Quebecer wins WSOP pot-limit Omaha title for $315,311

Miguel Proulx of St. Charles, Quebec, won the $2,500 Pot-Limit Omaha championship at the World Series of Poker early on Friday morning to claim his first WSOP bracelet and the first place prize of $315,311.

The 27-year old became the third Canadian to win a gold bracelet this year; Aadam Daya and Pascal Lefrancois also won WSOP titles. The runner up was Loren Klein, a Las Vegas poker pro. He came close to earning a breakthrough victory, but lost the chip lead late and was unable to overcome Proulx's final flurry of good fortune. Klein received $195,147 for second place.

The final hand of the tournament came when Proulx was dealt two queens and the ace-deuce of spades, while Klein had jack-10-eight-four. The flop gave Proulx the nut spade flush and Klein three pair. The board, however, didn't pair for Klein, and Proulx scooped the final pot with the nuts.

Proulx earned his undergraduate degree in computer science from Universite Laval, in Quebec City, Quebec. He has one child and another on the way.

"The family is expanding," said Proulx. "That's a pretty nice gift for the family."

Proulx classifies himself as a semi-pro player. He plays poker seriously and earns income by playing part-time. But he has also worked in the computer field. He plans to return to school and complete his master's degree, followed by taking a full-time position in the high-tech industry. But he also plans to continue playing poker part-time.

Proulx says his favorite poker game is Pot-Limit Omaha. He plays mostly in online cash games.

"I usually come to the WSOP to play in the cash games," said Proulx. "I did not want to waste my time in tournaments. This year, I was tired of playing in cash games. So, I tried my chances in tournaments to see how it goes. I could have played more in the (other games), but I am better at PLO and the fields are not as large, so I thought my chances to win a bracelet were better in this event."

The third-place finisher was Michael Greco, from London, England. He is an actor, most famous for his role in a popular British soap opera called "East Enders," which ran from 1998-2002. Greco has performed well on the WSOP stage as well, accumulating more than $300,000 in career winnings after taking down $129,691 for third place in this event.

Stephane Tayar, from St. Mande, France, finished fourth, Joerg Engels, from Cologne, Germany was fifth, Karl Gal, from Munich, Germany was sixth, and Trevor Pope, from Gainseville, Fla., was seventh.

The eighth-place finisher was Tommy Le, from Tustin, Calif., and Patrick Hanoteau, from Paris, France, was ninth.

The top 54 finishers in the 596-player field collected prize money. Former WSOP gold bracelet finishers who cashed in this event included Chau Giang (20th), Joshua Teiman (27th), Scott Clements (28th), T.J. Cloutier (38th), Richard Ashby (40th), and Peter Vilandos (45th). With his first cash this year, Cloutier now has 56 career cashes, which ranks sixth on the all-time WSOP cashes list, while Tony Cousineau, who finished 31st, added to his semi-dubious record as the player with the most cashes in WSOP history without a gold bracelet victory. Cousineau cashed for the 43rd time, moving him one ahead of Johnny Chan on the all-time cashes list.

Modified from notes provided by Nolan Dalla for www.wsop.com.