McLaughlin Triumphs at 2016 World Cup of Cards Event

The inaugural World Cup of Cards (WCC) is drawing to a close at the Playground Poker Club in Kahnawake, Canada, with the one-month long series having almost completed its 28 event schedule.
One of the highlights of the partypoker and Tonybet sponsored World Cup of Cards has been its highest buy-in tournament, Event #22: $5,000 NL Hold’em 8-Max, and on 11th September the tournament was aptly won by one of the game’s more well-known players, Marc Etienne McLaughlin, for C$76,830 ($59,615).
The Canadian pro has a nack of cashing in at WSOP events, and in 2013 famously made the WSOP main Event final table, eventually finishing in 6th place for a $1,601,024 payday. McLaughlin also finished the 2009 Main Event in 30th ($253,941), the 2011 Main Event in 86th ($76,146), the 2015 Main Event in 305th ($29,329), and the 2016 Main Event in 420th ($25,235).
On Day 2 of the WCC $5k NLHE 8-Max event, just 12 players from the starting field of 44 remained, and it would take a further ten hours of action before McLaughlin managed to secure the win. When three-handed play was reached, McLaughlin eliminated Francois Goulet in 3rd to usher in the heads-up battle against Pierre-Paul Paulin for the title.
Another 2 hours subsequently ensued before the deciding hand was played with McLaughlin (Q-3) check-raising all-in on a 4-3-7-3-A board. Paulin eventually made the call, but after seeing the bad news mucked his cards.
Final Table Results (US$):
1st: Marc Etienne McLaughlin $59,615
2nd: Pierre-Paul Paulin $41,396
3rd: Francois Goulet $26,498
4th: Martin Raus $21,532
5th: Pascal Lefrancois $16,543
During a 2013 November Nine interview, McLaughlin gave an insight into how he first got started in poker, explaining:
“I started seven years ago with my friends. We played on my ping-pong table, so it was rally shady and I just kept winning. I said to myself, “I might be good. If we all have the same cards and I’m better than my friends let’s give it a shot and see how it goes.”
The rest, as they say, is history, and following his latest victory in Canada, Marc Etienne McLaughlin now boasts $2,901,040 in live career earnings.