Canadian Open Poker Championship: Leblond Defeats Top Pros
An amateur Benjamin Leblond won the $5,000 heads-up main event after defeating likes of Phil Hellmuth, Brad Booth and Jeff Madsen. The final match started badly for Leblond, but he quickly turned the tables around.
The Canadian Open Poker Championship saw 93 players entering the $5,000 heads-up No Limit Hold'em main event held at the Stampede casino in Calgary, Alberta. The tournament featured a best-out-of-three match play with total prize pool worth $425,000.
In the end, it was an amateur Benjamin Leblond who finished in the first place. His final test was Jeff Madsen (pictured right) and it even looked as if Madsen was to
win the tournament, as he took down the first game, but then Leblond won
the following two games to take the title and $100,000 in prize money.
Leblond had a tough road to the top, perhaps his hardest challenge being Phil Hellmuth in quarter-finals. The two played a six-hour match until Leblond finally 
managed to take down one of the best players out there. Their final hand featured Leblond holding pocket sixes against Hellmuth's pocket nines and things were looking good for Hellmuth until a six came on the river which gave Leblond a set.
Leblond took another well-known name in semi-finals, as Brad Booth couldn't defeat the amateur who attributes his success to many hours of online heads-up play. Leblond plans to play in the upcoming WSOP Main Event and he will certainly be one of the players to watch out for.
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