Jonathan Jaffe Wins 2014 World Poker Tour Montreal Main Event
American Poker Pro Tops Stacked Final Table To Win First WPT Title and $429,106 First-Place Prize
A sizable field of 732 players turned out for the 2014 World Poker Tour Montreal $3,500 CAD no-limit hold’em main event. From that sea of players emerged a stacked final table that included the likes of Samuel Chartier, Kevin MacPhee, Mukul Pahuja and Jonathan Jaffe. In the end Jaffe emerged victorious, defeating Ratharam Sivagnanam heads-up to capture his first WPT title and the $429,106 USD first-place prize.
In addition to playing multi-table tournaments Jaffe has spent much of his poker career focusing on heads-up no-limit hold’em sit-n-go’s, experience that came in handy when it came down to the final showdown between him and Sivagnanam. It had taken only 54 hands to go from six players down to two, but heads-up play lasted 81 hands. Jaffe started out with just over a 2.5-to-1 chip advantage, but the two exchanged the lead multiple times throughout the night.
By the time the final hand arose Jaffe held over a 3-to-1 chip advantage. Sivagnanam called the 400,000 big blind from the button and Jaffe raised to 1.4 million. Sivagnanam thought it over for a minute before he moved all-in for roughly 5.2 million total. Jaffe instantly called with the A
K, which was ahead of Sivagnanam’s 10
8. The board ran out 6
4
3JQ to secure the pot and the tournament for Jaffe. Sivagnanam was sent to the rail in second place, earning $290,111 for his deep run.
K, which was ahead of Sivagnanam’s 108. The board ran out 643JQ to secure the pot and the tournament for Jaffe. Sivagnanam was sent to the rail in second place, earning $290,111 for his deep run.In addition to the title and the prize money Jaffe also earned 1,368 Card Player Player of the Year points. This was Jaffe’s second title of 2014, having won the World Poker Finals $500,000 guaranteed main event in late October for $137,651. As a result of his two wins Jaffe now sits in 64th place in the overall POY standings.
Mukul Pahuja
Jaffe wasn’t the only player at this final table to make a big move in the POY rankings. Third-place finisher Mukul Pahuja earned 912 points at his fifth final table of the year. Pahuja finished fourth in the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star main event and second in the WPT SHR Poker Showdown $5 million guarantee, making this his third WPT top-six finish of 2014. As a result of this most recent score he climbed to 8th in the overall POY ranks, with 3,426 points and year-to-date earnings of $1,247,546.
Kevin MacPhee, who finished fourth, also moved into the top twenty in the POY standings as a result of his deep run in Montreal. MacPhee has now made four total final tables so far this year, including a runner-up showing in the European Poker Tour London main event for $495,730. He now sits in 20th place with $809,894 and 2,944 points.
