Scott Montgomery on a Roll to the WSOP Final Table

by Jake Gosselin | Aug 22 2008

Scott Montgomery has had a pretty good year so far. In February, he made a deep run in the WPT L.A. Poker Classic where he finished fifth, cashing for $296,860. This brought his yearly live poker tournament winnings up to over $400,000, and that's before you include the $900,000 he and all the other members of the WSOP Final Table have already received.

Hailing from Perth, Ontario, 26-year-old Montgomery is one of two Canadians at the WSOP Final Table. Montgomery has only been playing poker for four years, yet he took almost no time to go from a novice poker player to WSOP finalist. Perhaps it has something to do with his academic history.

After completing a degree in mathematics from the University of Waterloo, Montgomery learned to play poker while teaching in Japan. Not long after learning the game, Montgomery took to playing online poker where he soon found himself running deep in tournaments and building up a bankroll. From there, as so many good players have done before him, he parlayed his online winnings into an absolute tear in the live poker tournament circuit. In 2008, Scott Montgomery cashed five times (not including the WSOP Final Table) for total winnings of $406,584.

All of Montgomery's cashes have been in No Limit Holdem, three were during the WSOP, one was at the Bellagio Cup and two were final tables – none of which he won however.

WSOP odds on Scott Montgomery winning the WSOP Final Table have obviously accounted for his experience as he is probably overshadowed by nobody at the WSOP Final Table except for perhaps David Rheem. Montgomery is going into the WSOP Final Table with the third most in chips (19,690,000), but he has been given the second best odds to win at 4/1.

Of all the players at the WSOP Final Table, Montgomery is backed by the greatest momentum. Cashing in three WSOP preliminary events prior to the WSOP Main Event has him looking like a major threat at the felt.

And if drive counts for anything, Scott Montgomery has a definite advantage. "I'm going to win. I planned on winning from day one," he said in a statement to Europsport. "I plan on playing all the tournaments between now and then. I don't know how much research you can really do. If I can get some pre-information, I wouldn't turn it down. If I take a vacation, I will go to Monte Carlo and play some poker."

As the WSOP Final Table approaches, there is still an opportunity for the rest of us to nab a WSOP bracelet of our own. The WSOP Europe is happening on Sept. 19 - Oct. 2 with the WSOP Europe Main Event beginning on Sept. 27.

Bodog is currently running WSOP Europe online satellites to the Two Seats Guaranteed WSOP Europe Semifinal. It takes place on Sept. 7 at 3:15 p.m. EST and should you choose to just buy-in directly, it will cost $540. Head over to Bodog for complete details on their WSOP Europe online satellites.

Why live vicariously through the WSOP?

Play poker games online with Bodog Poker!