-time list. He became the sixth member of an exclusive group of players who have earned $11 million or more in their tournament poker careers. That group includes:

Phil Ivey $13,464,192
Daniel Negreanu $12,959,906
Jamie Gold $12,220,056
Scotty Nguyen $11,355,336
Michael Mizrachi $11,216,264
John Juanda $11,142,223

“I’m happy with my performance. At one point, I had the chip lead, and at one point, I was the short stack. Things happen when the blinds go up. We started the final table at 250,000-500,000; it was a pretty big start in the blinds, so you had to get lucky. Unfortunately, I finished fifth, but it could have been worse; I could have finished ninth,” said Mizrachi after his elimination.

When asked about some of the risky plays that he made at the final table, he said, “When I have enough chips, I’m going to take those risks because my ultimate goal is to win the tournament. You have spots where you have to gamble sometimes.”

At the end of his final-table press conference, Mizrachi was asked if he thought he could ever fight through a huge main-event field again in his career. He considered his response for a moment, and then said with a smile, “Anything is possible; winning the Players Championship and making the ‘November Nine’ in the same year, who would have ever thought that?” ♠

Meet Your World Champion Jonathan Duhamel

By Ryan Lucchesi

“I’m just so happy right now,” said Jonathan Duhamel over and over again during the press conference following the 2010 World Series of Poker main event. The 23-year-old professional was the youngest player at the final table, and was also the lone Canadian at the table. He was born in Boucherville, Quebec, in the Montreal area, where he currently resides.

It was easy to tell that many of Duhamel’s supporters were from Montreal, as red, white, and blue Montreal Canadians hockey jerseys filled the Penn and Teller Theater during the event. Duhamel brought a little bit of international flair to the world championship. His name is pronounced Doo-ahh-mel, and he is fluent in both English and French.

In addition to being the first Canadian world champion in poker, he is also the first main-event winner who is fluent in French. This was apparent at the post-tournament press conference, where he conducted his first interview entirely in French. His bilingual skills will help him to be a good poker ambassador in the coming year, especially back home in his native Quebec.

“Hopefully, there will be a lot more poker in Quebec, and in Canada. I’m just very happy to be the first Canadian; it’s an honor for me,” said Duhamel. “I have gotten a lot of support back home. They all are very supportive in Quebec and all of Canada. I knew they were behind me and wanted me to win, so I’m very happy to represent them. I’m going to do my best to be a poker ambassador.”

Duhamel is a professional poker player who, until now, has played mostly online. That is sure to change, now that he has $8,944,138 to work with for travel expenses and tournament buy-ins. “The only thing I thought about for the last four months was making sure that my game was sharp for the final table. Now that it is over, maybe I will travel a lot and go to a lot of different countries. Wherever there are big tournaments, I will travel there and enjoy life,” said Duhamel.

He has been playing poker full time for about two years. Before that, he worked off and on at a series of what he called “bad jobs,” including a factory job. “It means so much to me; it’s a dream come true. I’m the happiest guy on earth right now; it’s just amazing,” he said.

He attended college at Universite du Quebec a Montreal, otherwise known as UQAM. He was going to major in finance, but left school during his second year of studies.
He prefers to play cash games rather than tournaments. He had two cashes at this year’s WSOP before the main event; he finished 15th in a $2,500 no-limit hold’em event, and 50th in a $1,500 six-handed no-limit hold’em tournament.

His total WSOP earnings prior to the main event amounted to $43,000. He is now in third place on the all-time WSOP money-winning list, with $8,987,138, behind only Jamie Gold and Peter Eastgate. What a difference a day makes. His best live-tournament performance in a major tournament prior to Nov. 8 was a ninth-place finish in a tournament in the state of New York, three years ago.

Duhamel was very respectful of his final-table opponents during the press conference. “It was a very tough table, so I knew that if I made any kind of mistake, I was going to have to pay the price. I won my flips, and you have to do that if you want to win tournaments. I played the best that I could. I have to give credit to all of the other guys, especially John Racener, who also did well to make it to heads-up play.”
He continued, “Maybe during the first two or three hands I was nervous, but I felt comfortable after that. John is a very good heads-up player. It was tough for me, because if I made one mistake, I was going to double him up and pay the price.”

