November 9th, 2010
09:39 AM ET
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Tuesday's intriguing people

*** WSOP SPOILER ALERT***

Jonathan Duhamel

The 23-year-old from Boucherville, Quebec, won the 43rd World Series of Poker on Monday, raking in more than $8.9 million in prize money.

"It's a dream come true right now. It's like the most beautiful day of my life," he said, according to a report from Canada’s CTV.

Duhamel outlasted 7,318 other entrants, the second-largest ever field in the tournament, which began July 5. Duhamel paid a $10,000 buy-in to get into the field.

Floridian John Racener finished second, collecting $5,545,955 in prize money.

Duhamel is the first Canadian to win the championship. The former college finance major learned poker by reading books and playing online, sometimes betting as little as 2 cents a hand, according to a CTV report. Monday’s victory was his biggest by far.

"I love playing poker so much, so I mean I'm going to be playing all those big tournaments and try to make other big scores," CTV quoted him as saying. "I'll be there next year in the World Series and try to do my best again."

The final was played at the Penn and Teller Theater at the Rio in Las Vegas, Nevada. It can be seen on ESPN tonight at 10 p.m. ET.

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Filed under: Canada • Charlie Crist • Courts • Crime • Florida • Israel • Justice • Most Intriguing People • Nevada • Politics • Showbiz
October 28th, 2010
08:50 PM ET
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Meek says he's staying in Senate race

[Updated at 10:35 p.m.] Florida's Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate said Thursday night that he was staying in the race and called earlier reports that he was asked to drop out "inaccurate at best."

[Original post] Former President Bill Clinton last week tried to persuade Florida Democratic Senate candidate Kendrick Meek to drop out of the three-way contest, according to a report by Politico that was confirmed by CNN.

A senior Democratic official told CNN that the White House was aware of Clinton’s negotiations, and that Democrats believed the move would prevent Republican candidate Marco Rubio from winning the Florida Senate seat.

As part of the deal, Republican-turned-independent Gov. Charlie Crist would then caucus with Democrats in the Senate. Meek was considering the option until two days ago, but the deal eventually fell apart, according to the source.

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Filed under: Charlie Crist • Florida • Kendrick Meek • Marco Rubio • Politics