WSOP 2015: Jonathan Duhamel Triumphs At One Drop High Roller For $4m

The 2015 WSOP $111,111 High Roller for ONE DROP attracted a total of 135 players to create a prize pool worth $14,249,925, and after two intense days of action it was the 2010 WSOP Main Event champion Jonathan Duhamel who would eventually top the field to capture the huge $3,989,985 first place prize, as well as a second career gold bracelet. Following a remarkable performance which now increases his tournament earnings to $16,819,897, the 27 year-old Canadian pro commented:
“I feel so amazing right now, it doesn’t get any better than this. The biggest buy-in of the summer, it’s for charity and all those combined for probably the second-best day ever. I feel so blessed, so lucky to be where I am and just an amazing day.”
The field was packed with top talent as one might expect from a high roller event, and amongst the 16 players subsequently seeing a return on their $111,111 buy-ins was Max Altergott in 16th ($251,653), Joseph Cheong in 15th ($251,653), David “Doc” Sands in 14th ($289,273), Talal Shakerchi in 13th ($289,273), Byron Kaverman in 12th ($332,593), Brian Hastings in 11th ($332,593), and John Racener in 10th ($390,875).
After the final table of eight got underway, Jonathan Duhamel (A-Q) eliminated Anthony Zinno (A-K) in 7th ($565,864), while Bill Klein (A-K) took care of Sergey Lebedev (A-Q) in 8th ($466,970), before being dealt K-K and doing likewise to Daniel Colman (K-J) in 3rd ($1,544,121) to usher in heads-up play for the title.
As the final battle commenced, Duhamel held a slight 1.3 to 1 chip lead over his remaining opponent and following a brief battle of 21 hands the deciding hand was played with both Klein (K-J) and Duhamel (K-K) all-in preflop. The J-9-5-A-4 board then sealed the deal to consign Bill Klein to a runner-up finish worth $2,465,522, all of which he said he would donate to the $750,000+ already raised by the event for the One Drop Foundation. Meanwhile, Jonathan Duhamel picked up the second biggest score of his professional career, after which he commented:
“Bill [Klein} was playing pretty tough. I didn’t think he’d play that tough to be honest. He had some moves here and there, and it was tough to play against him. I give a lot of credit to the two guys [during three-handed play]. I think it was anyone’s game at that point, we were all equal in chips. I feel even more blessed because of that.”
Final Table Results:
1 Jonathan Duhamel $3,989,985
2 Bill Klein $2,465,522
3 Daniel Colman $1,544,121
4 Ben Sulsky $1,118,049
5 Dan Perper $873,805
6 Phil Hellmuth $696,821
7 Anthony Zinno $565,864
8 Sergey Lebedev $466,970