NIAGARA FALLS, Ont. A pair of twos turned out to be enough to win a 27-year-old Oshawa man $1.35 million early Monday morning in the final hand of the World Poker Tour's North American Championship.
Soren Turkewitsch, a factory worker living with his girlfriend of six years in her parents' basement won a marathon final table in the $4.8-million tournament, held at Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort.
Five Canadians and one American started playing the final table at 5 p.m. Sunday and it wasn't until Turkewitsch's opponent Jason Sagle went all-in at 12:50 a.m. Monday that the tournament finally came to an end.
Sagle, convinced his ace-five combination would hold up, put all his chips on the line, only to have a two come up on the flop that gave Turkewitsch a tournament-winning pair.
Turkewitsch ran over to his girlfriend Michelle Markov, who was in tears and gave her a hug, as if to say `life just got better.'
For all intents and purposes, Turkewitsch didn't enter the World Poker Tour thinking he would walk away with more money than some people make in a lifetime.
Why would he? He had never even played in a major poker tournament before.
"Never did I think I could win. It was just a chance to play poker," he said.
The avid recreational player came to Fallsview Casino Aug. 14 for a qualifying tournament, which cost him $90 to enter. He won that and then won
Soren Turkewitsch, a factory worker living with his girlfriend of six years in her parents' basement won a marathon final table in the $4.8-million tournament, held at Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort.
Five Canadians and one American started playing the final table at 5 p.m. Sunday and it wasn't until Turkewitsch's opponent Jason Sagle went all-in at 12:50 a.m. Monday that the tournament finally came to an end.
Sagle, convinced his ace-five combination would hold up, put all his chips on the line, only to have a two come up on the flop that gave Turkewitsch a tournament-winning pair.
Turkewitsch ran over to his girlfriend Michelle Markov, who was in tears and gave her a hug, as if to say `life just got better.'
For all intents and purposes, Turkewitsch didn't enter the World Poker Tour thinking he would walk away with more money than some people make in a lifetime.
Why would he? He had never even played in a major poker tournament before.
"Never did I think I could win. It was just a chance to play poker," he said.
The avid recreational player came to Fallsview Casino Aug. 14 for a qualifying tournament, which cost him $90 to enter. He won that and then won
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