EPISODE 106-- Final Table: A Winning Poker Approach from a WSOP Champion by Jonathan Duhamel

Jonathan Duhamel was raised in Boucherville, a neighboring town 10 mins drive from Montreal, Quebec. From a comfortable middle-class family, his father, an aeroplane engine mechanic and his mother, a bank cashier, brought him and his younger sister up in the security and space of a suburban ‘white picket fence’ childhood.“ As a big brother, I fought with my sister all the time. I remember my parents didn’t like it, so whenever I hit her” says Jonathan “I would get grounded. If she was hitting me though, it was all fine. I’ve learn a lot from that!” Both Jonathan’s parents were fairly strict, ensuring he understood the value of money from an early age by encouraging him to take part-time jobs outside of school. His first job, as he recalls, was at age 13, picking strawberries. This tough-love gave Jonathan a strong work ethic and the insight that with hard work he would reap his own rewards. Duhamel makes no secret of his love of sport – playing ice hockey, baseball, soccer, etc… as a child and a fervent supporter of his local Montreal Canadian’s ice hockey team, he really relishes sports which has taught him the importance of working in a team. “I’m always going to remember the first Montreal Canadian game I saw. My dad brought me, and they were playing Boston. At the end, we lost 4-3, but it was an amazing game, amazing experience. On the ice, myself, I’ve always been very competitive. Even though I wasn’t the best, the desire to win was always there, and it is something I still have, in everything I do in life. When I do something, I always do it 100%.” The next step, obviously took the young Canadian to college and university. Studying Business Administration and Finance – it was the numbers and maths that really challenged him into this path. After about a year at university, his friends and he started playing poker home games and this suddenly became an overnight passion. Unsure of his vocation, Jonathan decided to take a year off to think about his future. He used this free time to travel around the world with friends and rediscover his own life objectives.

It’s also during this time that Jonathan had the chance to focus on his new passion, and this materialized in his first major cash at EPT Prague in 2008 where he placed 10th. His strategy improved mainly by interaction, rather than reading, for Jonathan “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!” A self confessed cash games player, it is only after his initial successes to build a healthy bankroll, that he turned his attention to tournaments. Several other tournament cashes were however dwarfed, by what has now lead to Jonathan Duhamel’s fame in the poker world – winning the coveted WSOP 2010 Main Event Championship.

From there, Jonathan’s life transformed, becoming a member of Team PokerStars Pro, touring tournament after tournament with a close group of friends and poker players (winning EPT Deauville High Roller shortly after the WSOP) and writing a book on his life ‘Cards on Table’.