David Dongwoo Ko has won the WPT Montreal main event and more than CA$400,000 thanks to an unprecedented run that saw him dominate from start to finish.
The Canadian grinder was part of an 882-strong field vying for WPT glory at Montreal’s Playground Poker Club this week. Dongwoo Ko anted up on Day 1A of the CA$3,500 event, and, unlike a lot of his peers, he didn’t need to fire a second bullet.
Despite having the option to rebuy on subsequent days, Dongwoo Ko turned his 50,000-chip starting stack into 456,500 by the end of play. That was enough to put him top of the Day 1A’s chip count, a position he would retain throughout the WPT Montreal main event.
Plethora of talent at Playground can’t stop Dongwoo Ko
Dongwoo Ko wasn’t the only notable player to make it through the opening melee. Seasoned tournament pros Darryll Fish and Jason Lavallee were among the DAY 1A survivors battling for a share of what would become a CA$2.8 million prizepool.
The plaudits on Days 1B and 1C went to chipleaders Hasanain Al Ghunaim and Graham Lupton. However, when the starting fields converged on Day 2, it was Dongwoo Ko who took back control.
Picking up where he left off, Dongwoo Ko picked his spots as the field went from 332 to 44 over the course of nine levels. The fateful bubble also burst on Day 2. On this occasion, it was Gaurav Sood who found himself on the wrong side of a coin flip.
Sood was pot-committed with a pair of jacks pre-flop but still had a smattering of chips in front of him as the community cards rolled out. Unfortunately for Sood, Marc-Olivier Carpentier-Perrault had A♦ K♣ and connected with the 9♣ 4♥ K♥ flop. With only one big blind left, Sood moved all-in on the flop, and Carpentier-Perrault called.
Blanks on the turn and river sent Sood to the rail and the remaining 111 players into the money. With at least $4,698 locked up, short stacks made their moves. That caused a cascade of eliminations, and as other fell by the wayside, Dongwoo Ko and the other big stacks hoovered up more chips.
Dongwoo Ko does it after dark
44 players returned for Day 3, and once again, Dongwoo Ko dominated. Despite having just $140,005 in live cashes prior to the start of play, the Canadian has enjoyed some of his best results in 2024. This form continued throughout Day 3 and into the fourth and final day of WPT Montreal.
Dongwoo Ko had over 30 big blinds more than his closest rival, Tommy Nguyen, at the start of the final table. As the chips began to fly, torrential weather plunged the poker room into darkness for two hours during the final table. However, not even that could disrupt Dongwoo Ko’s flow.
WPT Montreal main event result
- David Dongwoo Ko – CA$434,900* (US $319,217)
- Dan Stavila – CA$280,000 (US$205,520)
- Tommy Nguyen – CA$205,000 (US$150,470)
- Rayan Chamas – CA$155,000 (US$113,770)
- Tamer Alkamli – CA$117,000 (US$85,878)
- Charles Kassin – CA$89,000 (US$65,326)
* The first prize includes a $10,400 seat for the WPT World Championship.
Even though he was the shortest stack with three players remaining, he emerged from the darkness to secure the biggest win of his career. The final hand saw Dongwoo Ko river a king-high flush to top Daniel Stavila’s queen-high flush.
With that, the Canadian picked up his first WPT title, a career-best payday, and a seat in December’s WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas.
