2025 Pure Poker Tour Series #1 – Event #6: $450 NLH

Michael St. Pierre-Porter is a relative newcomer to the local scene, though he’s been very active for the past year or so. His first recorded cash on Hendon is from August of 2024 but since then he’s racked up 12 cashes coming into this series.

He’s been close to the big prize a few times as well with a couple of seconds and thirds both here on the PPT and in Calgary. But this is the first time he’s made it through to the top spot.

It was a ride for him through this one. He had to come back from very short-stacked earlier in the night, and once they got heads up, he was in dire shape, down 5:1 to Vinh Vu. But things turned around for him two ways and he found two doubles to put him into the lead.

He had Vu on the ropes, reversing the opening odds with 5:1 for St. Pierre-Porter, but Vu managed to claw back to about 1:2 down. That was as far as he got, however, as the final hand saw him shove with queen-five but run into St. Pierre-Porter’s pocket jacks. The jacks held and St. Pierre-Porter was the owner of his first poker hardware.

Vinh Vu came into heads up play with a big chip lead, but everything seemed to go south for him after that. Michael St. Pierre-Porter got an early double to stay alive, then had a huge hand where he had Vu dominated for another massive double.

The second double put him into a 5:1 lead, but Vu managed to double back again to get back to 1 million chips.. That’s as far as he’d be able to go though as shortly after he ran queen-five into pocket jacks. The jacks held for St. Pierre-Porter and it was all over.

When the final three players cut their deal, Vu was the leader and secured $11k.

Vinh Vu is down to about 500k after a huge hand that saw Mike St. Pierre-Porter raise to 125k then call when Vinh Vu shoved. It was king-queen for St. Pierre-Porter against queen-ten for Vu. There was a king on the flop for St. Pierre-Porter and he held for the double.

In the next hand, Vu doubled back to about a million, but St. Pierre-Porter is still in the lead.

Shortly after they got heads up, money went in with Michael St. Pierre-Porter on King-ten against an ace-four for Vinh Vu. St. Pierre-Porter spiked his ten in the race and got the double, by Vu still has the lead.

Play has gotten a bit looser since the deal was made, but they are still playing hard for the trophy. Lee Schick just ended his run in 3rd for $10k when he shoved the flop of 7♣9♣4♦ with overs and Vinh Vu called him off with ace-seven. The pair of sevens held and Schick took 3rd place.

Vinh Vu raised to 110k then snap-called when Michael St. Pierre-Porter shoved the small blind. It was a race between sixes for Vu and queen-jack for St. Pierre-Porter. It looked good for the sixes to send St. Pierre-porter to the rail until he spiked a queen on the river to double.

After the hand the players agreed to a deal that will see Vinh Vu pocket $11k, Lee Schick take $10k, and St. Pierre-Porter get $10,175. They will play it out for the trophy and the final placings.

Hamish Tong managed to double back up once after the disaster against Vinh Vu, but he then sent his stack to Lee Schick when his eights couldn’t win a race against ace-queen.

I picked up the action on the turn with the board reading 3♠9♥8♠9♠. Vinh Vu bet 200k and got the call from Hamish Tong with around 400k already in the pot. Vu shoved 555k on the K♣ river and Tong tank-called but his nine-seven was behind the queen-nine for Vu.

The hand left Tong with just 140k behind, but he doubled that to 325k in the next hand against Lee Schick.

Jo Teliani just hit the rail in pretty brutal spot. Vinh Vu raised to 75k, then called when Teliani bumped it up to 200k. Vu shoved the Q♥A♥5♠ flop and Teliani let out an exasperated sight.

“I have kings,” she said, and took a few seconds to put in the call. “Nice hand.”

“I’m drawing to hearts,” Vu said, showing jack-nine of hearts. The turn was safe for Teliani’s kings, but the river hit her in the heart giving the flush to Vu and sending her out in 5th.

Hamish Tong is the leader now with 1.1 million but Mike St. Pierre-Porter has more than 900k for second. Full stacks for the final five are below.

Hamish Tong just got a nice double through Lee Schick when he turned two-pair. Schick was on ace-five and raised pre-flop and c-bet for 50k on the 6♠10♠K♦ flop. The money went in with Tong on top pair with king-deuce and he turned the deuce for two pair.

