Former Hockey Player Wins British Columbia Poker Championships
(Credit: British Columbia Lottery Corporation)
Daniel Idema is a 23 year old Canadian who makes his home in Tsawwassen (try saying that three times fast), British Columbia. The former hockey player – he was a WHL defenceman and went to the Memorial Cup with the Medicine Hat Tigers – can now add poker champion to his resume. He outlasted 643 other players including pros such as Steve Billirakis, who at 21 years and 11 days became the youngest player ever to win a gold bracelet at the WSOP, and the 6 ft. 5 in. Greg Mueller, who also used to play hockey – he was a pro in Europe. Mueller, to date, has earned over half a million dollars in tournament cashes in North American events. Idema played solid poker throughout and began the final table with one of the highest chip counts. He admits that he “caught some major breaks in the tournament” and “was fortunate enough to win.” He “never expected to make it this far.” On the final hand, Idema held pocket kings. Idema won $402,500 and capped off a successful week at the British Columbia Poker Championships. About 1,700 folks showed up at the third edition of this tournament series which took place from November 18 - 25. The total prize pool was more than $2.4 million. Paula Stregger finished first in the Ladies Only event, winning $30,000. Brian Joslin won $148,000 in a NLHE tourney on November 19, and Scott Craig defeated 240 folks to take down $63,500 in the Pot Limit event on November 20th. Congrats to all the winners! Here are the final results from the championship event: 1) Daniel Idema (Tsawwassen BC) - $402,500 2) Jason Dong (Burnaby BC) - $250,355 3) Bradley Birarda (Vancouver BC) - $156,170 4) Robert Marwood (Langley BC) - $112,700 5) Zachary Fellows (Vancouver BC) - $88,550 6) Richard Prokopetz (Vernon BC) - $70,840 7) Michael Brigante (North York ON) - $57,960 8) Tam Tang (Surrey BC) - $45,080 9) Robert Miruci (Vancouver BC) - $34,615