Karim-Olivier Kamal Wins the partypoker MILLIONS North America $1,100 Open for $210,000
A long and grueling 13-hour day of poker has finally come to an end, with Karim-Olivier Kamal winning the partypoker MILLIONS North America $1,100 Open. Kamal defeated Kauvsegan Ehamparam in an extensive heads-up battle to capture the trophy and the $210,000 first place prize.
Kamal makes his home at the Playground Poker Club with all of his cashes coming there dating back to 2015. With a total of over $31,000 in career earnings, his previous largest cash came in 2016 for a total of C$26,638. This marks his biggest cash to date and his first ever major tournament win.
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (CAD) | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Karim-Olivier Kamal | Canada | $210,000 | $163,004 |
| 2 | Kauvsegan Ehamparam | Canada | $133,920 | $103,950 |
| 3 | Chris Moorman | United Kingdom | $88,000 | $68,299 |
| 4 | Aaron Duczak | Canada | $58,000 | $45,015 |
| 5 | Alexander Lynskey | Australia | $40,000 | $31,045 |
| 6 | Martin Jacobson | Sweden | $28,000 | $21,732 |
| 7 | Ryan Yu | Canada | $20,000 | $15,523 |
| 8 | Alexander Hartung | Germany | $15,000 | $11,641 |
| 9 | Sebastien Drolet-Poitras | Canada | $12,000 | $9,313 |
The day began with 68 runners but the field size quickly dwindled, with the short stacks hitting the rail. Some of the big names to be eliminated early include Griffin Benger (66th - $4,000), Kevin Rivest (65th - $4,000), Phizer Jordan (45th - $4,750), Mohsin Charania (21th - $6,500), and Dejuante Alexander (15th - $7,750).
Kamal entered as the chip leader when the unofficial final table began. He was closely followed by the two favorites Martin Jacobson and Chris Moorman.
Final Table Summary
Just a couple of hands into the final table, Alexander Hartung shoved with his open-ended straight draw and was called by Moormans set of fours. Hartung missed his draw and was eliminated in eighth place. The final seven players played for over 90-minutes before Ryan Yu became the next to fall. His pocket threes were defeated by Kamal's ace-five.
Jacobson held one of the largest stacks during the final table but his flopped two-pair was soon counterfeited by Ehampara. He then got all of his chips in the middle preflop with pocket kings but his opponent, Kamal, made a four-card flush to eliminate Jacobson. Moments later, Alexander Lynskey put his short stack to the test but ran into the kings of Kamal. Lynskey flopped a flush draw but bricked off the turn and the river, going home in fifth place.
That left the final four players to duke it out and in a blind versus blind situation, Aaron Duczak found himself at risk against the chip leader. Kamal's pocket nines eliminated Duczak in fourth place, as he took a massive chip lead into three-handed play. Moorman was the next short stack and as the blinds went around the table, the British pro saw his stack fall to less than seven big blinds. Moorman shipped all in with queen-high and was snapped off by Ehampara's pocket kings. Moorman flopped an eight but could not improve enough on the turn and river to avoid elimination.
When heads-up play began, Kamal held a 4-1 chip lead over Ehampara. Over the course of 90 minutes, the two stack sized hardly changed. It wasn't until the last level of the night that Kamal really started to apply pressure to his opponent. In the last hand of the tournament, Kamal open-shoved all in and Ehampara called off his last 130 million chips. Kamal flopped a pair of tens and Ehampara's two overcards failed to connect with the board, as Kamal was crowned the champion.
This brings an end to the $1,100 Open event, but continue to follow along with the PokerNews live reporting team for continuous coverage at the Playground Poker Club.