Miguel Goncalo Wins WPT500 Montreal C$550 NLHE For US$152,596

The Playground Poker Club in Montreal played host to the 2018 World Poker Tour Montreal Festival which kicked off with the WPT500 Montreal C$550 NLHE that had a C$1,000,000 guarantee. Drawing in a massive field of 2,536 entries through three online and seven live starting flights, the guarantee was easily surpassed and reached US$934,770.

In the end, Miguel Goncalo (cover image) emerged victorious and took home the largest share of the huge prize pool, US$152,596 to be precise.

The Canadian pro came into the final day of the event in 27^th chip position with 35 players remaining. He scored a huge knockout against Stephane Blouin-Verroeulst with only 15 runners left in the hunt and reached the final table with the fifth-largest stack. Goncala steadily made his way to the top to confront Frenchman Said El-Yousfi in the heads-up play. While El-Yousfi had a dominating lead over Goncalo, the latter chipped his way to take the lead away from El-Yousfi and eventually defeated him to take home the title.

323 places received payouts and amongst them were the likes of Sergei Gurin (11^th for US$10,872), Stephane Blouin-Verroeulst (15^th for US$8,393), Indian origin players Harpreet Padda (19^th for US$5,341) and Mukul Pahuja (20^th for US$5,341), Eric Afriat (26^th for US$3,624), Mike Patenaude (34^th for US$2,861) and Raphael Duval (46^th for US$1,908).

Denis Simard (10^th for US$10,872) narrowly missed the final table.

Final Table Chip Counts

1. Trevor Argue – 18,050,000

2. Dave Graham – 15,900,000

3. Thomas Hall – 12,400,000

4. William Blais – 9,375,000

5. Miguel Goncalo – 8,650,000

6. Said El-Yousfi – 5,775,000

7. Geoffrey Hum – 3,750,000

8. Jason Harned – 2,650,000

9. Sebastien Lepine – 2,450,000

Final Table Recap

Geoffrey Hum was the first casualty on the final table. During level 34, Trevor Argue raised 800,000 from the button and Hum shoved all-in from the big blind for 705,000. Argue instantly called.

Geoffrey Hum

Trevor Argue

The board ran out and Argue rivered a set of aces to eliminate Hum in ninth place.

Following a 15-minute break Jason Harned jammed from the middle position with and Thomas Hall called from the cutoff with . The board opened and Hall hit two pairs of queens and nines on the turn, as Harned was railed in eighth place.

About an hour later, Sebastien Lepine, who was in the middle position, moved his entire stack to the center and Said El-Yousfi called from the button. Lepine tabled and El-Yousfi turned over . On the runout , El-Yousfi rivered two pairs of aces and tens, leading to Lepine’s seventh place finish.

Immediately thereafter, Dave Graham raised from under-the-gun to 1,100,000 with and El-Yousfi called from the small blind holding . The flop fell and El-Yousfi took the lead with a pair of aces against Graham’s pair of kings. El-Yousfi checked, while Graham moved all-in for 5,125,000. El-Yousfi called. The and completed the board ending Graham’s run in sixth place.

Finishing in fifth place was Trevor Argue, when Hall shoved all-in from the small blind, Argue called all-in with . Hall held and the board revealed . Hall found a pair of fives on the flop, while Argue picked up a weaker pair of fours and had to exit from the event.

Next to depart was Thomas Hall when he pitted his against Miguel Goncalo’s . With the board fanning out , Goncalo hit three-of-a-kind queens on the turn and Hall busted out in fourth place.

Down to three-handed play, El-Yousfi opened from the button with 1,400,000 and William Blais went all-in from big blind for 6,100,000. El-Yousfi called with and Blais showed . The dealer spread out on the board and El-Yousfi rivered a hearts flush to oust Blais in third place.

Said El-Yousfi (48,400,000) began the heads-up play with a commanding chip lead over Miguel Goncalo (27,675,000) but was unable to maintain it for long. Over the course of approximately two hours, Goncalo managed to take back the chip lead from El-Yousfi. On the final hand, El-Yousfi limped from the button for 1,250,000 and Goncalo raised to 4,250,000 from the big blind. El-Yousfi called to see the flop . Both players checked through to see the turn . Goncalo bet for 3,000,000 and El-Yousfi called. The river completed the board and Goncalo checked over to El-Yousfi who fired a bet of 9,500,000. Goncalo moved all-in for 36,900,000, and El-Yousfi quickly called for his last 22,300,000, tabling for the nut straight. Goncalo however revealed his for a turned full house and clinched the WPT500 Montreal title and winner’s payday of US$152,596.

Final Table Results (USD)

1. Miguel Goncalo – $152,596

2. Said El Yousif – $105,337

3. William Blais – $69,431

4. Thomas Hall – $51,120

5. Trevor Argue – $38,912

6. Dave Graham – $30,519

7. Sebastien Lepine – $23,652

8. Jason Harned – $19,075

9. Geoffrey Hum – $14,878