2015 WSOP Europe 888 Hand of the Day: Jonathan Duhamel Puts His Foot On The Gas
The 2015 World Series of Poker Europe continued in Berlin, Germany, Thursday with the final table of the €25,600 High Roller No-Limit Hold’em.
PokerNews was on hand for all the action and will be in Berlin for the duration of the 17-day series. As a part of our coverage, that is brought to you by 888poker, we will be bringing readers a special "888 Hand of the Day" every single day throughout the entire WSOP Europe schedule.
Jonathan Duhamel had to face three-time WSOP bracelet winner Davidi Kitai heads up for a chance at his third piece of WSOP hardware. They started the heads-up match just about even, but Duhamel took the game to Kitai, using some well timed aggression to swing the chip counts in his favor and collect 888 Hand of the Day honors on the way to the win.
Blinds were at 40,000/80,000 with a 10,000 ante when Kitai opened to 160,000 and Duhamel decided to defend with Q♥5♥.
"I think it's a pretty good hand to defend with," he would later explain.
Turns out Duhamel was right, as the flop fell A♥3♥2♦, giving him a flush draw and a gutshot. Duhamel checked and Kitai led out for 90,000.
"I could have either called or raised, but I decided to raise to put some pressure on him," Duhamel said. He made it 270,000 and Kitai called. The turn brought the 9♥, completing Duhamel's flush.
"On the turn I got my flush, which was amazing obviously," he said. "It's the second-nut flush, but it feels like the nuts to me. I decided on a raise sizing so I would have enough chips to make a big bet on the river and maybe it looks like a bluff or something."
Duhamel led out for 425,000 and once again, Kitai called. The river came the 5♠.
"The river was a brick, so as planned, I shoved and he folded," Duhamel said. "He made a great fold there. It makes it easy when you have a flush draw and you hit it."
After stacking the chips and winning the 888 Hand of the Day, Duhamel pulled into what was close to a 4:1 chip lead and simply applied pressure on Kitai until the bracelet was his.
"I knew at that point we were going to have to gamble," he said. "We were going to have to get it in preflop probably. I had the chip lead at that point and I didn't want to lose it, but it was easier for me to put pressure on him because of that. That's what I did, I kept pushing to try and make him have the tough decisions and not me."
As the 2015 WSOP Europe rolls on, be sure to stay tuned to PokerNews for continued coverage, including regular 888 Hand of the Day articles.
Want to stay atop all the latest in the poker world? If so, make sure to get PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and find us on both Facebook and Google+!
