US Air Force jet pilot Derrick Rosenbarger from Clovis, New Mexico showed his considerable talent for poker as the week ended, taking down the World Poker Tour Montreal main event for $500,824 and the WPT Montreal championship belt…and it was only his second major live tournament!
Besting a field of 861 other hopefuls who signed up for the event, Rosenbarger made the final table with the second shortest stack, but by smart and talented play fought his way through to an epic, 65-hand heads up against Mukul Pahuja despite earlier predictions that the game would go to Serge Cantin, who held the chip lead at the start of final table action but was only able to manage a third finish for $220,170.
Pahuja, a seasoned and experienced professional player, held a more than 2 to 1 chip advantage when heads up action got underway, but through two spectacular double-ups Rosenbarger reeled him in to take the lead around the halfway point of the heads up.
However, Pahuja himself doubled up a little later, and the duo settled in for a tough contest between two skilled players which ended in a hard-won victory for the Air Force pilot, and a $340,928 runner up prize for his opponent.
Other pay-outs on the final table included:
4: Sylvain Siebert – $162,936
5: Lily Kiletto – $121,848
6: Alexandre Lavigne – $98,574