Canadian Duhamel wins WSOP 2010 Main Event
Jonathan Duhamel, the 23 year old Canadian who won the World Series of Poker 2010 Main Event this week has woken up to a whole new reality.
The player's biggest win to date has been tenth place in a 2008 European tournament, with a $50,000 cash prize.
Winning the WSOP Texas Hold 'em Main Event final table and taking home $8.9 million in prize money is a whole different ball game however!
Duhamel is a simple guy, practicing his poker skills online during daylight hours and settling down with his friends, a bottle of beer and Montreal Canadien NHL games during the evening.
But he seems to be loving every moment of his newfound fame.
"It's weird, but it's kind of fun at the same time," he said. "I'm not used to people asking for autographs. It's new for me, but I enjoy it a little bit."
Duhamel came to poker from the world of hockey, having played the game since he was a mere four years old.
He took on poker after realizing that he would never make professional hockey standards.
"With poker I saw I had chances to make it," he said. "I tried to do everything I could and I just tried to up my game the best I could."
This kind of determination led to Duhamel's fight against the final table, known as the November Nine and his eventual victory.
He went into the game as chip leader and fought his way to the end after 43 hands of non stop poker pleasure.
Duhamel plans to spoil himself with season tickets to NHL games and travel around the world, as well as make a donation to a Montreal kids charity, as he promised he would.
Go Canada!
