Event #1 of the World Cup of Cards, the $200 + $20 8-Max Deepstack Re-entry, brought out a huge field of players who made a total of 184 entries to this single-day event. The huge turnout put a massive amount of chips in play and allowed the prize pool to greatly surpass the $20,000 guarantee.
Many players rotated through the top spot on the leaderboard this afternoon. Especially in the late stages of play, it seemed like nobody was able to hang on to the chip lead for very long. This dynamic kept up all the way to the end of play, including most of the heads-up match between Dave Jeanneau-Cyr and Sebastien Hendren at the final table.
Jeanneau-Cyr and Hendren each maintained large stacks throughout the late stages of play, but Hendren held a slim lead when heads-up play began. These two players had a spirited match, exchanging three- and four-bets while avoiding showdown in most hands. Hendren had Jeanneau-Cyr on the ropes in a few spots, but Jeanneau-Cyr would not go away, winning several all ins while at risk. In the end, the blinds kept mounting and eventually forced the action, which led to a preflop all in. Hendren had the best of it, and this time his hand held up, to capture victory and the first trophy of the World Cup of Cards. Congratulations!
8-Max Deepstack Re-entry Champion: Sebastien Hendren, $7,926
Second Place: Dave Jeanneau-Cyr, $5,950
Last Hand of Play: