Maxime Jutras Looks Unstoppable as He Plows His Way to His First Ring in Event #1: $300 Colossus
“I knew at that moment I was winning,” an elated Maxime Jutras shared with PokerNews referencing a text exchange he had with his brother going into the final table. After nearly 11 hours of play, Jutras did just that as the final day of the 2024 World Series of Poker Circuit $300 Colossus has reached a conclusion here at Playground. After the dust had settled, Jutras defeated Amireza-Jaberi in heads-up play to take home the top prize of $85,000.
Winner's Reaction
“I’m feeling pretty good”, an understandably excited Jutras shared with PokerNews after being asked how he felt with this victory. He texted his brother that he was “going to get the first position” to which his brother replied “let’s do it.”
When asked about his strategy for the final table Jutras shared that “I changed my play to be more aggressive. When there were only two people left I could apply pressure and I think that won me the tournament.”
“I was thinking about going to the Main Event in Vegas,” Jutras explained when asked about future plans with the money. “I’m not sure though I’ll think about it,” Jutras added before going to celebrate his victory with friends.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maxime Jutras | Canada | $85,000 |
| 2 | Amireza Jaberi | Canada | $52,000 |
| 3 | Ruoxiao Shi | United States | $34,070 |
| 4 | Stefano Di Salvo | Canada | $26,000 |
| 5 | Christopher Blair | United States | $21,000 |
| 6 | Mohammad Saadeghvaziri | United States | $17,000 |
| 7 | Bryan Lin | Canada | $14,000 |
| 8 | Ysrael-Masliah Moryoussef | Canada | $11,000 |
| 9 | Pascal Gregoire | Canada | $8,000 |
Final Day Action
The Colossus, the first of 15 WSOP-C ring events during this series, was a massive success for Playground, attracting a total of 2,402 entrants to create a massive $564,470 prize pool.
Jutras began the day as a shorter stack of the field with 212,000 chips at the start of Day 2. Despite facing an uphill battle Jutras would not slow down as he fought tooth and nail through ladder after ladder. He was able to best early chip leaders such as Bibek Karki to soar to the final table.
Jacob Dugal and Mohammad Saadeghvaziri started the day as chip leaders and continued to apply pressure to add to their stacks. Both players made deep runs finishing sixth and 11th respectively.
Ruoxiao Shi began the final table with the chip lead and used patience to choose optimal spots against his opponents. Jutras picked up chips early on in the final table and implemented a style of aggression.
As play became shorter-handed, Jutras stepped on the gas to apply pressure to the smaller stacks at the table. At times, it looked like this strategy would backfire as he got it in an overwhelming underdog against Shi. However, he found a dream river to eliminate Shi and amass an overwhelming chip lead.
Heads up play was short lived as Jutras moved all in and was called by Jaberi. Jutras’ Big Slick held to secure him the victory and his largest tournament cash to date.
This concludes our coverage for this event, but stay tuned as the PokerNews team continues to bring you all the action from the 2024 World Series of Poker Circuit Playground.