CANADIAN JOINS THE GOLD BRACELET CLUB
Canadian Joins the Gold Bracelet Club

Charles-Alexandre Sylvestre Wins Event 3


Charles-Alexandre Sylvestre has enjoyed a fabulous two weeks in poker.

Just 13 days ago, the part-time poker player from Montreal, Quebec won $230,000 playing in an online tournament.  That was such a huge score that Sylvestre decided to come to this year's WSOP and stay the first ten days.  Now, given his bulging bankroll and growing self-confidence, he might just stay a bit longer.

That's because Sylvestre just won $491,360 in prize money for his victory in Event 3 – the $1,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em Re-entry tournament.  For those keeping score, that a grand total of $720,000 and change the last two major events he played.  Not bad for someone who works a full-time job as a real estate broker.

The tournament attracted a whopping 3,164 entrants, a particularly impressive figure given that it was held mid-week as well as immediately prior to the Millionaire Maker, which is the big tournament planned for opening weekend.  This was a re-entry tournament, which meant players could re-enter and play the second starting session if they busted from the earlier session.  Sylvestre didn't have that problem and made it through to the final table on just a single bullet.

Sylvestre's victory was yet another crowd-pleaser.  Standing in the same spot where the two previous winners won their titles as this series, the Canadian was mobbed an an enthusiastic rail of supporters – mostly from Canada.

Among those in the crowd cheering the loudest was 2010 WSOP Main Event Champion Jonathan Duhamel, also from Quebec.  Following his close friend's victory, Duhamel seemed just as happy as if he had won the gold bracelet himself.

“He's such an amazing guy and a good friend,” Duhamel said.  “He deserves everything good that happens to him.”

There were other notable developments, as well.  For instance, Ryan Olisar made the final table in this event for the second consecutive year.  He finished sixth this year after taking fourth place in 2012

MEET GOLD BRACELET WINNER – CHARLES ALEXANDRE SYLVESTRE

Name:  Charles Alexandre Sylvestre
 
Birthplace:  Montreal, Quebec (Canada)
 
Current Residence:  Saint Bruno, Quebec (Canada)
 
Age:  30
 
Marital Status:  Single
 
Children:  None
 
Profession:  Real Estate Broker
 
Hobby:  Part-time poker player
 
Education:  College graduate with a degree in business  
 
WSOP Cashes (including this event):  3
 
First WSOP Cash (year):  2010
 
WSOP Final Table Appearances:  1
 
WSOP Wins (with this victory):  1
 
INTERVIEW WITH THE CHAMPION

WSOP:  How does it feel to win your first WSOP gold bracelet?
 
Sylvestre:  It feels amazing.  It's my first WSOP final table, my first bracelet.  I had two of my friends here with me cheering, including the World Champion.

WSOP:  What's more meaningful, the huge amount of money you won, or the gold bracelet.
 
Sylvestre:  The cash for me. Half a million dollars, is very nice, that's for sure.  I don't know what I'll do with it yet – make some investments and play some more tournaments.  The bracelet means more, but the cash is amazing, for sure.

WSOP:  What did it mean for you to have Jonathan Duhamel here supporting you and what did you learn from him, if anything?
 
Sylvestre:  The Quebec poker community is very close.  We are all friends.  We all tend to support each other....we had an amazing experience together two years ago.  We followed (Jonathan) through the entire series.  

WSOP:  What can we expect for an encore?
 
Sylvestre:  I was planning to be here just ten days, but now I think I am going to play the whole series and see what happens.  Maybe I will run good and go for another gold bracelet – and then maybe a deep run in the Main Event. 

ODDS AND ENDS

This was an all-North American final table.  It consisted of eight Americans and one Canadian.  The Canadian won.

Final table action went fast.  The final nine played down to a winner in just three and a half hours, considerably less time than usual for a typical WSOP final table, which averages about eight hours.

Among the more well-known previous gold bracelet winners who cashed were – Scott Seiver, Josh Arieh, Burt Boutin, Leo Wolpert, and Eric Baldwin.

This event, which was added to the WSOP last year, has gone to Canadians both years it has run.  In 2012, the winner was Ashkan Razavi of British Columbia.