Keith Graham hit the rail just before the break to bring the field to 5. The remaining players are now on an extended break after a chip up and a move to the poker room to finish out the night.

Lee Schick and Michael St. Pierre-Porter are the leaders right now with both playing a bit more than 1.2 million. See the full stacks below.

They are down to 6 left now after Dennis Macpherson hit the rail in 7th place tonight.

They are down to seven left on the final table of Event #6 now after Zaher El-Kasse lost his fumes early for 9th place and Mal Hagan followed him out in 8th a few minutes later, There is a break in play coming in about 15 minutes and I’ll grab chip counts then.

They are down tot he final nine now after Shahab Khan bubbled the final table. Lee Schick took his stack as well as most of the chips in front of Zaher El-Kasse in a huge hand where he flopped a pair and rivered trips with jack-ten against pocket sevens for Khan and king-four of hearts for El-Kasse. El-Kasse was left with just 4k after the hand and will be in though shape with fumes at the FT.

It was a huge cooler with Shahab Khan on aces and Zaher El-Kasse on kings. Khan turned an ace to take a bigger lead and held for the double-up to stay alive.

“No offense, but we were hoping for the short stack to bust,” Jo Teliani said with a smile.

“I folded ace-queen waiting for this,” Khan said as he raked in the chips.

They are down to 10 now after Rob Lothian took a bit of a bad beat to hit the rail in 11th place. He was all in with ace-eight of diamonds and he was well ahead of the six-five of diamonds for Vinh Vu. Vu spiked trip fives on the flop, however, and Lothian bricked the rest to end his run in 11th place for $1,090.

They are down to 11 now after Stacey Deitrich hit the rail for 12th place. Her flopped pair with ace-ten was no good against the set of nines for Michael St. Pierre-Porter.

Ron Toledo and Murray Duval both hit the rail in the same hand courtesy of Stacey Diedrich. Toledo was on fumes and took 14th place while Duval ended his day in 13th.

Josh Wallace came within one place of a double-cash today. He finished third in Event #3 earlier tonight and jumped into this one at the last moment. He made it all the way to the bubble, but when he shoved his button with ace-four, he ran into ace-ten for Jo Teliani. The both hit their kickers on the board, but Teliani’s ten was best and she covered him so Wallace was out on the bubble.

The remaining 14 players are all now guaranteed at least $945.

They are still hand-for-hand on the bubble. Josh Wallace (who was third in E3 earlier tonight and jumped into this one right after) just doubled to stay alive when his jacks held against big stack Hamish Tong. Meanwhile, on the other table, Ron Toledo stayed alive with a chop, but he’s very short with about 20k now.

Hamish Tong is the leader at the break following Level 16 with 610k in front of him. Vinh Vu is second with 502k, See below for the rest of the remaining stacks as counted on the break.

They are down to 15 players left now, on the bubble. Christopher Newbergher, Benny Sarnelli, and Richard Nguyen were the recent busts just before the money to bring it to 15.

They are down to 18 left now on the final two tables in Event #6. Below is a look at how they are seated — they have a break coming up at the end of this level and I’ll grab a full round of chip counts then, but Vinh Vu and Hamish Tong are still stacking big.

The side game is now down to 20 players putting the six off the 14 paid spots tonight. Below is a look at the remaining players and while I don’t have a good handle on all the stacks, it looks like Vinh Vu is the leader right now with more than 500k while Hamish Tong looks to be second with about 460k.

Entries are now closed for Event #6 with the final field at 143 entries. That puts the total prizes at $54,340 with $14,585 reserved for first place and a total of 14 players getting a share later tonight. Full prizes are posted under the Payouts tab.

There are about 20 minutes left in the dinner break following Level 8 and entries for this game will close when they sit down for Level 9. The field is at 138 for prizes of $52,440 but we may still see a few more entries before dinner is complete.

At the current numbers, it looks like 14 players will be getting a piece of more than $52 in prizes later tonight.

