Jaffe the Man at WPT Montreal Main Event

He came into the WPT Montreal Main Event final table as its chip leader, and Jonathan Jaffe kept that play going all the way, winning the event and its US$409,656 first place cash prize.

The American entered the final day of play with a stack of 7,495,000 to his name, which was slightly ahead of Ratham Sivagnanam, who had 6,845,000 in chips when the final table began.

Jaffe pounced very early on in the day when he eliminated Guillaume Nolet from the event after the 10th hand of the final table. Nolet was essentially forced to move all in with Nine Four off suit and was called by Jaffe and his Aces, which held on the board to put the event down to five.

Next to go was local player Samuel Chartier, who had an ok starting hand in Pocket Sevens when he moved in pre flop. Sivagnanam had a better starting hand, however, as he called with Pocket Queens, which held on the board to further boost his stack while knocking Chartier out of the event.

From there it was all Jaffe as he eliminated all of the remaining players en route to winning the Main Event.

The first of the last four to go was Kevin MacPhee, who moved all in pre flop with King Ten off suit. He was called by Jaffe, who was ahead was the Ace Queen of Clubs. That lead increased when Jaffe hit a Two Pair on the flop and with MacPhee needing a Jack, two Kings or two Tens to win, his chances were fading away.

4th place in #WPTMontreal for 149k CAD. Thanks everyone for the support! It was a lot of fun to finally be on a televised WPT.
— Kevin MacPhee (@KevinMacPhee) November 26, 2014

Those chances were totally dashed on the turn when the Ace of Spades was shown, which gave the eventual winner a Full House locking the pot.

Third place went to Mukul Pahuja, who was short stacked when the final table began, but doubled up early on to keep himself in play.

He was unable to beat the stellar form of Jaffe, however, as his Ace Queen off suit was slightly behind Jaffe’s Pocket Kings. Another King and two Twos on the board gave Jaffe yet another Full House, which signalled the end of the event for Pahuja.

3rd in #WPTMontreal for $200k CAD. Thanks for all the love & support! & Big thx to everyone @WPT, @partypoker & @PlaygroundPoker!!

— Mukul Pahuja (@MukulPahuja) November 27, 2014

Pahuja’s elimination put the two start-of-the-day chip leaders – Jaffe and Sivsagnanam – in the heads-up play. Jaffe held a commanding 16 million to 5.935 million chip lead when play began, which kept him as the favourite to take out the event.

Sivagnanam would not give up without a fight, though, and he actually took the chip lead a few times after some great plays and big wins. Jaffe kept his cool however, and his patience paid off as he was finally able to beat his heads-up opponent to take the top prize.

In the last hand of the event, Sivagnanam moved all in pre-flop with 810 after a series of raises and re-raises. He was called by Jaffe, who was ahead, but not completely out of the woods, with ak .

643 kept Jaffe in the lead, but an Eight or a Ten would have changed that. j on the turn also kept Jaffe in the lead, and Sivagnanam needed fortunes to turn his way on the river to keep his hopes alive.

It was not to be as the q came out of the deck to be the last card of the tournament, which meant Jaffe’s Ace King won him the hand and the WPT Montreal Main Event title.

The win is one of the biggest in what has been a solid poker career for Jaffe so far. Besides the first place finish at the WPT Montreal, Jaffe also has 16 WSOP in-the-money finishes to his name and a second place finish in a WPT event back in 2008.

Here's the moment of victory for Jonathan Jaffe at the @partypoker#WPTMontreal. pic.twitter.com/jzBR1dgg3p
— WPT Live Updates (@WPTlive) November 27, 2014

2014 WPT Montreal Final Table Prizes

1. Jonathan Jaffe – US $409,656

2. Ratharam Sivagnanam – US $276,472

3. Mukul Pahuja – US $178,174

4. Kevin MacPhee – US $131,778

5. Samuel Chartier – US $98,670

6. Guillaume Nolet – UA $79,725