Cassidy Battikha Crowned Grand Prix Canada Champion

Trainee firefighter Cassidy Battikha ran red hot on his way to taking down the partypoker LIVE Grand Prix Canada Main Event, a fantastic result that saw him reel in CAD$84,050 after a three-way deal.

2017 Grand Prix Canada Final Table Results

Place	Player	Prize (CAD)
1	Cassidy Battikha	$84,050*
2	Karim Abdelhamid	$62,500*
3	Kevin Zeidler	$53,450*
4	Mike Leah	$25,000
5	Leandre St-Laurent	$14,580
6	Shahar Ohaion	$10,000
7	Emmanuel Krykinis	$7,500
8	Dilovan Hussein	$6,000

*reflects a three-handed deal

A massive field of 2,570 entrants packed into the Playground Poker Club in Montreal, which saw the CAD$500,000 guarantee surpassed by CAD$14,000 and a first-place prize of CAD$100,000 created. Plus any player who was one of the first 100 players to qualify online for the Grand Prix Canada Main Event via partypoker satellites and online phases and had a Golden Chip in their possession would win an additional CAD$20,000 on top of any prize money.

By the time the final day was reached, only 38 players remained in the hunt for title, among them Mike Leah who is a phenomenal poker player with almost $3 million in online cashes, and more than $5.7 million in the live arena.

One by one, the final 38 players fell by the wayside and the minimum take home pay increased to a point where the eight players who reached the final table were guaranteed CAD$6,000 for their efforts.

Grand Prix Canada final table

2017 Grand Prix Canada Final Table Seat Draw

Seat	Player	Chips
1	Mike Leah	12,630,000
2	Cassidy Battikha	18,505,000
3	Karim Abdelhamid	6,360,000
4	Dilovan Hussein	4,460,000
5	Emmanuel Krykinis	6,320,000
6	Kevin Zeidler	13,255,000
7	Shahar Ohaion	3,460,000
8	Leandre St-Laurent	2,360,000

Dilovan Hussein was the final table’s first casualty and banked CAD$6,000. After losing a large pot early into proceedings, Hussein committed his chips with on an flop after mike Leah had made a continuation bet. Leah called with and Hussein’s run was over.

Emmanuel Kyrkinis was the next to fall when he squeezed all-in with over the top of a Leah raise and a Battikha call only to see Kevin Zeidler wake up in the small blind with the powerhouse hand that is . The all-club ace-high flop left Kyrkinis drawing to a single out and when the appeared on the turn it was game over.

Sixth-place and CAD$10,000 went to Shahar Ohaion, a cash game player who is a regular at the Playground Poker Club. Ohaion was waiting for a spot to push his short stack into the middle of the felt and found such a spot when he was dealt . Karim Abdelhamid limped for 500,000, Ohaion moved all-in for 3.2 million, Battikha reshoved and Abdelhamid folded. Battikha revealed the and when the board ran out queen-high, Ohaion’s tournament ended.

Down to 10 big blinds, Leandre St-Laurent looked down at ace-four and moved all-in. Leah called with the dominating ace-king, which held, to reduce the player count to four.

With four players remaining, Leah and Zeidler were locked in a battle for the additional CAD$20,000 from the Golden Chip promotion. The extra money was awarded to Zeidler after Leah bust in fourth-place.

Mike Leah busts from the Grand Prix Canada final table

Leah lost most of his stack when he open-shoved from the small blind with and Battikha called from the big blind with , then Leah lost the rest of his chips when he pushed from the small blind with , Battikha called in the big blind with and despite picking up some outs on the flop, Leah’s fine run came to an abrupt end.

With Leah out of the way, the final three players paused the tournament clock so they could discuss a deal for the remaining prize pool. Those discussions proved fruitful with the trio agreeing to leave CAD$20,000 for the eventual champion and splitting the rest of the cash based on ICM.

Cassidy Battikha – CAD$64,050
Karim Abdelhamid – CAD$62,500
Kevin Zeidler – CAD$53,450 plus a CAD$20,000 Golden Chip

Although Abdelhamid found himself nursing a stack with less than 10 big blinds, it was Zeidler who was the next player eliminated. Zeidler’s list to Battikha’s after the chips went into the middle on the flop of the board.

Heads-up was over as quickly as it started. Abdelhamid’s was ahead of Battikha’s but only until the appeared on the flop. The rest of the community cards were not queens, which meant Abdelhamid was the tournament’s runner-up and Battikha had become the partypoker LIVE Grand Prix Canada champion.