The early side game is now up to 119 entries for total prizes of a bit more than $45k. There are now about 75 minutes left to get into this one, so it looks likely the field will settle in around 130 by the time entries close.

The prizes are nearly at $40k for the early side today with 103 entries on the board. Two more entries will push the prizes over $40k and with more than 90 minutes left to enter the game, it looks certain to push well above that mark.

Level 4 is just beginning with 69 entries on the board. That puts the total prizes at $26,220 with 60 players still fighting for a share of it later tonight. Bash Ramahi, Mo Alamelhuda, Ed Zurawell, and Julius Roque are among the recent entries I’ve spotted sitting down in this one.

The prizes are now more than $18k with 48 entries on the board. There are just under 20 minutes to play in Level 2 with continued heavy action at the registration desk. Michael St. Pierre-Porter was among the recent entries for this game, along with Brady O’Hara (who narrowly missed Day 2 of Event #3), Mal Hagan, Jolnar Teliani, and Krista Meilleur.

Level 2 has just begun with 42 entries on the board and 41 players still in action. That puts the prizes at almost $16k from the first level alone, so this looks like it’ll be a pretty big field by the time entries close at ~6:45 PM.

There are about 10 minutes to play in the opening level with the field up to 32 entries. Among the recent entries to the game were Benny Sarnelli, Pete Fylyma, Tony Comely, and Ryan Comely. I also just saw Ryan Cairns sit down in this one after he took the min-cash in Event #3.

There are 17 players at the felt for the start of Event #6 this afternoon. Among the players I’ve spotted in their seats are Mellisa Sekulich, Hamish Tong, and Seniors winner Russ Sluchinski.

The early side even on Sunday is Event #6: $450 NLH. The action kicks off at 2 pm for 30-minute levels with a 25k starting stack. Late entries will be open for 8 levels of poker and, including breaks, will be closing down at about 6:45 PM.

After the dinner break, they will play down to a winner before it ends. I’ll most likely be watching Day 2 of Event #3 for the early part of Sunday so won’t get much coverage of the early levels of this one. However, with only 15 players coming back for that one it should be a pretty quick day and I’ll move over to this one as my second priority once the E3 trophy is awarded.

Michael St. Pierre-Porter is a relative newcomer to the local scene, though he’s been very active for the past year or so. His first recorded cash on Hendon is from August of 2024 but since then he’s racked up 12 cashes coming into this series.

He’s been close to the big prize a few times as well with a couple of seconds and thirds both here on the PPT and in Calgary. But this is the first time he’s made it through to the top spot.

It was a ride for him through this one. He had to come back from very short-stacked earlier in the night, and once they got heads up, he was in dire shape, down 5:1 to Vinh Vu. But things turned around for him two ways and he found two doubles to put him into the lead.

He had Vu on the ropes, reversing the opening odds with 5:1 for St. Pierre-Porter, but Vu managed to claw back to about 1:2 down. That was as far as he got, however, as the final hand saw him shove with queen-five but run into St. Pierre-Porter’s pocket jacks. The jacks held and St. Pierre-Porter was the owner of his first poker hardware.

Vinh Vu came into heads up play with a big chip lead, but everything seemed to go south for him after that. Michael St. Pierre-Porter got an early double to stay alive, then had a huge hand where he had Vu dominated for another massive double.

The second double put him into a 5:1 lead, but Vu managed to double back again to get back to 1 million chips.. That’s as far as he’d be able to go though as shortly after he ran queen-five into pocket jacks. The jacks held for St. Pierre-Porter and it was all over.

When the final three players cut their deal, Vu was the leader and secured $11k.

Vinh Vu is down to about 500k after a huge hand that saw Mike St. Pierre-Porter raise to 125k then call when Vinh Vu shoved. It was king-queen for St. Pierre-Porter against queen-ten for Vu. There was a king on the flop for St. Pierre-Porter and he held for the double.

In the next hand, Vu doubled back to about a million, but St. Pierre-Porter is still in the lead.

Shortly after they got heads up, money went in with Michael St. Pierre-Porter on King-ten against an ace-four for Vinh Vu. St. Pierre-Porter spiked his ten in the race and got the double, by Vu still has the lead.

