(Click Here for the Latest Online Poker News Stories)
Copyright © 2006 Canoe Inc.
HEADLINE:
Protege takes out poker vets
Body:
First the young grasshopper beat his mentor, then he won the championship.
James Lopushinsky from Whitehorse captured the first Canadian
Open Poker Championship last night.
He also walked out of the Stampede Casino with $250,000 burning
a hole in his pocket after he took out Calgary's Karim Chatur
in the final of the heads-up tournament.
The triumph capped a remarkable comeback for the 23-year-old
Lopushinsky, who was down early as Lady Luck was nowhere to be
found but made his hands count at the end.
"I can't believe I'm here right now. Everytime he raised,
I had junk and every time I raised he had something better,"
said a jubilant but tired Lopushinsky, who has only been playing
for a year and a half.
"I thought for sure it would be Huck Seed or Brad (Booth).
"I didn't think I was making it to the final but here I
am."
Interestingly, it was Booth who took Lopushinsky under his wing
and taught him the game after hiring him to build a poker
table and deal at his club.
The student bested the master in the quarter-final yesterday,
his first game of the day, then took out Seed in a four-hour epic
semifinal before meeting Chatur, who had a $80,000 chip lead after
the first 40 minutes.
For his efforts, Chatur still takes home $125,000. The event
will be broadcast in June on Rogers Sportsnet.
Downloaded
from the World Wide Web on March 13, 2006:
http://calsun.canoe.ca/Sports/OtherSports
/2006/03/13/1485190-sun.html |
(Click Here for the Latest Online Poker News Stories)
|
