Derrick Rosenbarger Wins WPT Montreal Main Event

Derrick Rosenbarger, the 30-year-old Air Force pilot, won the 2013 World Poker Tour PartyPoker-sponsored event in Montreal and took home a very cool $517,049 to boot.

The New Mexico man beat a field of 862 entries to claim 1st place and the cash in the $3,850 buy-in no-limit Texas Hold'em main event. Rosenbarger has been an Air Force pilot for 8 years, and this was his first major win—he beat a very good field while doing it.

Road to Victory

Hitting the final table in 5th place, Rosenbarger played a very steady game. As others fell by the wayside, he kept his cool and made it to heads-up play against Mukul Pahuja.

Pahuja had a roughly 2-to-1 chip lead; however, Rosenbarger turned that around, and by the final hand, he held the same 2-to-1 advantage.

Heads-Up Showdown

Heads-up play lasted a total of 64 hands. When Pahuja made a big raise holding A-4, Rosenbarger didn't need much time to think before pushing all-in with his pocket queens.

The board ran out nothing for Pahuja, and Rosenbarger picked up the WPT trophy and the check for over half a million bucks.

The WPT Bellagio Five Diamond Poker Classic was also running at the time, which wrapped up the schedule for the year.