Canadian professional poker player Jean-Pascal Savard almost doubled his previous career earnings top score this week when he claimed the Cdn$ 956,000 after besting a field of 1.188 in the inaugural Cdn$ 5,300 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Party Poker Million North America event, hosted by the Montreal Playground Poker Club in his home province of Quebec.
The Cdn$ 5,709,750 prize pool generated by the event enabled 119 players to cash for at least Cdn$ 10,000 each, and makes for a new Canadian poker tournament record, according to local news reports.
Attrition whittled a stellar field down to a final table of 8 headed by chip leader Ari Engel after around 10 hours of action, but the leader’s run did not last long and he was eliminated at fifth. By the time the heads up started Savard held a chip advantage of 2 to 1 over fellow Quebecois finalist Jonathan Bussieres, but the two agreed a deal to bring a speedy end to the contest.
The duo agreed to reduce blinds to just 20 minutes and skip a level to begin at 6,000,000/12,000,000, and that brought play to a conclusion and victory for Savard after a further 30 minutes of play..
Bussieres’ spirited opposition was rewarded with a second placing prize of Cdn$ 693,950.
Other final table cashes included:
Philippe D’Auteuil – Cdn$ 450,000
Louis Boutin – Cdn$ 335,000
Ari Engel Cdn$ 238,350
Niall Farrell – Cdn$ 160,000
Matthew Waxman – Cdn$ 110,000
Rayan Chamas – Cdn$ 80,000