Geoff Hum Bests Star Players to Win WPT Montreal
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Four star players navigated through a field of 1,109 to make the official final table of World Poker Tour Montreal CA$3,300 Main Event, but none would see a hand of heads-up play.
Instead, the two lesser-known names, Geoff Hum and Adedapo Ajayi outlasted the likes of Joe Cheong, Mike Watson, Kristen Bicknell and Martin Jacobson to battle heads up, and Hum would add his name to the Champion's Cup when the match ended. The recreational player got CA$500,000 (~$380,500) for his victory, having previously had about $50,000 in total cashes.
"It's awesome," Hum told tournament reporters. "I'm not a pro by any means, so to come here for a few days and to have this result is obviously not expected, but it's pretty sweet."
Official Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Home Country | Prize (~USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Geoff Hum | Canada | CA$500,000* ($380,546)* |
| 2 | Adedapo Ajayi | U.S.A. | CA$335,000 ($254,966) |
| 3 | Joe Cheong | U.S.A. | CA$235,290 ($179,078) |
| 4 | Mike Watson | Canada | CA$180,000 ($136,997) |
| 5 | Kristen Bicknell | Canada | CA$140,000 ($106,553) |
| 6 | Martin Jacobson | Sweden | CA$110,000 ($83,720) |
*includes $15,000 WPT Tournament of Champions seat
The large field was built up across three starting days, enabling the tournament to surpass its CA$3 million guarantee by a comfortable margin.
Among the 159 who cashed were Mike Sexton, Ema Zajmovic, Toby Lewis and Kitty Kuo.
Recent bracelet winner Cheong held the lead with 10 players remaining going into the final day, according to the live updates. The aforementioned names weren't the only stars to make the final day either, as both Mike Leah and Kelly Minkin would make Day 4 but bust before the official final table of six.
It was anyone's game going into the final six. Although Cheong maintained his lead, everyone was between 36 and 95 big blinds, meaning any all-in pot would drastically move players up and down the counts.
Hum and Ajayi Dominate Final Table
After 24 hands, former WSOP Main Event champ Jacobson bowed out in sixth when he shoved about 13 big blinds with J♦10♦ and ran into Ajayi's A♥Q♥. Jacobson pulled in front when a jack fell on the turn but a queen river would see him to the rail while Ajayi extended his recently found lead.
Hum would then get a massive cooler in his favor to eliminate Bicknell. A series of raises saw all the money go in preflop with Hum holding aces against Bicknell's kings. The partypoker pro couldn't find another cowboy on the board, and Hum soared to about 100 big blinds, on par with Ajayi.
It would take about 50 hands before another player busted, as household names Watson and Cheong failed to find any momentum against the two upstarts. Finally, Watson three-bet against Hum's open and called it off for about 40 big blinds with A♣Q♥. Hum had the goods with Q♣Q♠ but found himself staring at Broadway after the turn as 10♠K♠6♠J♣ rolled off the deck. Fortunately for Hum, a spade arrived on the river to give him a winning flush and give him about 60 percent of the chips three-handed.
The final three would battle for about two hours as a short-stacked Cheong secured several doubles. He had a chance to really get back in it when he picked up jacks and got them all in against the eights of Hum, only to have Hum flop a set of eights to bust him.
Short Heads-Up Match
In contrast to the three-handed and four-handed play, the heads-up match between Ajayi and Hum proved a short affair in spite of each player starting above 60 big blinds.
"I'm not a pro by any means, so to come here for a few days and to have this result is obviously not expected, but it's pretty sweet."
After just eight hands of play, the two saw a 4♥6♥K♦ flop for a single raise by Ajayi on the button. Hum check-raised, Ajayi three-bet and Hum shoved all in. Ajayi opted to gamble with his J♥9♥ but saw he was drawing exceptionally thin against K♥7♥ for a better draw with a pair of kings.
The A♥ on the turn locked it up for Hum, but Ajayi secured his third six-figure cash of 2019 after coming second in a WSOP Circuit event at the start of the year and then 39th in the WSOP Main Event this summer.
