Poker News

Unlike most tournaments, the Canadian Open Main Event is a Heads-up tournament. It is one of the most anticipated events of the season leading up to the World Series and often gets some of the biggest names in poker to enlist for one last shot of glory before the WSOP. This year was no different, but once again an unknown ends up taking down a major championship.

Whether you like him or not, you have to admit that Phil Hellmuth is one of the best NL Hold’em tournament players in the world. It is hard to argue the 11 WSOP bracelets that are dangling off of his wrist. He always seems to make the perfect move, but will often get beat when someone does not respect a raise or a move that he makes and then we are treated to the rant.






Phil made is at far as the quarterfinals and after a marathon match of about 6 hours, manage to get all the money in with the best of it only to fall to a 2 outer on the river. It was 99-66 and when the 6 hit, Hellmuth was tossed to the rail by the eventual winner, Benjamin LaBlond.

Defending champion Huck Seed had a target on his head from the moment he sat down and never even made it out of the first round of players. All in all, 93 people showed up for the event, not a World Series turnout by any comparison, but the field was filled with landmines. With his $100,000 now safely in hand, it is an easy assumption that LaBlond will now be headed to Vegas for fame and glory.

There is only one more major event to get through before the WSOP starts at the end of the month and then it is time to dig in for 2 months of poker insanity. The WSOP has added a few events and has also added an anniversary event that should be filled with every big name in the poker world. Dig in folks, poker is about to get real serious!

As the World Series of Poker gets closer and closer, other events are starting to fall out of sight and out of mind. Well Canadian Poker is poking its head out one more time with one of the most prestigious events of the season as the Canadian Open Heads-up Event gets underway this week.

This is one of those events that even the common man can understand and relate to. It is not often that we can afford or play in an event that has 90 minute levels or lasts for days on end, but getting handed 10,000 chips and having 20 minutes levels is something that we can all relate to. The turbo format is accompanied with a best two out of three series that is sure to be filled with a ton of action.

If you think the big boys of poker are going to sit this one out with the WSOP less than two weeks away, you are crazy. They would not think of missing the opportunity to lay their claim as the best heads-up player heading into the series. The main event of the Canadian Open Poker Championship will see the likes of Daniel Negreanu, Phil Helmuth and Huck Seed sitting down at the felt in an effort to gain some heads-up glory.

It is not often that you will see a heads-up event as the final showpiece of any tour event, but that is what makes this one so special. You are going to have Kid Poker defending his turf as you can only imagine the embarrassment he would feel if someone like Phil Hellmuth walks out of his country with the heads-up trophy hoisted on his shoulders.

The four day event will finish up on Sunday, May17th with the final match. The defending champion is Huck Seed who took home a cool $100,897 last year. With the beating Negreanu has taken on the last couple of episodes of High Limit Poker, it is safe to assume that he will go after this championship with even more vigor than usual. Updates will be posted as soon as they are available. Now shuffle up and deal!