Jack Hardcastle Wins the WPT Montreal Online Main Event

Talented British professional poker player Jack Hardcastle is a World Poker Tour champion. The 24-year-old came out on top of an 888-strong field in the WPT Montreal Online Main Event to bank a career-best score worth $447,859.

WPT Montreal was set to take place at the Playground Poker Club in Montreal. COVID-19 put paid to those plans so partypoker stepped in and made it an online poker event.

Some 888 players bought in for $3,200, which saw the prize pool swell to $2,664,000, much higher than the advertised $2 million. Those finishing in the top 133 places received at least $6,393 for their efforts. The final table, however, is where the big money prizes lay in wait.

Upeshka Da Silva was the final table’s first casualty; he banked $37,024. Da Silva was disqualified from the WSOP Main Event recently after contracting the coronavirus. His luck at this final table was not much better.

Rayan Chamas opened to 735,000 from under the gun with Ac-Kc. Da Silva three-bet all-in for 4,570,718 with Ah-Kd from a couple of seats over. Chamas called and a chopped pot looked the most likely outcome. That was until the board ran 8c-8h-6c-Tc-3s to gift Chamas a flush.

Marcel Kunze was the next player to fall by the wayside. Hardcastle min-raise to 800,000 with Ah-9s, Andrei Kriazhev three-bet to 2,800,000 with Ac-Ks, and Kunze four-bet jammed for 6,373,592 with Ad-Jd. Hardcastle ducked out of the way but Kriazhev called. The 3s-Th-Qc-Jh-5c board went in Kriazhev’s favor and Kunze crashed out.

Hardcastle Begins Building His Stack

Hardcastle sent his first opponent to the showers and it was, again, ace-king that did the damage. Jacob Miegel was short-stacked for a while but completely card dead. He eventually got his last 11.5 big blinds into the middle with Ad-3d. Hardcastle re-shoved with Ah-Kh and won the pot when the five community cards fell Th-8c-Ts-4s-Tc.

Charles Chattha was the next player to feel the wraith of Hardcastle. Chattha min-raised to 1,400,000 from the button with Kc-Qc. Hardcastle re-raised to 5,600,000 from the small blind with Ks-Kh. Chattha decided his best move was to rip the rest of his 29,388,786 stack into the middle. Hardcastle obliged with a call. A final board reading 8h-9s-Jd-7d-4d sent UK star Chattha to the rail.

Kunze’s executioner Kriazhev fell in fifth-place. The German lost all but eight big blinds when his Ad-Ah lost to Dan Shak’s As-Ks. Kriazhev pinned his hopes of a comeback on Jd-Th, but he found himself up against the As-Ts of Felix Schulze. An ace on the flop left Kriazhev drawing thin; he was drawing dead on the turn.

The neutral poker fans wanted Schulze to win this event because he won his $3,200 seat via a $22 satellite. That never happened because Chamas busted him in fourth-place. Shak opened to 1,750,000 with Ah-3h, Schulze called on the button with Ac-Jc before Chamas squeezed to 7,070,000 with Kc-Tc. Shak folded, but Schulze called. The 5c-Jd-Ts flop saw Chamas jam for 18,581,018 effective chips and Schulze looked him up. A 4d on the turn kept Schulze in front, but the Kd river took his tournament life. The satellite winner walked away with $139,163 and a bunch of experience.

Shak Stacked; Hardcastle Puts His Foot On The Gas

Shak started the day as the chip leader yet could only muster a third-place finish. He busted at the hands of Hardcastle in a battle of the blinds. Action folded to Hardcastle in the small blind and he set Shak all-in for his 20 big blind stack. Shak called and turned over Kc-Js which was against the Ac-5c of Hardcastle. A 2s-6s-4s-8h-5h board eliminated Shak and sent the tournament heads-up.

Hardcastle held a 115,901,466 to 61,698,534 chip lead over Chamas at the start of the one-on-one battle. He extended his lead in the early exchanges, but Chamas fought back. Chamas’ comeback was short-lived, however, and Hardcastle regained full control.

The final hand took place during the 600,000/1,200,000/150,000a level. Chamas raised to 2,400,000 with Jc-3s and Hardcastle called with 9h-8h. Hardcastle check-called bets of 3,396,000 and 5,520,871 on the 7s-Ad-9c-Ks board before check-calling Chamas’ 20,975,515 shove on the 8d river. Chamas’ ill-timed triple barrel bluff resulted in him busting in second-place for $308,703. Hardcastle scooped a career-best $447,859 and a seat in the $15,000 Tournament of Champions.

WPT Montreal Online Main Event Final Table Results

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	Jack Hardcastle	United Kingdom	$447,859
2	Rayan Chamas	Canada	$308,703
3	Dan Shak	Canada	$212,458
4	Felix Schulze	Austria	$139,163
5	Andrei Kriazhev	Germany	$95,672
6	Charles Chattha	United Kingdom	$74,119
7	Jakob Miegel	Austria	$58,650
8	Marcel Kunze	Germany	$46,684
9	Upeshka Da Silva	Mexico	$37,024

Matthew Pitt

If it’s something you can play online for real money, chances are Matthew knows a bit about it. He’s been writing about slots, craps and poker for the better part of the last decade. He’s written for PokerNews, PartyPoker and many other respected online gambling websites during the last nine years.

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