Canadian Jason Sagle Shows Strong Play at the North American Poker Championship

Jason Sagle from Canada is the chip leader at the very first North American Poker Championship (NAPC) held outside the US.

The NAPC was moved to Niagara Falls, Canada this year by the World Poker Tour, in an effort to capture a more international market. Moreover, the decision also gave noted poker celebrities, Daniel Negreanu, Gavin Smith and Isabelle Mercier, the opportunity to play in their home court.

The overall tournament lead was taken by Sagle late on Day 1B, with chips amounting to $180,000. Sagle has $9,000 more chips than Day 1 chip leader, John Juanda.

While Sagle has a number of tournament successes under his belt, he has yet to win a major event. Sagle played well in this year's World Series of Poker, where he finished 5th in the $2,000 pot-limit Hold'em event. He also had 4 "in the money" finishes in the series. Sagle was the sole fortunate Canadian since Negreanu bowed out early in the poker game, along with Smith and Mercier who survived Day 1, but were severely short-stacked.

201 players remain at the North American Poker Championship, but the favorite seems to be 3 time WSOP bracelet winner, Juanda.

Still in the race are: WPT Champions Steve-Paul Ambrose, Alan Goehring, Barry Greenstein, Annand "Victor" Ramdin, Mark Newhouse and Nam Le, WSOP Main Event Champion Dan Harrington, multiple WSOP bracelet winner Allen Cunningham and 2 time PPT runner-up Chris Bigler.

01/29/2007, Monday
Matthew Dorst

Canadian Jason Sagle Shows Strong Play at the North American Poker Championship

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