There are a few Johns at this years World Series of Poker Main Event Texas Holdem game. Jonathan Duhamel, our featured player today, is the guy sitting behind the biggest stack of chips, John Dolan is right behind him, and John Racener also in the thick of things. To say John or Jon is going to win is probably a good bet with two of them being 1 and 2 in chips. Duhamel has nearly 50% more chips than Dolan and is the prohibitive favorite to win the event despite the lurking presence of name pro Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi.
Duhamel learned how to play pokerin his hometown of Boucherville, Quebec, Canada (1987) and enjoys playing hockey. His story of deciding between poker and continuing his secondary education or a new career is an old one, and like many of the others faced with that decision before him he gave poker a shot. Putting his career in finance on the back-burner and focusing on poker things could not have gone better for Duhamel. He’s also well equipped to handle his money no matter what he takes home in November.
Duhamel has cashed eight times, with the World Series of Poker Main Event being his eighth. This tournament does not assure him of earning a million dollar payday, but unless the unlikely happens and he goes out first he is virtually assured of the seven figure score. Duhamel previously in live poker won just under 55k for a 10th place finish at the EPT Prague Main Event. He bubbled the final table but not this one.
Earlier this year Duhamel went to the young online and Internet player’s favorite tournament (because you don’t have to be 21 to play) and cashed for 17.5. The PCA Main Event is a gathering place of all the new faces of poker so the experience he garnered playing some of the best young guns and surviving until 151st place was probably invaluable for the WSOP Main Event. The run good in 2010 didn’t stop there for Duhamel who cashed twice at this years world series.
He had two deep finishes in typically huge fields with low buy-ins, again, amassing a ton of experience for the Main Event. The $2,500 No Limit Hold’em event produce a 15th place result for a little over 37k. In the 6-Max No Limit Hold’Em $1,500 event he finished 50th for almost 6k. With just under 120k in lifetime winnings even a ninth place finish at the November Nine will bring his live total winnings to around one million. Course winning the event will bump him over $9 million in career earnings.
Duhamel’s stack of almost 66 million looms over the returning players as the best place to get chips and the most dangerous way to do so. He’s the only player at the table that has to lose at least two hands before he gets knocked out. The most intriguing hand for Duhamel to make the November Nine was when he clashed with Matt Affleck. With a board reading 10-9-7-Q, Affleck shoved, Duhamel looked at pocket Jacks and called. Affleck showed aces and Duhamel was down to 10 outs. His up and down straight draw gave him 4 Kings, 4 Eights, and the 2 remaing Jacks. Unfortunately for Affleck Duhamel spiked an Eight.
Had Duhamel lost that pot he would have been crippled instead he was well on his way to his chip lead. Hands with Matts were particularly rewarding as he also won a big hand against Matt Berkley. Berkley flopped trip 6s but Duhamel turned a full house with pocket 8s. The board read 6-3-6-8-2. Duhamel did the shoving on the river and Berkley called.