Canadian Wins Moneymaker Millions Freeroll

A Canadian student who's set to defend his master's thesis next week won the PokerStars Moneymaker Millions freeroll this weekend, taking home $1 million. Quillan Nagel was one of 27 players flown to the Atlantis Resort to play in the three-table tournament that would determine the winner of one of the biggest online poker promotions to ever be held.

Nagel, 30, secured his seat back in August. PokerStars says more than 800,000 people participated in the Moneymaker Millions promotion. The whole thing came to a boil as the final 27 qualifiers sat down to play in what would be a 16-hour tournament topped by Nagel.

Inspired by Chris Moneymaker, who gained fame by becoming the first Internet qualifier to win the World Series of Poker's main event in 2003 - catapulting Internet poker into the mainstream - the Moneymaker Millions featured thousands of qualifying events that started early last summer.

Nagel ended the promotion at 3 a.m. Sunday, besting Jerry Watterson, who took home $300,000 for his second-place finish.

The 27 qualifiers came from all walks of life. There was a horse trainer from Slovenia, a Canadian bricklayer, a handful of students, a rural postal carrier from Texas, and even a Subway sandwich maker from Michigan.

All the players who made the trip were guaranteed at least $5,000. The payout structure went as follows: First, $1 million; second, $300,000; third, $170,000, fourth, $118,000; fifth, $86,000; sixth, $72,000; seventh, $58,000; eighth, $44,000; ninth, $32,000; 10th through 14th, $20,000; 15th through 18th, $10,000; 19th through 27th, $5,000.

Nagel came into the event with $30,000 in student loan debt and a three-month-old kid. When asked what he would do with the money, he said:

"I'm 30 years old. There's a lot of life out there."

Nagel is one of the more interesting players to emerge in the wake of Moneymaker. He is a formal professional ballet dancer who was forced out of the trade because of injury, and now studies International Affairs at Carleton University in Ottawa.

The final hand of the freeroll ended in a weird way. On the button, Nagel raised to $15,000 and Watterson called. The flop came 7 5 7. Watterson checked, Nagel bet $20,000, and Watterson made it $40,000 to go, which Nagel called. The turn was the 2 and Watterson pushed for $65,000 or so. Nagel thought for maybe a minute before calling with and showing K-5. Watterson turned over Q T for queen high, and missed on the river.

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