The final tilt on the 2024 Pure Poker Tour is now in the books and the final series capped a massive year for one local player. After 11 days of poker action at Pure Casino Yellowhead, Stephen Dauphinais capped a breakout year with his first PPT trophy win.
Other stories to emerge from the final PPT showdown of the year included Mike Malm locking up the Alberta Poker Index Player of the Year race while Eric Wasylenko did the same with the PPT-specific PoY list. Malm added a runner-up finish to his stellar year to put a bow on the API race while Wasy grabbed yet another crystal trophy from the PPT.
Over the 11 days of poker, nearly 1,500 entries were recorded for the 16 events held. While some of the single-day events had lower-than-expected numbers, both big multi-day games saw solid attendance with the Main Event nearly hitting $300k in total prizes with more than 300 entries.
2024 Pure Poker Tour Series #6 Summary Results
| Series: | 2024 Pure Poker Tour Series #6 |
| Dates: | Nov 21 – Dec 01, 2024 |
| Events: | 16 |
| Total Entries: | 1,493 |
| Total Prizes: | $796,898 |
| Total 1st Place: | $196,492 |
Final Series of 2024 a Success
While it’s clear that the post-pandemic live poker boom is waning somewhat with lower numbers than the 2022 peak, the series banked nearly $800k in total prizes with 16 first-place winners pocketing nearly $200k combined. Four winners from the series took home five-figure scores ranging from more than $17k all the way up to the Big Show worth $62,468.
Andy Truong scored the second-biggest win this series with his High Roller victory over Ottawa’s Michael Khan. The final two players cut an ICM deal with Truong leading, then played for $2k and the PPT trophy on the side. Truong grabbed nearly $25k in the deal with his win while Khan secured more than $21k.
Big(ish) Win for Dauphinais
To say it’s been a breakout year for Stephen Dauphinais would be a bit of an understatement. In terms of bankroll and prestige, he came within sniffing distance of a bracelet this summer down in Vegas. While he wasn’t quite able to bag the bracelet he booked a 3rd place for a lifetime score of more than $650k.
And it wasn’t just any event, either. The Edmonton grinder ran deep in the Millionaire Maker, besting nearly 11,000 other players to book 3rd place. Dauphinais got $651,039 as his share of the $14.6 million in total prizes in one of the biggest events of the summer series.
Dauphinais is relatively new to the live poker scene with his first live results coming in 2021. He’s been a regular on his home tour which is focused on play mostly in Edmonton, Alberta. He has been active in most of the series since the tour began and has racked up a series of cashes, but a win had so far eluded him.
That has been rectified in dramatic fashion, however, with the biggest trophy of all on the tour, the Main Event trophy. While every event on the PPT comes with a trophy for the winner(s), the Main Event towers are unique in contrast to the crystal handed out in most events.
While this Main Event win wasn’t his biggest score by any stretch, it will slot in for a distant second, nearly 50% more than his previous #2 from Regina last November. This marks his fourth win on the live felt, but his first on his home tour.
Truong, Malm, Fan Stand Out
There were a few standout performances over the two weeks of poker with Francis Fan standing out as the only player with two wins this series. He bagged Events 7 & 13 for nearly $15k in total wins.
| Event | Name | Entries | Prizes | Winner | 1st Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | $450 NLH | 79 | $30,020 | Francis Fan | $8,557 |
| 13 | $230 NLH Turbo | 114 | $21,660 | Francis Fan | $6,031 |
Andy Truong pocketed the second-biggest win of the series with the High Roller win, but that was just one of three cashes for him in the series. He bagged 11th place in the Main but also picked up a runner-up finish in the Last Chance event to close out the season.
Mike Malm didn’t pick up any wins this series, but he continued his relentless assault on the API leaderboard with 5 cashes this series. His biggest score was runner-up to Surrey’s Mike Kim in the PLO Big Bounty and that, along with four other cashes, cemented his API Player of the Year win for 2024.
There were two Player of the Year titles up for grabs in this series, but truthfully, neither was really in question. The PPT ran its own PoY race this year, but from the early days, it was pretty apparent who would be in the running by the end of the year. Eric Wasylenko hit the ground running in 2024 winning the first two Main Events of the year, and then proceeded to rack up several other trophies in side events through the year.
Just to add another layer of cement on his already-secured PPT PoY 2024 win, Wasy added yet another side event trophy to his growing collection in the final series of the year by winning the opening multi-day game, Event #4. The Winnipeg player and former national curler has been the clear player to beat on the series for the past couple of years, and it’s pretty clear he enjoys playing in Edmonton.
Five Stops on the 2025 PPT
The 2025 season of the Pure Poker Tour has been announced with five stops on the tour. There are two series planned at Pure Casino Edmonton and three more at Pure Casino Yellowhead. Mark your calenders and get ready for another big year on the PPT.
