Jonathan Duhamel: Canadian Professional Poker Player

Jonathan Duhamel is an incredibly talented, young poker
player from Canada. His most impressive accomplishment was when
he won the main event of the World Series of Poker in 2010, but
that certainly isn’t his only victory, as he has gone on to win
a plethora of different tournaments worldwide.

Over the course of his career so far he has earned a
staggering $12.7 million dollars, placing him at number two on
Canada’s all time money list. At only twenty seven years old, we
still expect to see great things from him in the near future.

Early Years

Jonathan Duhamel was born in August of 1987 in Quebec,
Canada. He grew up in the Boucherville sector of Quebec and was
a part of a typical middle-class family; his father was an
airplane engine mechanic and his mother was a bank teller.
Duhamel’s parents wanted to make sure he understood the value of
money so as soon as he turned thirteen years old, he got his
first job picking strawberries.

After high school, Duhamel decided to enroll at the
University of Quebec in Montreal, otherwise known as UQUAM to
pursue a career in Business Administration and Finance. While
attending school, some of his classmates introduced him to poker
and they were soon playing on a regular basis at each other’s
dorm rooms. Duhamel had no idea that this hobby of his would
turn into an opportunity of a lifetime.

He became so passionate about playing poker that he
eventually decided to take some time off of school so he could
pursue a career in it. His first decent cash out was at the
European Poker Tour’s No Limit Hold’em main event in 2008, where
he took tenth place and received over $50,000 in prize money.

Duhamel spent the next couple years building up his bankroll
by playing at various casinos across Canada and this is where he
claims to have met excellent players who helped him gain the
necessary experience he needed to take his career to the next
level. He once said, “There are a lot of very good poker players
in Quebec, we all talk strategy together, and I am the player I
am now because of them!“

Poker Career

PokerStars soon offered to sponsor the young player, seeing
great potential in him. Duhamel didn’t cease to amaze them when
he won the No Limit Hold’em main event of the 2010 WSOP after a
head to head match against John Racener. He cashed in nearly $9
million from that win alone and he also landed several other
impressive money finishes that year at the WSOP as well.

Since then, Duhamel has been traveling the world to compete
in a variety of different tournaments, but it’s through no limit
hold’em tournaments where he has made the majority of his
money. In 2011, he placed first in the Highroller No Limit
Hold’em event of the European Poker Tour for well over $270,000.
Duhamel actually has a very impressive performance record at the
EPT and you can check out the details on his top five finishes
in the table below.

Jonathan Duhamel’s Top 5 EPT Results

In addition to the EPT, Duhamel also won NBC’s National Heads
Up Championships No Limit Hold’em Championship in 2011,
accumulating another $125,000. The following year, Duhamel
entered the No Limit Hold’em event in the 2012 L.A. Poker
Classic, and despite a close match against Vanessa Selbst for
the win, he finished with a close second.

Despite all of his victories through playing No Limit
Hold’em, Duhamel still finds success when playing other versions
of poker as well. He achieved a third place finish in both the
$5000 Pot Limit Omaha and the 8 Game mixed events of the 2014
WSOP. Also prior to that in 2013, Duhamel took tenth in the
Omaha Hi/Lo event in the World Series of Poker that year.

Most recently he took first place in the PokerStars Caribbean
Adventure 2015 held in January, cashing in at over $110,000. He
also placed seventh in the No Limit Hold’em event of the World
Poker Tour’s Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown a few months
later.

Victim of Burglary

In December, 2011 two men forced themselves into Duhamel’s
house, beat him up, and tied him down. The intruders were after
his WSOP gold bracelet, the Rolex watch which Duhamel received
from PokerStars, and any cash they could get their hands on.
Luckily, despite his financial loss, Duhamel wasn’t too badly
hurt from the incident.

The burglars were prosecuted by the police only a few weeks
after the investigation started, but unfortunately his WSOP gold
bracelet had already been sold. About two months later it was
found severely damaged lying in the streets of Montreal, unable
to be salvaged.

Personal Life

Duhamel can definitely be considered a sports fanatic, having
played ice-hockey, baseball, soccer, and a plethora of other
sports since he was a young child. His all time favorite team is
the Montreal Canadien’s ice hockey team and he makes it a point
to go to as many of their games as possible.

Duhamel is also an author, having written a poker strategy
book called, “Final Table,” where he gives advice to players who
are interested in competing in bigger tournaments. His book was
published in 2012 and it’s a popular read for gambling
enthusiasts today.

Duhamel is also a devoted philanthropist who donated $100,000
from his 2010 WSOP Main Event winnings to the Montreal Canadiens
Children’s Foundation. He also regularly donates to the La
Fondation Sainte-Justine Hospital, whose goal is to provide the
best treatment possible for children with terminal illnesses.

He’s also passionate about donating money to the Amyotrophic
lateral sclerosis (ALS) foundation, which funds research to find
a cure for the disease.