Yesterday headlining as WPT Montreal final table lead, the poker legend Mike Sexton has won the 2016 WPT Montreal $3,850 CAD no-limit hold’em main event. It had been a long time playing at WPT, but the 69-year old Sexton has finally won his first-ever World Poker Tour (WPT) title. Sexton, who is a WSOP bracelet winner and Poker Hall of Fame member, has been the well-known voice for WPT since its inception 15 years ago. It was the third final table on the tour for him, but the third time proved to be a memorable moment as he managed to beat field of 648 entries, earning US$317,896 along with the title and trophy.
The 2016 WPT Montreal brought double happiness to Sexton, as he was also awarded Card Player of the Year with 1,260 points. Though this was only his second POY-qualified score this year, but this victory was enough to move him up on the top 200 in the Player of the Year. The legendary Sexton entered the final table as the chip lead. The final day saw him eliminate Ema Zajmovic in 5th place ($76,127) and Nadir Lalji in 3rd place ($136,806). After eliminating Nadir Lalji in 3rd place, he entered heads-up against Canada’s Benny Chen.
Chen knocked out a Ilan Bojenah in 4th place ($99,067) and won a few big pots, thus taking the lead over Sexton for the heads-up match, which began with Chen holding 10,750,000 to Sexton’s 8,700,000 in chips. While playing the heads-up, it was Chen who held the lead for most of the battle. However on the final hand, Chen moved all-in with Kc-Jd for 8,150,000 and Sexton holding his Qc-Qh snap-called and flopped a top set of queens on the board reading Qd-9c-4s-Ac-2d to become a WPT Champion. This sensational win took his total live tournament earnings to the $6 million mark, while Chen whose total live earnings amount to $1,686,245 ended up the heads up battle as runner-up, earning $213,515 for his efforts.
Final Table Payouts:
1-Mike Sexton – $317,896
2-Benny Chen – $213,515
3-Nadir Lalji – $136,806
4-Ilan Boujenah – $99,067
5-Ema Zajmovic – $76,127
6-Jake Schwartz – $61,000