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Amateur Beats Pros at COPT
Well, you could call it irony, luck, or you could call it good instruction.
Whatever you choose, it is no skin off of the back of James, Lopushinsky,
who captured the first ever Canadian Open Poker Championship on Sunday
night. Not only did Lopushinsky walk out of the Stampede Casino in Calgary
Alberta with the first prize of $250,000 last night, he also proved that
even a 23-year old poker novice can play with skill and that luck can turn
around at any time.
En Route to his victory, Lopushinsky took out his mentor, Brett Booth. Booth
had taken Lopushinsky into his tutelage in the game of poker after he hired
the new young star to make a poker table for him, and to deal at his club in
Calgary. Booth was the first competitor Lopushinsky faced in the Canadian
Open Poker Championships quarter-finals on Sunday. The tournament began last
Friday, March 10th.
Lopushinsky then moved on to take on Huckleberry Seed, another poker
professional who is recently coming off a strong finish in the National
Heads-Up Poker Championships that were held in Las Vegas last weekend. The
semifinal matchup lasted a whopping four hours, and then Lopushinsky went on
to the final heads up match to face Calgary's Karim Chatur. Chatur took
advantage of his opponent’s last grueling match, and was ahead in the chip
count by $80,000 after the first 40 minutes. Lopushinsky managed to turn it
around though, and Chatur took home the $125,000 runner up prize.
Lopushinsky has only been playing poker for a year and a half, and his win
was as much a shock to himself as it was to anyone else. "I can't believe
I'm here right now. Every time he raised, I had junk, and every time I
raised he had something better," said a jubilant Lopushinsky. "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." The event will be broadcast in June on Rogers
Sportsnet
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