Play has gotten a bit looser since the deal was made, but they are still playing hard for the trophy. Lee Schick just ended his run in 3rd for $10k when he shoved the flop of 7♣9♣4♦ with overs and Vinh Vu called him off with ace-seven. The pair of sevens held and Schick took 3rd place.

Vinh Vu raised to 110k then snap-called when Michael St. Pierre-Porter shoved the small blind. It was a race between sixes for Vu and queen-jack for St. Pierre-Porter. It looked good for the sixes to send St. Pierre-porter to the rail until he spiked a queen on the river to double.

After the hand the players agreed to a deal that will see Vinh Vu pocket $11k, Lee Schick take $10k, and St. Pierre-Porter get $10,175. They will play it out for the trophy and the final placings.

Hamish Tong managed to double back up once after the disaster against Vinh Vu, but he then sent his stack to Lee Schick when his eights couldn’t win a race against ace-queen.

I picked up the action on the turn with the board reading 3♠9♥8♠9♠. Vinh Vu bet 200k and got the call from Hamish Tong with around 400k already in the pot. Vu shoved 555k on the K♣ river and Tong tank-called but his nine-seven was behind the queen-nine for Vu.

The hand left Tong with just 140k behind, but he doubled that to 325k in the next hand against Lee Schick.

Jo Teliani just hit the rail in pretty brutal spot. Vinh Vu raised to 75k, then called when Teliani bumped it up to 200k. Vu shoved the Q♥A♥5♠ flop and Teliani let out an exasperated sight.

“I have kings,” she said, and took a few seconds to put in the call. “Nice hand.”

“I’m drawing to hearts,” Vu said, showing jack-nine of hearts. The turn was safe for Teliani’s kings, but the river hit her in the heart giving the flush to Vu and sending her out in 5th.

Hamish Tong is the leader now with 1.1 million but Mike St. Pierre-Porter has more than 900k for second. Full stacks for the final five are below.

Hamish Tong just got a nice double through Lee Schick when he turned two-pair. Schick was on ace-five and raised pre-flop and c-bet for 50k on the 6♠10♠K♦ flop. The money went in with Tong on top pair with king-deuce and he turned the deuce for two pair.

Keith Graham hit the rail just before the break to bring the field to 5. The remaining players are now on an extended break after a chip up and a move to the poker room to finish out the night.

Lee Schick and Michael St. Pierre-Porter are the leaders right now with both playing a bit more than 1.2 million. See the full stacks below.

They are down to 6 left now after Dennis Macpherson hit the rail in 7th place tonight.

They are down to seven left on the final table of Event #6 now after Zaher El-Kasse lost his fumes early for 9th place and Mal Hagan followed him out in 8th a few minutes later, There is a break in play coming in about 15 minutes and I’ll grab chip counts then.

They are down tot he final nine now after Shahab Khan bubbled the final table. Lee Schick took his stack as well as most of the chips in front of Zaher El-Kasse in a huge hand where he flopped a pair and rivered trips with jack-ten against pocket sevens for Khan and king-four of hearts for El-Kasse. El-Kasse was left with just 4k after the hand and will be in though shape with fumes at the FT.

It was a huge cooler with Shahab Khan on aces and Zaher El-Kasse on kings. Khan turned an ace to take a bigger lead and held for the double-up to stay alive.

“No offense, but we were hoping for the short stack to bust,” Jo Teliani said with a smile.

“I folded ace-queen waiting for this,” Khan said as he raked in the chips.

They are down to 10 now after Rob Lothian took a bit of a bad beat to hit the rail in 11th place. He was all in with ace-eight of diamonds and he was well ahead of the six-five of diamonds for Vinh Vu. Vu spiked trip fives on the flop, however, and Lothian bricked the rest to end his run in 11th place for $1,090.

They are down to 11 now after Stacey Deitrich hit the rail for 12th place. Her flopped pair with ace-ten was no good against the set of nines for Michael St. Pierre-Porter.

Ron Toledo and Murray Duval both hit the rail in the same hand courtesy of Stacey Diedrich. Toledo was on fumes and took 14th place while Duval ended his day in 13th.

