Full Tilt Poker Montreal Main Event: Pahuja Leads Final Table
After six hours of Day 4 action, the nine-handed official final table of the Full Tilt Poker Montreal Main Event has been set. Vinny Pahuja, who started the day as the chip leader, remains ahead of the pack with 10.91 million. Pahuja already has nearly $1.5 million in career live tournament earnings, and his last win came in Sept. 2012 in a side event during the World Poker Tour Borgata Open.
Also joining him at the final table are local pro Guillaume Rivet and WPT Champions Club member Michael Linster. Rivet has over $400,000 in career live tournament earnings and a World Series of Poker final table under his belt, while Linster won the WPT bestbet Open this year for $291,521.
Full Tilt Poker Montreal Final Table
| Seat | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Roger Lamia | 3,380,000 |
| 2 | Vinny Pahuja | 10,910,000 |
| 3 | Colin Piche | 3,080,000 |
| 4 | Zheng Yi Xie | 1,565,000 |
| 5 | Henri Balcazar | 3,480,000 |
| 6 | Bill Kontaratos | 6,715,000 |
| 7 | Guillaume Rivet | 4,865,000 |
| 8 | Michael Linster | 6,765,000 |
| 9 | Eric Despres | 7,985,000 |
The day began with 25 players after a dramatic finish on Tuesday, and in less than two levels, 10 players were eliminated. Michael Tremblay was one of the first players to hit the rail, as he was unable to run up his four-big blind stack. Tremblay qualified for this event through an C$11+1 satellite on PokerStars, however, and was quite happy about his C$8,354 score.
Jonathan Bussiere Busses exited in 19th place, leading to the two-table redraw. Bussiere five-bet shoved around one million chips over a cold four-bet from Pahuja, who tank-called with the A♦Q♦. Bussiere showed the A♣9♠ for a lesser ace, and Pahuja’s hand held up.
The next players to go were Dawn Mootrey, the last female standing, Eric Larose, Kevin Dawe, and Maxime Laberge. Moorey ran pocket tens in pocket jacks on a nine-high flop, Larose ran top pair into top two pair, and Laberge tried to unsuccessfully conduct a triple-barrel bluff, leaving himself with just one ante. He busted the next hand.
American Russell Crane exited in 13th place, earning C$16,865 — his eighth five-figure score this year. Crane moved all in with an open-ended straight draw after raising preflop and having Eric Despres lead out from the blinds on the flop. Despres called with top pair and held.
Bill Kontaratos brought the tournament to an unofficial final table at that point, eliminating Jeff Cote and Terrance Eishens in back-to-back hands. Kontaratos was dealt the Q♠Q♦ and then the 8♣8♥, and held against the A♥8♥ and the K♠2♠, respectively.
It then only took two hands to reach the official final table of nine. Kontaratos opened to 160,000 in early position, Jeremie Trepanier moved all in for around 800,000 on his direct left, and Despres just called. The action folded back to Kontaratos, who quickly folded, and Trepanier showed the A♣Q♠. He was dominated by Despres’ A♥K♥, and the flop, turn, and river all produced blanks.
The final table will begin on Thursday at 1 p.m. EDT with 26 minutes and 37 seconds remaining in Level 29 (40,000/80,000/10,000), and the final nine players will battle it out for the C$260,581 first-place prize. PokerNews will provide more features straight from the venue and a recap of the final day.
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