Jean-Pascal Savard Wins Record Breaking partypoker Million North America

May 15th, 2017 | by Jason Reynolds

The latest partypoker Million event has come to a conclusion and, aside from crowing a new champion, it’s become the largest Canadian tournament in history.

Jean-Pascal Savard wins partypoker Million North American.

Jean-Pascal Savard (pictured) wins the largest ever live tournament held in Canada after beating Jonathan Bussieres heads-up. (Image: archive.bluff.com)

After announcing the formation of a new live poker tour earlier this year, partypoker has been on a mission to bring more prize money to more players around the world.

Following the recent success of the partypoker Million main event at the UK’s Dusk Till Dawn poker room, the tour headed to Canada’s Playground Poker Club in Montreal on May 5.

Big Numbers for Millions Main Event

The CAD$5,300/USD$4,000 main event saw players from around the world ante-up online and live in a bid to win the lion’s share of the CAD$5,000,000/USD$3,664,000 prizepool.

Those that opted to play Phase 1 online were able to win their way through to Day 2 inside the casino for just $400.

By the time these players had been added to the live buy-ins, the number of entrants stood at 1,168. That total was enough to push the prizepool beyond the guarantee to a record-setting $4,157,686.

With the largest prizepool for a Canadian tournament set, it was down to the business of crowning a winner. When the chips were down, Canada’s Jean-Pascal Savard managed to outlast his rivals and take home a top prize worth just under $700,000.

At the start of the finale, Savard was among the top stacks at the table and quickly asserted his authority by eliminating Rayan Chamas with a Broadway straight.

Matthew Waxman was the next player to fall when his Ah Qc was unable to hold on its pre-flop lead against Niall Farrell’s 7s 6s.

Savard Seals the Deal

With the final table down to six, Savard dispatched with Farrell before going on a tear. Eventually, with only Jonathan Bussieres in his way, Savard clinched his first partypoker Million title and the biggest win of his career.

Savard called his opponent’s all-in with A♣ J♥. With Bussieres showing the inferior Q♣ J♣, Savard was able to coast to victory after the board ran out: 7♣ 3♠ 3♦ 9♦ K♠.

In addition to being a positive event for Savard, this latest event is another notch on partypoker’s belt. The newly formed tour is bidding to rival PokerStars’ recently created Championship tour and, so far, players seem to be responding.

More than 1,100 entrants joined the action in Canada, while the UK main event back in April attracted 1,204 entrants. These figures not only suggest that partypoker’s latest live tour is off to a strong start, but the poker economy is alive and well.