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Mike Watson (credit: World Poker Tour)

Michael “SirWatts” Watson hails from Toronto, Canada. He’s been playing poker for a few years at least in live action events. Online – he’s probably a bit more well-known. The 24 year old, who uses the online handle SirWatts is on Canada’s top ten list of internet players. Not an easy feat when players like Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi also hail from the Great White North.

However, today, the young gun has had his biggest score either online or off. He is a World Poker Tour champion. Watson defeated a tough final table that included David Benyamine and John “The Razor” Phan, both recent World Series of Poker bracelet winners to take down the top prize of $1,673,770.

As the final table got underway, Watson had the chip lead. Another online prodigy, Luke “IWearGoggles” Staudenmaier, made some early gains and challenged Watson for the chip lead. On the sixteenth hand of the night, Watson buried Gabriel Thaler’s, the shortest stack at the table, chances of a comeback. Thaler’s pocket tens were no match for the back-door flush Watson earned on the river. Thaler collected nearly $130k for his efforts. Watson, for his part, put about 3 million chips between himself and his nearest competitor.

Benyamine and Staudenmaier play a lot of pots. Watson loses some of his chip advantage and Phan takes his time making decisions. On hand #49, the online specialist, “IWearGoggles” wins the biggest pot of the tournament off of John Phan, slicing through the Razor’s stack, leaving him with less than 2 million left. On the very next hand, Ralph Perry doubles through Phan. Phan has a mere 770k in his chip stack and needs a miracle to remain in the match.

Phan wastes no time going all-in with his Ah,9d. Benyamine calls from the big blind with As,6s. Despite having the better hand, the board is unkind to Phan, coming down Kd,7d,7s,Qs,3s. Benyamine makes a back-door flush and Phan is ushered to the rail. Two hands later, Watson takes out Ralph Perry with an As,Qs with a pair of aces on the turn. Perry receives $290,900 for his fourth-place finish.

As three-handed play begins, Benyamine is at a clear chip disadvantage. He’s at 4,865,000 while Watson has 7,115,000 and Staudenmaier holds 8,905,000, but those of you who know poker understand what a cruel mistress she can be. Benyamine wastes little time in doubling through Staudenmaier. Unfortunately, Staudenmaier gets his chips back at Watson’s expense.

Benyamine continues to play aggressively and rockets up to 9 million plus chips, letting the online specialists fight a bit amongst themselves. Benyamine keeps winning pot after pot, proving his experience in the biggest cash games in the world as he rakes in the chips and leaving his opponents to scratch their heads in disbelief. Finally, Watson eliminates Staudenmaier, making Benyamine’s game a bit more difficult.

When heads-up play began, Benyamine was holding 11,700,000 to Watson’s 8,420,000. During the thirty or so hands of heads-up play, Benyamine was ‘like a rock’ as his opponent noted at least once. However, after having Watson on the ropes more than once, the plucky Canadian pulled through and came away with the well-deserved victory.

These are the final standings:

1) Mike Watson - $1,673,770
2) David Benyamine - $840,295
3) Luke Staudenmaier - $452,465
4) Ralph Perry - $290,900
5) John  Phan - $193,915
6) Gabriel Thaler - $129,275

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