Dustin Melanson secured the title in $1,100 No-Limit Hold’em 50/50 Bounty earlier this morning, banking the solid cash prize of $16,750 for defeating a field of 144 players. Melanson was the player, who had the honor to lift the Champion’s trophy in the air earlier today, pocketing also a massive cash for his victory. This triumph is an important watershed in the Canadian player’s career, as it is recognized to be one of the biggest scores for Melanson, whose bank account is currently boosting more than $19,000 from poker earnings.
Climbing the Ladder of Success
Only 16 hopefuls managed to enter the money day, returning at the shootout tables. The game was slowly advancing to the final table, melting the number of players relentlessly. By the time when the field was reduced to only 9 players, all eyes were focused on the final table. The cards were thrown in the air with all the players hoping for a bigger cash prize.
The number of players was further shrunk to only 2 to start the heads-up match. It was the Canadian player Alexandre Lavigne, who was holding a slight chip advantage at the beginning of the two-handed poker duel. The early rounds of the battle favored Dustin Melanson, who rapidly managed to grab the dominance and collect 2 times bigger stack of chips. The big chip advantage over his opponent gave Melanson even greater confidence to grind his Lavigne’s stack, leaving him crippled at the runner-up finish.
The Moment of Triumph
The decisive hand found the short stack Lavigne holding [Kc][Qh] against Melon’s steaming [Ac][4h]. Melon rivered the ace-four pairs on a [4s][6c][8h][5h][Ah] board and Lavigne was knocked out, settling in 2nd position with $12,840 cash prize. It should be mentioned that the heads-up battle took a fast pace, as Melon managed to take the chip lead only in a few hands after the beginning of the action and did not look back. Having in mind the nature of the event, it should be also noted that Melon collected 9 bounties on his way to the victory, which added $4,500 to his top cash prize.
About the Event
The popular event, which took place at Playground Poker Tour, gathered a crowd of notable poker players, including the champion Mitchael Ferguson, partypoker ambassador Kristen Bicknell, William Blais, David Ormsby, Rodney Ramalho, Ruben Perceval and many more, who failed to make the money in this event. The Bounty poker attracts the attention of the players as it features also additional cash gifts for all the players, who eliminated others, referred to also as “bounties”.