Duhamel also admitted that he actively tried to change his play during the heads-up final. “I knew that he would think I would be aggressive, because I was aggressive the whole time before that at the final table. So, I wanted to mix it up a little bit and not be too obvious with my game. I limped in to try to confuse him, and I also raised to balance things out.”

It all worked out quite well for the new world champion. Jonathan Duhamel is a name and face you will see a lot of in the years to come. ♠

A Closer Look at the Final-Table Action

By Julio Rodriguez

There were many ups and downs during the 2010 World Series of Poker main-event final table. Some players shined in the spotlight and others crumbled under the pressure.
Card Player took the time to break down and analyze all of the 262 hands played in order to get a better idea of how each player fared. Take a look at our findings here.

Soi Nguyen – Ninth Place

It’s hard to fault the way that Soi Nguyen played, despite the fact that he was the first player eliminated. The 37-year-old Californian came to the final table eighth in chips, and never really got anything going during his short stint in front of the ESPN cameras.

Of the 27 hands that were dealt to Nguyen, he won only two, for just the blinds and antes. Then again, it wasn’t as if he did much to better his situation, as he played a total of only four hands, including the cooler that sent him to the rail at the hands of Jason Senti.

Matt Jarvis – Eighth Place

Easily the most disappointing performance came from 26-year-old Matt Jarvis. The British Columbia native started final-table action fifth in chips, but a brutal loss to Joseph Cheong made most of his stack disappear on just the third hand of play.
Jarvis fought hard the rest of the way on a short stack, surviving four all ins before making his exit. He was pretty active, voluntarily playing 11 of the 43 hands he was dealt. Amazingly, he managed to win eight of them, but lost the three that mattered the most.

Jason Senti – Seventh Place

It’s all about perspective. While Jarvis was visibly upset with his finish, Jason Senti was upbeat and excited about how his evening turned out. The 26-year-old pro from North Dakota came to the final table in last place, yet managed to eke out two pay jumps before hitting the rail.

You may think that Senti was handcuffed with his stack size, but he proved to be one of the more aggressive players at the final table during his stay. In the first 14 hands, he was all in four times. He successfully pushed five more times to keep his head above water before finally losing a heartbreaking coin flip in runner-runner fashion to Cheong. There’s no telling where he would have finished had he won that race.

John Dolan – Sixth Place

A lot was expected of John Dolan. He was second in chips when final-table play started, and he has years of experience in closing out tournaments online, so many people were surprised by his sixth-place finish. But he was actually the victim of a terrible seat draw, as he had the hyperaggressive Cheong on his right, shutting him out of pots, and chip leader Jonathan Duhamel on his left, three-betting him at nearly every opportunity.

The 24-year-old Floridian was around for 129 hands, but voluntarily put chips into the pot only 20 times. Perhaps even more telling was the fact that he was able to drag in only 11 of them. Dolan struggled to get many of his late-position raises through, as he got action from both Duhamel and habitual blinds defender Michael Mizrachi. On his final hand, Dolan made a standard shove from the small blind, but he didn’t have enough chips to get Duhamel to fold his small pocket pair.

Michael Mizrachi – Fifth Place

Despite coming to the final table seventh in chips, Michael Mizrachi was nowhere near a long shot to take down the title. The 29-year-old was playing the best poker of his career, coming off a win in the $50,000 Players Championship and appearing at his fourth final table of the WSOP.

Early on, everything went right for the man known as “The Grinder.” He folded for two straight orbits before finally deciding to play a pot, but when he did, he usually won. In total, Mizrachi was dealt 185 hands. He voluntarily played 54 of them, making him one of the most active players at the table, particularly because he habitually defended his blinds. Incredibly, he managed to win more than 68 percent of the pots that he played.

At one point during five-handed play, Mizrachi actually surged to the chip lead, but three disastrous hands toward the end sealed his fate. First, he made a questionable call against John Racener with a dominated ace, and then he doubled up Duhamel in a coin flip that resulted from a battle of the blinds. Duhamel then decided to slow-play pocket aces, and after flopping top pair, there was nothing that Mizrachi could have done to avoid busting out, given his stack size.

