WSOP 2010 Champion Duhamel Win A Victory For Canada

The World series Of Poker has a proud tradition dating back to 1971, but it took until 1990 before the competition had its first non-American champion.
Mansour Matloubi is of Iranian background, but born in Wales, UK. He also became the 20th WSOP Main Event Winner when he won the WSOP 1990 Main Event for $895,000 to become its first overseas champion.
Since then, there has been only a handful of non-American winners, which includes Noel Furlong in 1999 (Ireland), Juan Carlos Mortensen in 2001 (Spain), Joe Hachem in 2005 (Australia), Peter Eastgate in 2008 (Denmark) and now Jonathan Duhamel in 2010 (Canada).
Jonathan Duhamel hails from Boucherville, a suburb on the outskirts of Montreal, in the province of Quebec and has now gained the status of national treasure inside his native Canada.
Duhamel’s remarkable victory in Las Vegas has been greeted at the same time as a victory for the whole of Canada itself, with national excitement gripping the country’s newspapers,
Leading into the final heads-up, the Toronto Star’s headline read; “Montrealer could become the first Canadian to win World Series of Poker,” while the Montreal Gazette went with; “Canadian on the verge of poker history–and $9 million.”
When he finally did win the WSOP 2010 Main Event, he was cheered on by 200 of his fans, all dressed in Canadians jerseys. He has since been flooded with a host of invites, including one to appear as the guest of honour at his favourite hockey team; the Montreal Canadians.
Commenting on his new found status as national treasure, Duhamel said:
“It’s weird but it’s kind of fun at the same time. I’m not used to people (asking for autographs). It’s new for me, but I enjoy it a little bit.”
Showing his true class, Duhamel has already pledged $100,000 of his winnings to the Canadiens children’s foundation. Congratulations to worthy champion and proud Canadian Jonathan Duhamel on his famous WSOP victory.