Event 1 of this Power Weekend has come to a halt. After a whirlwind of all-ins, Simon Belzile was crowned champion of Event 1, the $110 8-Max Freeze.

The event attracted 88 players, more than enough to cover the $5K guarantee attached to our opening event. In an extremely rare event, it was 2 players that appeared on the mid-tournament leaderboard, Brent Mccue and Simon Belzile, who played heads-up for the title!

But first let’s backtrack the action a little bit. After Alexandre Carpentier jumped without a chute, happy with his secured lead prize, 4 players remained. They only had time to take two breaths before the event concluded.

Alberto Scuderi lost a few showdowns and went out first, taking $1,070 for his efforts. He was followed by Karl Berthiaume, who went home with $1,055. Brent Mccue, who had the shortest stack at the moment of the chop, made it to heads-up, but it was Simon Belzile who had all the chips. Mccue went all-in from the small blind, and found a call. Both players had monster heads-up hands (pictured below), but Belzile pulled the upset and ran away with the $180 bonus.

Congratulations!

Our 8-Max Champion: Simon Belzile – $1,430

Runner-up: Brent Mccue – $915

Last hand of play:

When play resumed after the deal, Alexandre Carpentier held nothing back. Actually, chips came flying from many directions, and after a series of losses, Alexandre left the room, but not without pocketing his $1,596 ticket.

His last hand:

Alexandre:
Alberto:

Alberto Scuderi has a crushing lead. Will he weather the chip storm and claim the first title of the June Power Weekend?

After Frédéric Robert’s elimination, players started discussing a deal. The idea was introduced by Alberto Scuderi, and the deliberation was brief. Very soon the ICM numbers were agreed upon, with the slight variation that Alexandre Carpentier paid the other 2 big stacks their $30 share of the $180 winner’s prize. This amount is left up top, waiting for a Champion.

Here are the secured amounts:

First name | Prénom	Last name | Nom	Seat | Siège	Prize | Prix
Brent	Mccue	Table 58 - Seat 1	$915
Karl	Berthiaume	Table 58 - Seat 2	$1,055
Alberto	Scuderi	Table 58 - Seat 3	$1,070
Simon	Belzile	Table 58 - Seat 4	$1,250
Fabien	Domenech	Table 58 - Seat 5	$1,040
Alexandre	Carpentier	Table 58 - Seat 8	$1,596

Shortly after the deal, Fabien Domenech was taken out. Alexandre was joined by Simon Belzile at the top of the food chain, but with the wild action that the deal brought to the table, no valid prediction can be made.

 

The action was folded to Frédéric Robert in the small blind. He was facing Alexandre Carpentier who enjoyed some momentum after winning a big showdown.

Frédéric shoved his chips and found a quick call:

Frédéric:
Alexandre:

Board:

Frédéric Robert was eliminated, failing to hit his kicker, and Alexandre now has a commanding lead over the final table. He takes $350 for his final table appearance. Well done!

When Raphael Tran Dinh raised all-in – about 140K – from the cutoff, Alexandre Carpentier took half a second to call from the small blind, covering both players with cards, and Manon Lucsanszky called even faster, the shortest stack to go in.

Raphael:
Alexandre:
Manon:

Board:

Alexandre found his providence on the river and scooped the pot.

9th: Manon Lucsanszky – $280
8th: Raphael Tran Dinh – $300

With Scott Aylward’s elimination in 10th ($110), the final table was formed on table 58, with Fabien Domenech in the lead, followed closely by Simon Belzile. The rest of the pack are trailing, but it is still anyone’s game! Our finalists just took a break before the final table showdown.