Three top Canadian players – 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) November Niner Matthew Jarvis, 2010 bracelet winner Gavin Smith, and 2009 WSOP double bracelet winner Greg “FBT” Mueller – will play in the $5,000 Heads-Up Main Event of the Canadian Open Poker Championships.
The 2010 Canadian Open Poker Championships begin on Thursday in Calgary, Alberta, and are comprised of 13 events over the 11 days. Three casinos (Deerfoot Inn and Casino, Grey Eagle Casino, and Cash Casino) will play host to several preliminary events, which are reaching their maximum player limits through pre-registration, according to Kelly Kellner, the CEO of the Canadian Poker Tour (CPT) and promoter of the tournament schedule.
“I am very pleased to have seen the Canadian Open grow since our first event in 2006, where we hosted a single event with only 64 players,” Kellner stated earlier this week as pre-registrations continued to flood in. “This year, we expect over 2,000 entries over the entire series.” Events include a $2,000 No Limit Hold’em tournament, the CPT’s Ladies’ National Championship, and the $5,000 Heads-Up Championship. All totaled, it is expected that $3.5 million in prize pools will be generated.
“We are also extremely pleased to have added a number of new sponsors for the tournament schedule, including Big Rock Breweries and Dank Energy Drink,” Kellner reported. For those who play in the tournaments but don’t run well, the Canadian Open Poker Championships is looking to entertain – or at least ease the pain. Every night of the Championships, there will be an Ultimate Players Party at the Calgary hotspot the Rusty Cage.
Jarvis burst onto the scene this year with his remarkable run to the WSOP Main Event final table. He will enter the 2010 WSOP November Nine final table in fifth place, holding 16.7 million in chips, and has already guaranteed his largest cash ever with the $811,823 paid to all Main Event final table participants.
One of the most gregarious characters in the poker world, Smith has also been one of the most consistent poker players of the last decade. A former World Poker Tour Player of the Year (2006), he eliminated the “best player to not have won a WSOP bracelet” title from his name when he took down the $2,500 Mixed Hold’em tournament at this year’s WSOP. In his career, the Full Tilt Poker pro has amassed over $5.4 million in tournament earnings over a span of 12 years.
A former hockey player, Mueller brought his aggressiveness over from the rink to the felt in 2003 and hasn’t looked back. Known as “FBT” – an acronym for “Full Blown Tilt” – he has earned 19 cashes during play at the WSOP, with his best years coming from 2007 to 2009. In 2007 and 2008, Mueller put together nine cashes, yet was unable to make the winner’s circle. He corrected that in 2009, picking up two bracelets in Limit events. Mueller will be looking to add on to his $1.78 million in career earnings with a victory in the Heads-Up Championship.
The only major tournament schedule that crowns its Main Event champion in a Heads-Up competition, the Canadian Open Poker Championships has routinely drawn some of the top poker talent since it first played out in 2006. Such players as former Canadian Open Poker Championships Heads-Up Champion Huck Seed, former Main Event champs Phil Hellmuth and Joe Hachem, Canadian poker pro Brad Booth, Antonio Esfandiari, Phil Laak, and Jennifer Tilly have all played in Canadian Open Poker Championships events.
With the confirmation of three top Canadian players in Smith, Mueller, and Jarvis, the field for the $5,000 Heads-Up Championship Event will be one for the ages.
