Derrick Rosenbarger Wins partypoker WPT Montreal Main Event ($500,824)

The televised final table at the partypoker WPT Montreal Main Event has a champion and it is Derrick Rosenbarger from Clovis, New Mexico. He took home the top prize worth $500,824 and etched his name on the WPT Champions Cup. He also took home the WPT Montreal championship belt. When you fly Air Force jets for a living as a pilot you are used to performing under pressure and that is exactly what Rosenbarger did here tonight in Canada at the Playground Poker Club. He came back to win the heads-up final against experienced pro Mukul Pahuja over the course of a long final battle that lasted 65 hands. He also topped a field of 862 players to win his first WPT title.

Here is a look at the table when cards got into the air today at 4 p.m.

Seat 1: Serge Cantin – 6,960,000 (116 bb)
Seat 2: Mukul Pahuja – 5,945,000 (99 bb)
Seat 3; Derrick Rosenbarger – 1,985,000 (33 bb)
Seat 4: Alexandre Lavigne – 2,150,000 (35 bb)
Seat 5: Lily Kiletto – 370,000 (6 bb)
Seat 6: Sylvain Siebert – 8,435,000 (140 bb)

Lily Kiletto held the shortest stack by far when cards got into the air so you knew she would be active early. She doubled up twice, on Hands 5 and 14, to bring her chip stack back into contention and she lasted longer than one opponent as a result.

The first player to fall ended up being Alexandre Lavigne. He moved all in preflop for 1.1 million on Hand 34 from the cutoff and Serge Cantin called on the big blind. Lavigne held [Kh8c] and he was behind the [10h10d] of Cantin. The board was dealt [Jc9s5d5c3h] and that was it for Lavigne. He was eliminated in sixth place and took home $98,574 in prize money.

One hand later Kiletto was all in for the third time but that time it wasn’t the charm. She shoved for 650,000 and received calls from both Mukul Pahuja and Sylvain Siebert preflop. The checked-down board ran out [QsJh4s4d] until Siebert fired out a bet of 400,000 and Pahuja folded. Kiletto then exposed the [As8h] and she was behind the [AcQc] of Seibert. The river brought the [Js] and that was it for Kiletto. She was eliminated in fifth place and took home $121,848 in prize money.

Four-handed play went on for a while as players took turns doubling up. Derrick Rosenbarger really came on strong during this stretch of play after he doubled up to survive. His fortunes rose as those of Siebert fell. Siebert’s last hand came on the 79th hand of play. He moved all in on the button and Serge Cantin called on the small blind. Siebert held [Ad6d] but he was behind the pocket eights held by Cantin. The board ran out [KhQdJs8s4c] and Siebert was out in fourth place, good for $162,936.

Cantin had just scored the knockout punch but his number got called for the last time just eight hands later. He held pocket eights once again but he was up against the [AhKc] of Pahuja. The board was dealt [Ad7c6d3d10c] and Cantin was eliminated in third place, good for $220,170. The two were pretty close to even in chips but Pahuja just had him covered so Pahuja effectively doubled on the hand.

The final match began with Pahuja way out in front holding 17.6 million and Rosenbarger was behind with 8,250,000. Rosenbarger scored a huge double up quick to climb back into the heads-up match, and then a second double to secure the chip lead 25 hands into the final match.

Mukul Pahuja then took his turn doubling up on Hand 129. The match continued to stretch into the night after that and played past 150 hands. Rosenbarger still had the chip lead after Pahuja’s double though, so the next time Pahuja got all of his chips into the middle it would be his last.

On Hand 152 Rosenbarger raised to 600,000 preflop and Pahuja reraised all in for 6,975,000. Rosenbarger quickly called with pocket queens and Pahuja flipped over [Ad4d]. The board was dealt [9h6d3c4s2h] and that locked up the tournamernt title for Rosenbarger. Pahuja was eliminated in second place and he was awarded $340,928 for his strong run in the tournament. Rosenbarger is the newest member of the WPT Champions Club and he claimed the top prize worth just over a half million dollars.

Final Table Results:

1: Derrick Rosenbarger – $500,824
2: Mukul Pahuja – $340,928
3: Serge Cantin – $220,170
4: Sylvain Siebert – $162,936
5: Lily Kiletto – $121,848
6: Alexandre Lavigne – $98,574

The WPT returns to one of the charter casinos on the tour tomorrow for the Five Diamond World Poker Classic at Bellagio. The tournament runs from December 6-11 in Las Vegas and you can follow all of the action with the WPT Live Updates team. Thanks as always to Joe Giron for his amazing photography of the final table; you can see more of his work at www.joegironphotography.com. Thanks as well to the Playground Poker Club for hosting a great event in Montreal.