GPInterview: Jonathan Roy | King of the NLH World

For WPT Montreal Champion Jonathan Roy (GPI#107) life has been pretty good the last six months of so. Don’t get me wrong, the young man from Boucherville, Québec has been working hard at his craft and has deserved all the accolades that have come his way.

Playing in the shadow of Canadian superstar Jonathan Duhamel – who hails from the same hometown as he – Roy was able to steal the spotlight from the PokerStars pro with his win at the inaugural WPT Montreal last November.

But Roy wasn’t done yet. In January, while his hometown was covered with snow, he was busy final tabling the Main Event at the PCA. Most recently, he found himself only a few points away from stealing the Season XI World Poker Tour Player of the Year title away from Matt Salsberg when he finished third at the WPT World Championship.

I was able to speak with Jonathan earlier today here at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas:

We’re a week into the WSOP, how have things gone so far?

Not that good, I’ve played in three events and busted all of them so far. But I think I’m playing really well so hopefully things will turn around.

The last six months have been pretty good to you?

It’s been going pretty good since late November. I’ve been playing really well and have been hitting in a lot of events. I hope it keeps going that way!

You almost did the impossible and steal the WPT POY title away from Matt Salsberg – how did you figure out you had a shot at POY?

I didn’t realize I still had a shot at WPT Player of the Year when the tournament first started. I only found out on Day 3 when I read an article on that subject.

I really thought I had a shot at the final table – it was win/win or lose/lose (Editor’s Note: Jonathan needed to win the WPT World Championship outright in order to claim WPT POY honors).

But I was really happy for Matt. He’s a great player, I’ve gotten to know him on tour, and he’s a pretty fun guy.

There are so many quality players coming out of the Province of Quebec – it may very well be the hottest region in the world of poker, what’s going on there and how happy were you to see Charles-Alexandre Sylvestre win a bracelet earlier this week?

I’m not sure. Quebec players have been running really well all over the world. Many of us talk to each other a lot so that definitely helps. Outside of that I have no idea what’s going on!

It was one of the first times I was railing someone live and the fact that Chuck actually won was really fun. I was at the table with Jonathan (Duhamel) and some other players and it was fun to see someone do well.

Finally, the World Poker Tour released the first part of its Season XII schedule, you played most North-American events in Season XI, is that still the plan for the coming season?

I took a quick look at the schedule and I will be playing many of the events. A few will coincide with EPT events that I plan on attending but I’m really looking forward to some of the stops, especially WPT Montreal … with so many satellites, the fact that we know the dates far in advance, that it’s a televised event with re-entries means they could be close to 2,000 players this year, it’s going to be fun!

We thank Jonathan for his time and wish him nothing but the best for the rest of the WSOP … he will be leaving for a bit in order to attend a wedding back home but will be back soon enough! You can follow Jonathan on Twitter over @JonathanRoy70.

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