Josh Wallace came within one place of a double-cash today. He finished third in Event #3 earlier tonight and jumped into this one at the last moment. He made it all the way to the bubble, but when he shoved his button with ace-four, he ran into ace-ten for Jo Teliani. The both hit their kickers on the board, but Teliani’s ten was best and she covered him so Wallace was out on the bubble.

The remaining 14 players are all now guaranteed at least $945.

They are still hand-for-hand on the bubble. Josh Wallace (who was third in E3 earlier tonight and jumped into this one right after) just doubled to stay alive when his jacks held against big stack Hamish Tong. Meanwhile, on the other table, Ron Toledo stayed alive with a chop, but he’s very short with about 20k now.

Hamish Tong is the leader at the break following Level 16 with 610k in front of him. Vinh Vu is second with 502k, See below for the rest of the remaining stacks as counted on the break.

They are down to 15 players left now, on the bubble. Christopher Newbergher, Benny Sarnelli, and Richard Nguyen were the recent busts just before the money to bring it to 15.

They are down to 18 left now on the final two tables in Event #6. Below is a look at how they are seated — they have a break coming up at the end of this level and I’ll grab a full round of chip counts then, but Vinh Vu and Hamish Tong are still stacking big.

The side game is now down to 20 players putting the six off the 14 paid spots tonight. Below is a look at the remaining players and while I don’t have a good handle on all the stacks, it looks like Vinh Vu is the leader right now with more than 500k while Hamish Tong looks to be second with about 460k.

Entries are now closed for Event #6 with the final field at 143 entries. That puts the total prizes at $54,340 with $14,585 reserved for first place and a total of 14 players getting a share later tonight. Full prizes are posted under the Payouts tab.

There are about 20 minutes left in the dinner break following Level 8 and entries for this game will close when they sit down for Level 9. The field is at 138 for prizes of $52,440 but we may still see a few more entries before dinner is complete.

At the current numbers, it looks like 14 players will be getting a piece of more than $52 in prizes later tonight.

The early side game is now up to 119 entries for total prizes of a bit more than $45k. There are now about 75 minutes left to get into this one, so it looks likely the field will settle in around 130 by the time entries close.

The prizes are nearly at $40k for the early side today with 103 entries on the board. Two more entries will push the prizes over $40k and with more than 90 minutes left to enter the game, it looks certain to push well above that mark.

Level 4 is just beginning with 69 entries on the board. That puts the total prizes at $26,220 with 60 players still fighting for a share of it later tonight. Bash Ramahi, Mo Alamelhuda, Ed Zurawell, and Julius Roque are among the recent entries I’ve spotted sitting down in this one.

The prizes are now more than $18k with 48 entries on the board. There are just under 20 minutes to play in Level 2 with continued heavy action at the registration desk. Michael St. Pierre-Porter was among the recent entries for this game, along with Brady O’Hara (who narrowly missed Day 2 of Event #3), Mal Hagan, Jolnar Teliani, and Krista Meilleur.

Level 2 has just begun with 42 entries on the board and 41 players still in action. That puts the prizes at almost $16k from the first level alone, so this looks like it’ll be a pretty big field by the time entries close at ~6:45 PM.

There are about 10 minutes to play in the opening level with the field up to 32 entries. Among the recent entries to the game were Benny Sarnelli, Pete Fylyma, Tony Comely, and Ryan Comely. I also just saw Ryan Cairns sit down in this one after he took the min-cash in Event #3.

There are 17 players at the felt for the start of Event #6 this afternoon. Among the players I’ve spotted in their seats are Mellisa Sekulich, Hamish Tong, and Seniors winner Russ Sluchinski.

The early side even on Sunday is Event #6: $450 NLH. The action kicks off at 2 pm for 30-minute levels with a 25k starting stack. Late entries will be open for 8 levels of poker and, including breaks, will be closing down at about 6:45 PM.

After the dinner break, they will play down to a winner before it ends. I’ll most likely be watching Day 2 of Event #3 for the early part of Sunday so won’t get much coverage of the early levels of this one. However, with only 15 players coming back for that one it should be a pretty quick day and I’ll move over to this one as my second priority once the E3 trophy is awarded.