In an absolutely stunning hand of poker by both players, Winnipeg’s Patrick Serda has emerged as the winner of the WPT Montreal Main Event! In the end, he had to make the perfect decision to overcome the relentless aggression of Ema Zajmovic – but he made the right decision in a very difficult spot and the victory is his.
Patrick started the hand with a slight chip advantage over Ema – 16M to 15M. Ema was on the button/sb and Patrick in the bb.
Ema: 
Patrick: 
The hole cards didn’t seem to have the makings of the final hand in the event, but there was a long way to go before this hand would come to a conclusion.
Ema opened the action with a raise to 500K. Patrick then 3bet to 1.6M – and Ema responded with a 4bet to 3.8M! Patrick made the call. The pot was now 8,000,000 chips and the dealer laid out the flop.
The flop: 
Patrick had made middle pair, but at this point with a flush draw, a gutshot straight draw and two over cards, Ema actually had more equity in the hand. The flop action went check-check and the dealer put out the 
.
Patrick checked and Ema took the opportunity to take a stab at the pot – she bet 3M into the 8M pot. Patrick didn’t think long before making the call, and the pot had now inflated to 14M!
The river was a brick: 
. Spades didn’t come in, an unlikely open-ender got there, but there was no non-Ace overcard for Patrick to worry about… and once again, he checked, and once again, Ema sprung into action. She burned a time chip before making her decision, slowly shuffling a small stack of 100K chips… and she declared herself: all in.
Patrick used a time chip, reviewed his hole cards, used a second time chip – but seemed upbeat about his decision – the very definition of a hero call – throughout his contemplation… and then stabbed the felt with the 6-high stack of 100K chips he was shuffling to make the stunning call!
And just like that, Patrick was the Champion!
WPT Montreal Main Event Champion: Patrick Serda, $855,000
2nd place: Ema Zajmovic, $556,000
although he did hold the only diamond in play. The turn 
ruined any runner-runner possibilities, though, and the river 
sealed his fate – Sorel was out in 3rd place.
and Upeshka headed to the Tournament Desk to pick up his payout ticket.
– Ema now had trip Queens!