Event #2: Day 5

Patrick Serda is the WPT Montreal Main Event Champion!

2018/11/04 | 18:44 by

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

Heads up: Zajmovic vs Serda!

Level: 33
Small Blind: 100K
Big Blind: 200K
BB Ante: 200K
Chip Average: 15.8M
Remaining: 2
Entries: 792

2018/11/04 | 17:49 by

There was another short break following the elimination of Sorel Mizzi, but action has now resumed with Ema Zajmovic facing Patrick Serda for the Championship!

Mizzi hits the rail in 3rd place

Level: 33
Small Blind: 100K
Big Blind: 200K
BB Ante: 200K
Chip Average: 15.8M
Remaining: 2
Entries: 792

2018/11/04 | 17:46 by

The players took a break following level 32 and as the action was paused, Ema Zajmovic had the chip lead with just over 16M in chips (80bb), Patrick Serda was in 2nd with 12.6M (63bb), and Sorel Mizzi was the short stack with just 3.15M (16bb).

When the break was over, in the first hand back to start level 33, Sorel was on the button and opened by going all in and Patrick quickly went all in over the top to isolate. This was successful and Ema got out of the way, and the hole cards were revealed:

Sorel:
Patrick:

Only the very optimistic could see much in the flop for Sorel: 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.

Tournament staff is now setting up the table for heads up action between Ema and Patrick.

3rd place: Sorel Mizzi, $410,000

Ehamparam leaves in 4th place

Level: 32
Small Blind: 75K
Big Blind: 150K
BB Ante: 150K
Chip Average: 10.6M
Remaining: 3
Entries: 792

2018/11/04 | 16:49 by

Play had moved into level 32 with Kauvsegan Ehamparam continuing to play the short stack, which had been reduced to around 13bb, when he faced a raise from chip-leader Ema Zajmovic in the sb into his bb. He moved in over her 425K bet.

Kauvsegan:
Ema:

Community cards:

Immediately following the hand, the remaining 3 players requested a short break with 27 minutes left in level 32.

4th place: Kauvsegan Ehamparam, $305,450

Pesh goes out in 5th

Level: 31
Small Blind: 75K
Big Blind: 125K
BB Ante: 125K
Chip Average: 7.9M
Remaining: 4
Entries: 792

2018/11/04 | 16:32 by

Upeshka De Silva has been eliminated in 5th place from the Main Event in the WPT Montreal Festival. After losing a big hand to Ema in the previous level, Upeshka had only chipped back up a little bit before his final hand arrived. He was playing 3.7M on the button when the short-stacked Kauvsegan raised to 300K from the cutoff. Pesh looked at his hole cards and moved all in.

Next to act was Sorel Mizzi, who asked for a count. With the info in hand, he raised all in over, Kauvsesgan folded and the hands were revealed.

Upeshka:
Sorel:

The board ran out clean for the pocket Jacks: and Upeshka headed to the Tournament Desk to pick up his payout ticket.

5th place: Upeshka De Silva, $230,250

Zajmovic wins a huge pot from De Silva

Level: 30
Small Blind: 50K
Big Blind: 100K
BB Ante: 100K
Chip Average: 6.3M
Remaining: 5
Entries: 792

2018/11/04 | 15:01 by

Ema Zajmovic has taken the chip lead in the Main Event after winning a huge pot against one of the other big stacks at the table, Upeshka De Silva. Ema opened the action from the button with a raise to 200K and Pesh called from the bb.

Ema:
Upeshka:

The flop was huge for Upeshka: . He checked his two pairs and Ema checked back on the miss. The turn was dealt: and Upeshka decided to lead out for 420K. Ema called now that she had some equity, and the river card then flipped the script on the hand: – Ema now had trip Queens!

Upeshka again led out for 225K, but this time Ema raised to 800K. And the betting round was not yet complete. Upeskha laid out a time chip to take a little longer to consider his options… and raised to 2.325M! Ema didn’t have to think long – she made the call and gave Upeshka the bad news. Ema has now built up her stack to just under 10M and taken over the chip lead.