Would you travel 28,804 kilometres in between trips to Melbourne and Macau to play it for a week?
2010 World Series of Poker Champion Jonathan Duhamel would.
The Boucherville, Quebec native is currently down under for the 2014 WSOP Asia-Pacific at Crown Casino in Melbourne.
Once the tournament ends it would be a relatively short trip for Duhamel to head over to Macau for his next tournament - the 2014 APPT Asia Championship of Poker.
Instead Duhamel is doing arguably the most Canadian thing ever.
“Actually I’m going back home first,” said Duhamel while on break at WSOP APAC.
“I’m missing hockey so badly right now. I’m going home for a week or so and then I’m flying to Macau.”
That’s a little more than 16,258km back home to Quebec and then another 12,546km to Macau for those keeping track at home. Just to play a little rec hockey.
Poker in Melbourne, Hockey in Montreal
Despite the numerous hours on a plane, Duhamel was happy to go to Melbourne.
“I love Australia,” said the Team PokerStars Pro. “I think it’s my favorite place on earth. I always try and find an excuse to come down under.”
Duhamel was also considering going to Europe for EPT London, which would have been a much shorter trip for him, but he decided against it.
“It’s the WSOP so there are bracelets up for grabs,” he said.
“I thought some of the fields might be a bit smaller this year so it would be a good chance to pick up my second one. I really wanted to go to London too.
"It’s kind of a shame they were at the same time. At the end of the day it was this city that made the difference for me.”
Looking Ahead to Action-Packed Asia Championship
Macau was also too hard to pass up, despite the distance from Canada.
“That tournament is going to be huge,” he said.
“There are going to be so many people. It’s going to be a lot of fun. It’s a lot of traveling for me but at least I have a good reason.”
Duhamel has only been to Macau a couple times before but the action was enough to bring him back for a third time.
“It’s always fun to play with the guys from Macau,” he said.
“They play somewhat differently. There’s good action. It’s big buy-ins too so it will be cool.”
The ACOP Main Event will feature a $100,000 (HKD) buy-in but there will also be a $250,000 (HKD) and $500,000 (HKD) High Roller.
Duhamel mentioned he’s also considering trying out out some of the fabled high-stakes cash games for the first time ever this time around.
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