What happens when one of the world’s best poker tournament players runs hotter than the sun in a major online poker tournament? He takes it down of course, which is exactly what Daniel Dvoress did on February 1 in the WPT Montreal Mike Sexton Classic event.
WPT Montreal Mike Sexton Classic Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daniel Dvoress | Canada | $294,346 |
| 2 | Aram Zobian | Canada | $200,307 |
| 3 | Mike Watson | Canada | $140,396 |
| 4 | Eelis Parssinen | Finland | $96,228 |
| 5 | Jon Van Fleet | Canada | $70,817 |
| 6 | Anssi Kintalla | Finland | $55,156 |
| 7 | Nino Ullmann | Austria | $44,616 |
Some 125 players bought into the Mike Sexton Classic, one of the final events of a hugely successful WPT Montreal Online Series. The tournament was rake-free but a percentage of each buy-in was donated to a charity of the late Sexton’s family. All those entrants resulted in a $39,900 raised for Nevada Partnership Homeless Youth Charity.
All but 20 of those starters crashed out on Day 1, Sergi Reixach’s elimination in 21st place bringing the curtain down on proceedings. The 20 surviving players returned to the action on February 1 each guaranteed at least $21,887 for their efforts.
Pascal Lefrancois, Roberto Romanello, Kolja Luecking, and Christian Jeppsson were the first players to crash out. Other superstars such as Ali Imsirovic, Niklas Astedt, Adrian Mateos, and Ami Barer busted before the final table.
Dvoress Sets Final Table With a Double Elimination
The seven-handed final table was set in style with Dvoress claiming the first of two double eliminations! Blinds were 17,500/35,000/4,375a and Dvoress moved all-in from the button with ace-six of diamonds. Dvoress easily covered both players in the blinds. Nino Ullmann called off his last 682,003 stack with pocket nines before Aleksejs Ponakovs called all-in for 508,430 with a pair of kings in the hold. Dvoress flopped trip aces and busted both Ponakovs and Ullmann, the latter finishing in seventh-place courtesy of having the larger stack at the start of the hand.
Finland’s Anssi Kintalla was the next player to feel Dvoress’ wraith. Dvoress raised a shade over twice the big blind to 110,000 with a pair of red jacks. Kintalla three-bet jammed for 774,145 in total with ace-ten and Dvoress called. The jacks remained the best hand – of course they did – and Kintalla’s participation in the tournament was no more.
Second Double Elimination of the Evening
Dvoress scored his second double elimination in the space of a few hours when he sent Eelis Parssinen and Jon Van Fleet to the rail. Parssinen open-shoved 18 big blinds from the button with king-jack of diamonds. Van Fleet called off his last 425,955 chips with ace-ten of spades, only for Dvoress to call from the big blind with ace-queen of clubs. A queen on the flop proved more than enough for Dvoress who sent his two all-in opponents to the showers.
Aram Zobian took over Dvoress’ role of executioner to send Mike Watson to the sidelines in third-place. Dvoress raised to 132,000 at the 30,000/60,000/7,500 level with king-nine, Zobian three-bet to 538,750 with ace-king only for Watson to four-bet all-in for 2,074,606 with ace-queen. Dvoress stepped out of the way but Zobian called. Neither player improved their hands but Zobian didn’t need to. Good game, Watson.
A Fitting Final Hand
That hand gifted the chip lead to Zobian but his time at the top of the chip counts was short-lived. Dvoress reclaim top spot and was relentless until he secured all the chips in play.
The final hand started with a raise from Dvoress to 144,000 with four-three of spades. He then called a 607,000 three-bet from Zobian, which he made with pocket queens. Both players checked the jack-high flop, which contained two spades. Zobian led for a 1,229,000 pot-sized bet on the six of clubs turn and Dvoress called. The five of hearts completed the board and a straight for Dvoress. Zobian pushed all-in for 2,269,930, Dvoress instantly called and Zobian crashed out in second-place.
