Marc-Etienne McLaughlin Wins World Cup of Cards $5,000 8-Max For $76,380
![[user270022]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
Marc-Etienne McLaughlin is the champion of the largest buy-in event of the 2016 World Cup of Cards (WCC). McLaughlin shipped Event #22: $5,000 NL Hold'em 8-Max for $76,830 and captured the WCC Champions trophy, topping a field of 44 players.
Day 2 began at 2 p.m. inside Playground Poker Club, the host of the 2016 WCC, with 12 of the 44 players returning. A super deep-stacked field played out for just over ten hours on Saturday before McLaughlin finished off his last opponent. Here is a look at how the final nine made out.
| Place | Name | Prize (CAD) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marc-Etienne McLaughlin | $76,830 |
| 2 | Pierre-Paul Paulin | $53,350 |
| 3 | Francois Goulet | $34,150 |
| 4 | Martin Raus | $27,750 |
| 5 | Pascal Lefrancois | $21,320 |
| 6 | Chanracy Khun | $0 |
| 7 | Jean-Louis Cyr | $0 |
| 8 | Carl Martel | $0 |
| 9 | Samuel M Panzica | $0 |
Heads-up play lasted for just under two hours. McLaughlin entered heads-up as the chip leader but Pierre-Paul Paulin quickly closed the gap. McLaughlin was able to beat Paulin back down and finally seal the deal.
On the final hand, Paulin opened and McLaughlin called in the big blind. The flop came 
, and McLaughlin check-called a bet of 25,000 from Paulin. The 
fell on the turn and both players checked to the 
on the river. McLaughlin checked again and Paulin bet 50,000. McLaughlin check-raised all-in and Paulin went into the tank. After a moment, Paulin tossed out a chip, making the call and McLaughlin tabled 
, for trip threes. Paulin nodded, tossing his cards into the muck.
A short-stacked Francois Goulet fell in third place when McLaughin open-shoved from the small blind into Goulet's big bling. After a moment, Goulet made the call, putting himself at risk with ten-eight of diamonds. McLaughlin held eight-five and though Goulet had McLaughlin dominated, McLaughlin rivered a straight, and Goulet was finished off.
Martin Raus shoved preflop with pocket eights but ran smack into Paulin's pocket kings. Raus found no help on the board and was knocked out in fourth. Pascal Lefrancois was the first to bust in the money. Lefrancois chose a bad time to make a bluff, shoving on the flop against Goulet. Goulet, however, had flopped top-pair, top-kicker and snap-called, sending Lefrancois to the rail in fifth.
Chanracy Khun was the unfortunate 'Bubble Boy', shoving preflop with ace-jack but finding McLaughlin in the big blind with pocket queens. Khun picked up a flush draw on the turn but McLaughlin was able to fade it, eliminating Khun in sixth place.
Jean-Louis Cyr also ran into a big pair. Cyr moved all-in preflop with pocket tens but Goulet woke up with aces and Cyr departed in seventh. Carl Martel picked up aces in a hand against three of his opponents. Martel went all-in on a very wet flop and got looked up by Paulin, who had flopped an open-ended straight flush draw. Paulin got there on the river to crack Martel aces and bust him in eighth. Samuel Panzica was the first casualty of the final table. Panzica was also a casualty of Paulin. Both had rivered flushes but Paulin's was better and Panzica fell in ninth.
The World Cup of Cards is quickly winding down, with just five events left. Congratulations to Marc-Etienne McLaughlin, and good luck to all players in the rest of the festival.
PokerNews will be here throughout the festival, bringing you all the news, updates, and photos. Follow @pokernews on Twitter for live updates, Periscope broadcasts, and more. Also, follow PokerNews on Facebook and Instagram.