Thomas Taylor is no stranger to the winner's circle - this looks to be his 22nd win on the live felt and he has more than $1.5 million in live earnings for 2nd place on Alberta's all-time money list. He has multiple Canadian wins from Calgary, Regina, and Montreal, but success in the Alberta capital of Edmonton has been a bit more fleeting.

This marks Taylor's first-ever win in Edmonton and is his best result here since 2018 when he bagged third place in a Deepstacks event. The almost $17k for first place isn't even close to his best score of $89,570 (US) for a Circuit ring in 2010, but he'll no doubt be happy to finally bag a win here in the City of Champions.

He led the final table wire-to-wire today and the mood was set early when he sent Sam Ngai, who started the day second in chips, home by cracking his aces. Taylor called off Ngai's shove with pocket tens and spiked the ten on the flop to take a huge lead at that point.

Pocket tens were good to Taylor today as that same hand also let him stack Ryan Comely's chips to give him nearly 2/3rds of the chips in play four-handed. Runner-up Stephen Dauphinais was the one to send Deven Lane to the rail in fourth, getting him close to Taylor's stack, and he was still close after Taylor sent Mo Alemehada packing in third.

From there it was pretty much all Taylor though. He picked off a missed draw from Daphinais for a big pot, then riviered the nuts for another one, leaving Dauphinais very short. In the final hand, Dauphinais got about 300k in with connected cards, but couldn't catch anything against Taylor's ace-high and Taylor had his first Edmonton win.

In the end, it was just too steep of a hill to climb for Stephen Dauphinais today, and Thomas Taylor led wire-to-wire on the final day. Dauphinais put up a solid fight heads up, but Taylor seemed dialed in, picking off a semi-bluff early in heads-up to take a big lead, and then rivering the nuts for another huge one to leave Dauphinais pretty short.

In the final hand, Dauphinais open-shoved the button and Taylor called him off.

Stephen Dauphinais:
Thomas Taylor:

Dauophinais was connected, up against the ace-over for Taylor. Neither player hit the board leaving Taylor's ace-high best and Dauphinais, who is a regular deep runner in Alberta games, had to settle for second place today.

Thomas Taylor has a commanding lead of almost 4:1 now after another big hand went his way. They limped to the flop and both players checked to the turn. Taylor bet 20k, then called a raise to 80k.

the river saw Taylor check again and Dauphinais slid out a bet of 100k. Taylor tanked for a bit before announcing "420" and slid in four stacks of red. "I have a bluff catcher," Dauphinais said as he thought out it, and finally slid in the call.

Taylor showed for the rivered straight and Dauphinais mucked his hand.

Thomas Taylor is close to 3:1 again after a failed semi-bluff from Stephen Dauphinais. He raised to 40k and Thomas Taylor called to see . Taylor check-called for 40k, then check-called again on the turn for 100k.

Taylor checked a third time on the river and Dauphinais counted out 220k. Taylor didn't take very long to put in the call and his was ahead of the missed draw for Dauphinais with .

Thomas Taylor has a bit of a lead heads-up, but there's not a lot between them right now so things could go on for a while since they are about 58 big blinds deep right now on average.

Mo Alemehada managed to ladder up with the short stack today, but ultimately hit the rail in 3rd place today. Stephen Dauphinais raised to 30k before Mo Alemehada shoved his small blind for 40k. Thomas Taylor called from the big and Dauphinais, after confirming that the door was closed, also flatted.

Both active players checked the flop, and Taylor bet 40k on the turn. Dauphinais mucked, and Alemehada showed king-deuce for the flopped two pair, but Taylor was on jack-ten for the turned straight.  Alemehada called for a king or deuce on the river but was no help and he was out in 3rd place.

They are down to three players left now after Deven Lane got his money in with but ran into jacks for Stephen Dauphinais. The board wasn't enough help for Lane so he hit the rail in 4th place today.

Stephen Dauphinais just got a double after a big river call against Thomas Taylor.  Taylor limp-called from the small blind after Dauphinais raised it to 40k from the big. They both checked the flop and Taylor led for 60k on the turn.

Dauphinais called, and when the river brought the backdoor hearts in, Taylor shoved the big stack. Dauphinais hit the tank for about 30 seconds before tossing in the one-chip call.

Taylor showed a bluff with king-ten and one heart, while the flopped pair for Dauphinais was good for a double-up.

Thomas Taylor has about 2/3rds of the chips in play four-handed.

The tens are working for Thomas Taylor today as he just sent Ryan Comely to the cash cage with that hand. Comely shoved the button and Taylor reshoved from the small blind. Comely was on ace-five of hearts but the board missed both players leaving Taylor's pair best and he's now busted two players from the FT with pocket tens.

Thomas Taylor opened to 25k under the gun and Mo Alemehada called from the cutoff before Sam Ngai raised the small blind to 110k. Taylor hit the tank for about 30 seconds before reshoving the big stack.

That sent Alemehada's cards to the muck, but Ngai snapped it off.

Sam Ngai:
Thomas Taylor:

It looked good for Ngai to double into the lead, but Taylor was running hot, hitting his ten on the runout to crack the rockets of Ngai with his riverboat.

Stephen Duaphinais just picked up a nice pot to get to about 400k. I arrived at the action on the river reading and, after a bet from Thomas Taylor for 32k, Dauphinais raised to 100k. Taylor hit the tank for a bit and finally called, but mucked his hand when Dauphinais rolled over pocket jacks for the flopped set.

They are down to 6 left in the 6-Max now after Ali Razzaq hit the rail in 7th place. Razzaq shoved with jacks and was racing against Mo Alemehada's ace-king. The flop was safe for the pair, but Alemehada spiked his ace on the turn to send Razzaq home in 7th and he bagged $3,450 for his two days of work.

Day 2 of the 6-Max is now underway with the final seven players all at the final table. Thomas Taylor is the leader, and between he and Sam Ngai, they have more than half the chips in play.

Event #8: $780 6-Max ($700+ $80)
Day 1: Feb 20 - 1 pm
Day 2: Feb 21 - 1 pm
Blinds: 40 Min
Entries: 89
Prizes: $59,185

The final table for the 6-Max is set, but, of course, it will actually be seven-handed. Thomas Taylor is the player with the big stack to start Day 2 but Sam Ngai is only about 200k behind him in second.

No one at the stacked FT should be counted out, however. Deven Lane, Ryan Comely, Stephen Dauphinais, Ali Razzaq, and Mo Alemehada all know what to do with short stacks and could easily chip up in the early running on Wednesday.

The action kicks off at 1 pm, but players should be in the room by 12:45 to get the bags open and cards in the air on time. There are still 7:30 remaining in Level 16 when they start the day and with the big blind at 6k, they'll be coming back with more than 50 big blinds on average so there's no guarantee it'll be a quick day. I should be on the floor from the opening hands to the winner's pics.

Final Table Chips and Seats