Jeff Madsen(credit: Wikipedia)
Benjamin LaBlond defeats a tough field of 93 to win the Canadian Poker Open's heads-up title.
Benjamin LaBlond defeated 2006 World Series of Poker double bracelet winner Jeff Madsen in their best-of-three final heads-up match to take down the 2009 Canadian Poker Open Championship in Calgary this past weekend.
LaBlond, who won $100,000 for the Herculean effort, defeated some of the biggest names in the world of poker en route to the title such as 11-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth and Canadian player Brad “Yukon” Booth.
Other pros who played in the event included Gavin Smith, Terrence Chan, who made the semi-finals, Antonio Esfandiari and Huck Seed, last year’s winner and current NBC National Heads-Up Champion. Seed was defeated in the first round of this tournament.
LaBlond is an amateur who hails from Hull, Quebec. He plays regularly online and mentioned that he’d use part of his winnings towards a seat at the 2009 WSOP Main Event.
LaBlond is one of 93 players in the event. Each put up their $5,000 to play.