2012 WSOP Ones To Watch – Quebec

Quebec poker certainly had people taking notice after Jonathan Duhamel won the 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event, as well as Pascal Lefrancois making more than million dollars in the same year after a bracelet win and narrowly missing joining the November Nine with an 11th place finish in the $10,000 NLH Championship himself.

Over the past few years, Montreal has quickly become one of Canada’s poker hotspots and it’s player community is producing some of our winningest players on the world circuit today; here are a few that are far from long shots to win gold at the 2012 WSOP.

Montreal’s Samuel Chartier already has nearly 1,500,000 in live winnings and he is no stranger to success at WSOP events; as a matter of fact, Chartier already owns a WSOP-C title for winning the $5,000 No Limit Hold’em Championship at Caesars back in 2009. Samuel also final tabled a €5,000 Pot Limit Omaha at the World Series Of Poker Europe in 2011. He’s already raked in about $360,000 in tournament winnings so far in 2012, so it looks like he is all warmed up for this years WSOP, after 3 cashes over one month on the EPT.

Also hailing from Montreal, Will Molson is a mere min- cash or 2 away from breaking the $2,000,000 mark in live tournament cashes; especially when you consider that Molson seems to save the delivering of his ass whoopings for the ”High Roller” buy-ins. One of the top Canadian money winners over 2011, he has also previously cashed 3 times at the WSOP and we are sure he isn’t opposed and plenty skilled enough to go for the gusto.

Christopher ”d0r1t0s” McClung might still be considered a bit of an underdog pick by some, but he’s certainly caught the world’s attention at the close of 2011 after taking charge and making some holiday cash on the European Poker Tour. He’s crushed the medium limits on his home turf of Montreal and seems to only be getting better in the larger fields of the world circuit, keep an eye on McClung when it comes to the 2012 WSOP.

Guillaume Rivet came out of nowhere last year, cashing a total of 4 times, including a final table finish in a $10,000 Omaha Hi/Low at what very well looked to be his first run at playing at the World Series of Poker. All told, Rivet raked in roughly $115,000 for his in the money performances, which seemed like more than enough for him to take a shot at the $50,000 Poker Players Championship. Guillaume ended up being the last Canadian standing, but unfortunately missed the money in taking his shot. Shortly after the WSOP, back in Montreal, young Rivet proved he has what it takes to win a title, shipping a $1000 event in October.

Bracelet Number 2?

There are a few Québécois that will be looking for number 2 and Miguel Proulx looks to be a top pick for that race; in 2010 he cashed at only twice at the WSOP, but one was good for gold while the other was a very respectable 2nd place finish. Proulx won just a shade under $800,000 over the 2 Pot Limit Omaha events and cashed in a third over the 2011 series.

Then there is Erik Cajelais; the man already has 7 WSOP cashes, including winning a bracelet at the World Series of Poker Europe in 2009, a 5th place finish at the Rio last summer in the $1,500 Shoot Out and yet another oh-so-close second place finish in a $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha back in ’07. Already in 2012, Cajelais has made some noise in a world class event, finishing 4th in the WPT Bay 101 Main Event. When it comes to final tabling, large tough fields, it isn’t Erik’s first picnic and he’s an odds favorite to snag bracelet number 2.