WSOP Main Event Champ Jonathan Duhamel Talks Poker Software

Jonathan Duhamel became the center of the poker universe last year when won the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event title, besting a field of 7,319 players to win poker’s biggest crown.  It’s been an incredible year for the champion and PokerStars pro, and we sat down with him to talk about tournaments and poker software.

PSW: You’ve had a great run as the Ambassador of Poker this year, starting with a win at the EPT Deauville High Roller Event and deep runs in the National Heads-Up Poker Championship, the Bicycle Casino’s Big Event, and in preliminary events at this year’s WSOP.  How do you think your year has gone as reigning Main Event champion?

Jonathan Duhamel: I’m pretty happy about it overall.  I’m a little disappointed with the end of the year, but January, February, and March were pretty good. In the last few months, even though I had some decent cashes in the World Series, I put so much pressure on myself to do the very best that I can.  So, I would really like to add another big score in the upcoming months.

As a poker player, you always want more.  But I am really about as happy as I could be about the year. I could have won almost every single tournament I played in and still not have been happy because I didn’t win all of them.

PSW: Was it different coming back to the WSOP as the champ?

Jonathan Duhamel: Yeah, it was pretty different this year.  I found that most of the people really wanted to play back at me and tried to make a lot more moves on me a lot of the time.  At some of the EPTs, I noticed that people weren’t playing back at me most of the time, but at the WSOP, everyone knew who I was and just wanted to play hands against me.

So, I had to adjust my playing style quite a bit and not make as many moves as I usually make.  I had to find good spots to get chips by tightening up my game and finding profits from that.

PSW: How has your life changed since becoming the champion of the Main Event of the World Series of Poker?

Jonathan Duhamel: Oh man, everything has changed now.  It’s kind of crazy how I was kind of like an online grinder before and now I’m traveling everywhere all the time playing in all of these live tournaments.  I’m doing all these interviews at these tournaments with these huge buy-ins and it’s a huge change.

I take it as a new challenge in my career and just want to do the very best I can in live tournaments.

Even though I’m so much busier than I was before, I’m really happy about it and with my poker career, and I’m happy to be able to continue this as long as I can.

PSW: The PokerStars WCOOP is coming up with 62 tournaments featuring more than $30 million in guarantees.  What tournaments are you looking forward to playing in?

Jonathan Duhamel: Oh yeah.  There are a lot of big tournaments, some with $5,000 and $10,000 buy-ins, with a bunch of smaller ones as well.  I’m going to play in as many of them as I can and hope that I can win my first major tournament on PokerStars, which would be pretty cool.  I already have a win in a non-WCOOP event, but taking one of the majors would be outstanding.  So, I’m really going to grind hardcore and hopefully going to be able to do it.

PSW: When you’re playing online, do you use any poker software?

Jonathan Duhamel: Not when I play tournaments.  I used to use Holdem Manger and PokerTracker when I was playing cash games back when I was playing every single day.  But now because I don’t play as much online because I’m traveling all the time, there really isn’t any software I use.  For a lot of the regulars at the higher stakes, I know who the guys are, but there are also a lot of players I don’t know.  Because those guys know who I am and how I play, they might have an advantage on me, but I don’t mind that much.

PSW: Do you ever review your sessions or tournaments anymore?

Jonathan Duhamel: I used to do that a lot when I was playing in cash games before.  After every cash game session, I’d look at all the hands I was in.  But it’s a little bit different for me with tournaments.  If I play a hand I’m not sure about, I’m going to replay it and think about whether or not I made a mistake or played it very well.

PSW: Do you have any other tournaments circled on your calendar?

Jonathan Duhamel: Right now, it’s a little two-week break in Montreal to visit my family and friends.  My first big stop is going to be in Europe at EPT Barcelona and then I plan on spending some time in Europe on the tournament trail.  EPT London, EPT San Remo, and WSOP Europe are all on my schedule, and there should be some really big tournaments at each of those stops.  So, I’m trying to hit a big score at one of those tournaments, which would be pretty sweet.

PSW: Now that you’ve accomplished the goal that most poker players dream of by winning the WSOP Main Event bracelet, is there anything else in your poker career that you’re looking to scratch off your bucket list?

Jonathan Duhamel: Really it’s just to continue winning.  This past year has been so amazing, traveling everywhere and meeting all kinds of people.  I’m focused completely on playing poker and am giving it 100%, so I just want to continue doing this as long as possible.