Filippo Candio – Fourth Place

The most excitable and perhaps nervous player at the final table was Italian Filippo Candio. The 26-year-old entered play in sixth place overall, but a series of brash all-in moves saw him exit the danger zone.

Early on, he took advantage of a cooler when his pocket aces held up against Duhamel’s big slick. Showing down pocket rockets certainly helped him later on with two key bluffs. Looking for spots to squeeze, Candio twice moved all in behind a raise and a call before showing down rag cards.

The problem was that Candio never got a chance to capitalize on his reckless image. After Candio picked on him for a few hands, Mizrachi finally had enough and shut the Italian down with a big all-in move of his own. After that, Candio seemed hesitant to put chips into the pot. In stark contrast to some others at the table, Candio voluntarily played only 23 of the 188 hands he was dealt. Essentially, he was more than content to blind himself down to move up the money ladder, never really playing for the win. After Mizrachi was eliminated, he more or less had succeeded.

Joseph Cheong – Third Place

It’s a shame that Joseph Cheong went out the way that he did, because until his fateful hand against Duhamel, he had played nearly perfect poker. The 24-year-old online pro from California blended a perfect mixture of aggression and small-ball poker to keep himself near the top of the leader board for nearly the entire duration of the final table.

Perhaps even more impressive was his ability to bounce back from tough beats. He had no problem making the final table even after his well-publicized beat at the hands of Candio, and when he was outdrawn on the river by Senti, he went straight back to work, slowly rebuilding his stack.

Cheong was quiet early on at the final table, but became much more active once seven-handed play began. From that point on until his elimination, he voluntarily played 48 of 171 hands, and won many of them by putting pressure on his opponents with three- and four-bets in position.

It seemed as if Duhamel was the only player willing to play back at him, and perhaps he should have taken better care around the Canadian. Many people will call it a blowup, but if Duhamel hadn’t been sitting there with premium cards, no one knows what type of hand he may have thrown away. Duhamel had put in only about a fourth of his stack, and Cheong clearly felt that he could get a fold with his six-bet shove. Unfortunately for him, Duhamel had no problem risking his tournament with pocket queens.

John Racener – Second Place

Nobody was happier to see Cheong implode than John Racener, who was the beneficiary of more than a $1.4 million pay bump. The 24-year-old Floridian entered final-table play in a comfortable fourth place, but tight play early on saw him slowly become one of the short stacks.

Of the 129 hands that it took to get down to five-handed play, Racener won only 14. Fortunately for him, the pots he won were far bigger than the pots he lost. In one of the most exciting hands of the tournament, he came from behind with a dominated ace to stay alive and double up.

With his newfound chips, he began to pick up the pace and became a much more active participant at the final table. Yet, he had a lot of work to do, especially when the tournament became three-handed. Sitting on the short stack, Racener watched from the sidelines as Cheong and Duhamel went after each other in pot after pot.

When Cheong was eliminated, Racener was elated to find himself heads up, but by that point in time, Duhamel had amassed more than a 6-1 chip lead, and had all but locked up the title. Racener managed a double-up, but it was too little, too late. Of the 43 hands of heads-up play, he managed to win only 12. In short, Duhamel ran him over.

Jonathan Duhamel – Champion

Coming to the final table as the chip leader, Jonathan Duhamel was the odds-on favorite of most of the sportsbooks to win it all. The 23-year-old online pro was the youngest player at the final table, but was far from the most inexperienced.
He played a nearly flawless game that saw him relentlessly take advantage of weakness, yet always seem to wake up with a hand when his opponents looked him up. He did a particularly good job of handling shorthanded play, where most of the 78 pots he won were tallied.

The Canadian pro had put himself in great position upon entering three-handed play, and to his credit, his image enabled him to make the absolute most of pocket queens against Cheong.

Heads-up play was a mere formality. Duhamel is a heads-up cash-game specialist by trade, and he would have held a clear advantage even if he didn’t have the 6-1 chip lead. Using the small-ball approach, he basically minimum-bet Racener to death.
Many people have questioned whether or not Duhamel was deserving of his final-table seat, given his good fortune against Matt Affleck. One thing’s certain, however: Duhamel was more than worthy of holding up his gold bracelet after dominating his eight final-table opponents. ♠