We love a good satellite hero story, especially when it comes to big Stadium Series hits. Kristian “BlueDucky45” Leger made his dreams a reality, satelliting into the $215 Heat 21-M DeepStack event and then cashing for a life changing amount.
Leger finished third in the event, but the dynamics of a four way deal meant that he walked away with the second biggest prize, $39,310.
Leger’s journey wasn’t finished there. Like all Heat final tablists, he won a ticket to the Weekly Freezout Final, another opportunity to lock up a big win, and one that BlueDucky45 wasn’t going to let slip.
James Hartigan and Joe Stapleton, who have been running the cards-up commentary for the Stadium Series, caught up with Kristian Leger to find out more about his journey:
James: Right now we are joined by a player who made a Stadium Series final table at the weekend and last night had a deep run in the freeze out final it’s “blueducky45”. Kristian Ledger welcome to the show!
Kristian: Good morning gentlemen, thank you for having me!
James: Kristian, the final table we saw you at the weekend that was a medium event. You satellited into that?
Kristian: I woke up Friday morning. I had the day off work, and I kind of spontaneously decided that I was going to checkout PokerStars see what was going on. And the $215 event interested me. I saw that there were some SnGs going, and I jumped in a $27.50 satellite with 16 players and two tickets. I was lucky enough to run well in that and just keep the dream rolling. From there it didn’t stop. I don’t know how it happened!
James: And if we fast forward a considerable amount of time, you make it to the final table at event, and you cash out in 3rd place for nearly $40,000.
Kristian: I know, it’s life changing money. I woke up Friday morning $20,000 in debt. and to be able to have a run like this is life changing for my fiance and I. I’m humbled by it all. I can’t believe it. Still processing it, I guess.
Joe: I’ve got to know the story behind the 20K in debt.
Kristian: It’s student debt. I took it out, and I was prepared to pay it off for the next seven years and grind it out, but yes that’s all changed now.
Joe: So you’re able to get out of debt and have a little bit left over. It’s always a boring answer when I ask professional poker players this question, but what are you doing with the rest of the money?”
Kristian: I mean, I’m 25 years old, I live in the greater Vancouver area, so real estate doesn’t come cheap. My fiancé has been doing a great job saving money and it feels good to finally have money to bring to the table as well, so probably we’ll look to to get a place in the next few years. It’s certainly a huge step in the right direction. In terms a fun answer to give you, I think we’re going to get kayaks this weekend, get a roof rack, and start going out in the ocean and all the beautiful lakes around British Columbia
James: love it, love.
Joe: That’s one of the most Canadian things I’ve ever heard.
James: Of course, the bonus of that final table Kristian, is that by finishing third you got a ticket to the high stakes freezeout Final. We saw you make that deep run last night freerolling that event and cashing out for nearly 10K, so there’s the cherry on top!
Kristian: I didn’t even know that there was a freezout ticket up for grabs. I just played at the $215 (Heat 21-M) with everything I had, and then once I busted I just had a big hug with my fiance and we kind of talked for five minutes. It was only then we realised, oh wait there’s a fancy little chest there. Oh my goodness this dirt this ride isn’t over… I gotta refocus for tomorrow. And immediately I took Monday and Tuesday off work, because I was confident, optimistic, and that was the approach I wanted to have going into it.
And how humbling, I mean I got to go up against so many legends. I was at the table with Lex for a very short period of time, I was at the final table with Spraggy for the $215, and I got on the same table as GJ Reggie early on in the $215 as well, so I’ve had an amazing experience coming in contact with a bunch of PokerStars pros throughout. It’s been quite an experience, I’ll never forget it.
Joe: And an amazing experience coming into contact with me and James too right?
Kristian: Absolutely, ohh my goodness, well you know what’s funny is I got into poker seriously in 2018. I suffered a high ankle sprain and was kind of immobilised for about three to four weeks and, I’m not joking, I watched dozens and dozens and dozens of old EPT tournament stuff. That’s where I really got like, “I’m one of your babies Joe”, and for me to be here right now 2½ years later is insane, it’s humbling and I can’t wait to see what the future holds.
James: Well Christian, great to talk to you, thank you very much for joining us today. There’s the blue ducky everyone!
Including his cash in the Weekly Final worth nearly $10k, Kristian “BlueDucky45” Leger earned a total of $48,916 from his run. All from a $27.50 satellite and a whim to play poker on his day off!
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