Ontario Poker News June Update: Leah Nearly Wins WSOP Gold, “Egption” Joins WPT Global (2024)

Jun 27, 2024

Hey, everyone. I'm Kyle Anderson, PokerNews ambassador and Ontario resident. Here is an update on everything that's happened in the poker world in Ontario in the last month.

Remember, ON players can legally play real money poker in Ontario, so PokerNews has come up with a list of the very best online poker sites in the Canadian province. Access real poker sites and play different games with poker players within the state.

What are the big issues and stories on everyone's minds? Let’s get into it.

Deep Runs at the 2024 WSOP

Toronto’s Mike Leah (lead picture) made an appearance at the 2024 World Series of Poker (WSOP) and he nearly claimed the second gold bracelet of his career. It was in Event #45: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E., a tournament that attracted 181 runners and offered up a $1,683,300 prize pool.

Leah made it all the way to heads-up play, but ultimately finished runner-up to Russia’s Maksim Pisarenko for $266,658.

Another Ontario player to make a deep run at the 2024 WSOP was Michael Machugh, who finished fifth out of 1,277 entries in Event #15: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better. While he fell just short of WSOP gold, he had $66,014 in prize money to take back to Canada.

Ontario Legend Joins WPT Global

In my last update, I reported that Canada’s Patrick “Egption” Tardif had departed as a representative of GGPoker Ontario.

Well, it didn’t take long for him to find a new home as at the end of May it was revealed that he had signed with WPT Global as a brand ambassador. He joined a roster that includes Xuan Liu, Phil Ivey, Brad Owen, Ethan Yau, Jon Van Fleet, and Angel Guillen.

"I am eager to join WPT Global as an ambassador," said Tardif. "WPT Global's commitment to innovation and delivering a world-class poker experience aligns perfectly with my passion for the game. I can't wait to start connecting with the community and battle in the huge tournaments and cash games WPT Global has to offer."

Taridf, a well-known Twitch streamer, graduated from the University of Western Ontario and relocated to South Korea to teach English as a foreign language. However, he quit his career as a teacher in 2017 and transitioned full-time to Twitch poker streamer.

Tardif has over $11 million in online cashes and has amassed nearly $500,000 in tournament earnings including a career-best $159,157 for finishing second in the 2020 World Poker Tour (WPT) Fallsview $2,500 Event. In 2023, he also made a deep run in the record-breaking WSOP Main Event placing 97th out of 10,043 players for $78,900.

He is slated to be at the 2024 WSOP in July, and rumor has it he may even guest host on an episode of the PokerNews Podcast, which I recently did. Check it out below.

Ontario Player Claims Venetian DeepStack Title

In other live news from Las Vegas on June 16, Ontario’s Jesse Jay Jaurigue topped a field of 219 entries to win the Venetian DeepStack Championship Poker Series Event #33: $1,100 NLH Ultimate Bounty to win $32,256, not including any bounties he may have collected along the way.

Final Table Results

PokerStars ON Path to NAPT

Right now, Ontario players can claim a free Path to NAPT Step 1 ticket worth $0.50. This offer runs daily from now through 23:59 ET on October 21, 2024. Each daily offer period starts at 00:00 ET and ends at 23:59 ET.

Additionally, Summer Stacks are underway at PokerStars ON, so it’s time to get seated, stack the competition and claim your share of $900K GTD across 100 events between now and July 1.

Get warmed up in the best way possible for a huge $75K GTD Main Event on June 30, where you can win an awesome Gold Pass to NAPT Vegas if you manage to eclipse the competition.

For more on Anderson, here’s a taste of what you can expect from his stream:

Eligible iGames conducted and managed by iGO are only available to those physically present in the Province of Ontario. PokerStars Ontario operates pursuant to an agreement with iGaming Ontario.

For more information, visit the Ontario Players Homepage

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