Patrick Serda crowned WPT Montreal CA$5,300 Main Event Champion

Patrick Serda scored his second-largest live cash to date after claiming victory at the 2018 WPT Montreal Main Event for CA$855,000 ($668,388), which includes Serda’s $15,000 entry into Season XVII’s WPT Tournament of Champions.

With 792 entries and a prize pool of CA$5-million, the Winnipeg native was triumphant over past (and the first ever female) WPT open ever winner Ema Zajmovic heads-up at the Playground Poker Club. The Canadian scored his maiden WPT Main Event title to bring his live cash earnings to over $1.7-million.

Welcome to the WPT Champions Club, Patrick Serda (@SuperSerda)! The 28-year-old Canadian wins #WPTMontreal heads up versus Ema Zajmovic @PlaygroundPoker to claim the $668,388 first-place prize and a seat to the Tournament of Champions. #TheCupIsHis pic.twitter.com/bH5ZW94bnh
— World Poker Tour (@WPT) November 4, 2018

Final Table Recap

Serda started the final day as the chip leader with a stack of 8.26 million, which accounted for over a quarter of the chips in play. Nonetheless fellow countrywoman and eventual runner-up Zajmovic was hot on his heels with a stack of 7.45 million, just 14 BBs behind Serda.

It took 40 hands for the final table to go from six to five players. Jiachen ‘Jack’ Gong suffered a cooler straight from the depths below after getting it all in with A♥️A♣️ against Zajmovic’s A♦️Q♠️ and Kauvsegan Ehamparam’s A♠️K♥️.

The internal grin of Gong quickly faded after a nightmare runout of 8♠️3♠️2♦️6♠️7♠️, giving Ehamparam the ace-high flush to triple-up whilst Zajmovic’s flush was enough to send Gong out of the main event after claiming the side-pot for herself.

There was another long wait for the next elimination, as two-time WSOP bracelet winner Upeshka De Silva eventually found himself on his way to the wrong side of the rail after his shove with pocket fours ran into Sorel Mizzi’s pocket Jacks. The American finished in fifth place, netting himself a six-figure payday for his troubles.

Soon after De Silva left the table, Zajmovic’s pocket nines held in a pre-flop race against Ehamparam’s Q♣️J♥️ to take the chip lead as the tournament was down to its last three participants.

Patrick Serda made his first elimination of the day after Sorel Mizzi button shoved his 3.2 million short-stack with pocket sixes; however, it was Serda’s turn to wake up with pocket nines and he re-shoved in the small-blind. Mizzi’s pocket pair ‘mizz-ed’ the board to finish in third place in his fourth WPT final table appearance, adding a cool $313,320 to his impressive $12.1 million live tournament takings.

Serda’s busting of Mizzi saw him increase his stack to 16,150,000 giving him a narrow lead over Zajmovic’s 15,675,00. The crowning of the the WPT Montreal Main Event 2018 champion would be decided just under a dozen hands later. With the blinds at 100,000/200,000 with a 200,000 BB ante, Zajmovic raised to 500,000 with K♦️9♠️. Serda with 7♦️5♦️ opted to 3-bet to 1,600,000, but was met with a 4-bet of 3,800,000 which was called by the soon-to-be champion.

With 7,800,000 in pot already, the flop came 10♠️7♠️6♠️ giving Serda second pair whilst Zajmovic was in a strong position with the inside straight-flush draw. Both players elected to check the flop and the A♣️ hit the felt on the turn. Serda, still unsure of how strong his pair was, again decided to check. Zajmovic bet 3,000,000 and got a call from Serda. The 3♥️ on the river did nothing to improve either player’s hand, and Serda again checked. Zajmovic shipped her remaining stack of 8,500,000, forcing Serda into the tank, the eventual winner found the hero call in what could be the most important hand of his tournament career.

Who is Patrick Serda?

The 28-year-old pro may be remembered for his infamous chop with William Kassouf at the 2016 EPT Prague €10,300 High Roller Event two years ago. Despite Serda claiming a near 4:1 chip lead over the exuberant Englishman, the deal saw Kassouf claim victory. However it was newly crowned WPT Main Event winner who at the time took home the first place money prize and his largest live cash of €719,000 ($750,216) as part of the deal.

As for what Serda will be doing with his newfound winnings, it’s reasonable to believe that the Canadian might take shots at even higher-buy-in live events as well as perhaps try to notch some significant online poker scores at sites like www.888poker.com/canada.

Following his win in Kahnawake, Montreal, Serda was joined by his family and newborn son who had made the cross-country journey following the approval of their doctor. In what’s been a hectic few weeks for the new father, there’ll be no rest for Serda as he’s looking to add the Hublot WPT Player of the Year title to his collection after adding 1,200 points to his season’s tally following his victory.

We never thought we could feel this amount of love. Welcome to the world Henrik James Serda. Born Oct 1, 2018. Weighing in at 9 lbs and 3oz. Future 2040 WSOP main champ ? pic.twitter.com/6kCvi9IPcc
— Patrick Serda (@SuperSerda) October 2, 2018

The WPT Montreal Main Event champion currently sits in third place only trailing Tony Ruberto (1,800 points) and Erkut Yilmaz (1,250 points). There are five WPT main tour stops remaining in this WPT season and with Serda claiming the biggest score so far, he has a great chance to achieve his lofty ambitions.