Relating to Canadian poker gamers, Patrick Tardif has made fairly a reputation for himself. Initially from Saskatchewan and now residing in Toronto, Tardif is understood for his on-line poker prowess the place he’s recorded greater than $11 million in digital felt earnings.
So, when WPT International was wanting so as to add to their Ambassador roster the person referred to as “Egption” was a pure match. Since becoming a member of the group – which incorporates Phil Ivey, Brad Owen, Ethan Yau, Jon Van Fleet, Xuan Liu, Angel Guillen, and most lately NHL star Phil Kessel (extra on that under) – Tardif has taken his ambassadorship severely and has been doing a superb quantity of touring, together with to Montreal for the WPT Playground Championship.
The New & Improved Playground
“I hadn’t been right here since pre COVID, like 2018. I believe the primary time I got here again was when the WPT got here right here again in Might,” Tardif instructed PokerNews. “So, it had been like six plus years and I received to see from what they was to what they’re now.”
The previous skilled Halo online game participant elaborated: “It is like a full-fledged resort, three flooring, all of the tables and slot machines, the brand new and improved poker site. They stored the identical dungeony vibe, which in case you’ve by no means been right here earlier than you may be confused about it.”
Tardif, who boasts greater than 54,000 Twitch followers, certified for the CAD $1,100 WPT Playground Prime Championship on-line and wound up ending in 73rd place for $2,601. He then jumped into the Principal Occasion, discovered a bag, and cashed on Day 2 putting one hundred and first for $4,607. Nonetheless, any revenue he had disappeared when he fired the CAD $10K Excessive Curler and busted.
“It’s loopy type of making an attempt to bluff Darren Elias,” he conceded. “That was silly. After which a superb hand runs into a greater hand.”
Within the reside realm, Tardif has simply over $500K in lifetime earnings relationship again to 2014 in line with the Hendon Mob. That included a runner-up end to Peter Chung within the 2020 WPT Fallsview for $159,157 and $78,900 for putting 97th within the 2023 World Sequence of Poker (WSOP) Principal Occasion.
MUG, Kessel & the $5M Freeroll
Tardif continues to achieve priceless reside expertise, however not simply in tournaments. Final week, he joined fellow WPT International Ambassadors Liu and Owen, in addition to WPT Government Tour Director Matt Savage, for a large money sport meet-up sport (MUG).
“Anytime I play the meet-up sport right here, I do know the participant pool jumps for pleasure. They know I am there to dump cash. I stored my phrase. I misplaced not less than a four-figure sum on the $1-$3 tables. I positively took some again on the $2-$5 however on the $1-$3 we had been giving it away.”
Whereas Tardif didn’t do too sizzling, each of his fellow Ambassadors did.
“I used to be no Xuan Liu, I wasn’t successful $6K. I did get to observe her simply destroy somebody for not less than a $2K pot. She was cleansing up. I believe Brad Owen did alright too. I believe he received cash after a $1K flip.”
Tardif additionally addressed the newest member of the WPT International household, 37-year-old Phil Kessel, who’s a three-time Stanley Cup champion, successful back-to-back championships with the Penguins in 2016 and 2017 and with the Golden Knights in 2023.
“I do not watch loads of hockey however I do know who Phil Kessel is,” stated Tardif. “I do know what he is about. I do know his profession and that he’s a sports activities celebrity. You consider a sports activities celebrity moving into perhaps being a bit of caught up or one thing, however he is likely one of the coolest guys I’ve ever met. Very chill, and the most important factor I recognize with him is simply that he’s very obsessed with poker. I like speaking poker with him. I believe it is an excellent addition to the group.”
Lastly, Tardif talked about what everybody within the prolonged WPT household is tremendous enthusiastic about – the $5,000,000 Freeroll in December on the WPT World Championship.
“Membership WPT Gold is internet hosting the freeroll. To this point I believe I’ve given about 18 seats out. We have nonetheless received lots extra to provide away. If anybody makes use of code ‘EGPT’ they’ll have a shot to win a seat. The one method you are going to get certified is in case you register for a raffle or do some additional extracurricular contests that a few of the different ambassadors like Brad, Xuan, and myself are working. However the main method is all it’s important to do is spend three minutes, join, and confirm your ID. You’ve received a superb likelihood of going to Vegas.”
Tardif, who confirmed he might be in Las Vegas for the WPT World Championship, concluded: “I believe will probably be the primary time I play a full sequence in Vegas in years. There isn’t any higher place to play than the Wynn apart from the Playground in fact. However the Wynn is likely one of the most lovely locations for poker. Very properly run, high tier, high to backside, and looking out ahead to placing in a sequence there.”
PokerNews might be on-site on the WPT Playground providing content material all through, so be sure you test again day by day as we convey you updates and tales straight from the event flooring.
*Pictures courtesy World Poker Tour (WPT) / Alicia Skillman
PR & Media Supervisor
