Above the 49th parallel, July 1st is Canada Day, the equivalent of America's Independence Day and a cause for much celebration, fireworks and binge drinking. With that in mind, and as a Canadian citizen who spends most of his time following professional poker in the United States and worldwide, I thought my contribution to my country's birthday could come as a little Canadian content on PokerListings.com.

Brad Booth, proud Canadian.

Truth be told, there's really no need for an excuse to run a story tinged with maple syrup and mounted policemen, as one of the major stories to come out of the 2007 World Series of Poker has been the play of Canadian poker players in general, and Vancouverites in specific.

It's difficult to pinpoint why Vancouver should prove a hotbed for high-limit poker professionals, although with the region's status as home to two universities and an extensive population of upper- and upper-middle-class families, and with poker primarily a game for bored university students and wealthy professionals, it makes sense that a lot of poker is being played within the city limits. Regardless of the reason, the results are in and plenty of Vancouverites are straight crushing high-stakes poker.

Gavin Smith, always down for a little West Coast love.

Vancouver's emergence as a center for top-tier card play started to become evident in early May, when the Johnny Chan Poker Classic rolled into the River Rock Casino, a six-event tournament series featuring a $2,500 buy-in main event that brought pros like Chan, Lacey Jones, Gavin Smith, Jimmy "Gobboboy" Fricke, Steve Paul-Ambrose and others to compete - and to enjoy Vancouver's shall we say "lax" view on a certain smokeable plant.

With the region home to pros like Greg "FBT" Mueller, "Yukon" Brad Booth, Kyle Wilson and Terrence "Not Johnny Chan" Chan, it was not unimaginable that one or two Vancouver-area rounders would make a few dollars at the World Series a few months after the Chan Poker Classic, but thus far, the WSOP has been a proving ground for a number of British Columbian players who had previously flown under the poker world's radar.

Best Friends Forever!

The party started at the beginning of June, when Shawn Buchanan took down the World Poker Tour's Mandalay Bay Poker Championship for $768,775. Buchanan, an online pro and a protégé of Mueller's, beat Jared "TheWacoKidd" Hamby heads-up and was promptly enveloped by his sweat-soaked mentor, who had raced over to Mandalay Bay during a dinner break from the $5,000 Mixed Hold'em event to catch the tail end of the match.

The next day was FBT's time to shine, as Mueller took second place in the Mixed event, earning $328,554 for his runner-up finish to new youngest-ever bracelet-winner Steve Billirakis. This time it was Buchanan's turn to sweat his mentor, and although the result was not optimal, with over $1 million in tournament earnings over the course of about 24 hours, you can bet the two roommates partied hard in celebration.

Warner: Now building homes out of fifty-g stacks.

Exactly a week after Buchanan's triumph, Vancouver home-supply store manager Jason Warner defeated David Zeitlin heads-up to earn his first WSOP bracelet and $481,698 for a victory in the $1,500 NLHE Six-Handed event. Warner, who eschews online play in favor of local cardrooms at Vancouver casinos River Rock and Edgewater, had taken first in a Canadian Poker Tour at River Rock at the end of May and told PokerListings.com poker has "always been a passion. I taught myself how to play and it's gotten me pretty far now."

Just under two weeks later, Terrence Chan (who, as Joy Taylor reminded the world , "is not Johnny Chan"), finished second to Hoyt Corkins, coincidentally in another NLHE Six-Handed affair (this time a $2,500 buy-in event). Chan, who took home $287,345 for his finish, is one of the top Internet pros you've probably never heard of, having worked in Costa Rica for PokerStars.com as head of customer support from 2000-2004 before bringing it on back to Vancity to make his living as an online pro.

Remember this face.

A proud Vancouverite and die-hard Canucks fan, Chan is someone you want to avoid at the tables both online and in person if you can (which may be getting easier as his immense poker talent becomes better known).

But the trend of Vancouver domination was not over, as five days after Chan's second-place finish, Vancouver businessman Robert Cheung took first place in Event 38, a $1,500 No Limit Hold'em tournament. Cheung bested a final table that included former blackjack professional Erica Schoenberg to register a $673,628 dent in the Rio Casino's coffers.

Cheung told PokerListings.com he began playing poker as a hobby at the River Rock, and that his strong business acumen translated into an aptitude for poker. Besides his first WSOP bracelet, Cheung has logged strong finishes in a WSOP Circuit event in Lake Tahoe and a couple of daily tournaments at Bellagio.

Ballin!

Since Cheung's victory, the WSOP winner's circle has been absent of British Columbian pros, but with seven bracelets yet to be crowned the chances are still good that another Vancouverite will log a high finish, especially with pros Brad Booth and Kyle Wilson yet to make any waves.

Whether or not the West Coast contingent shows up at any more final tables this year, however, it has been a wildly successful few months for poker players from Canada's third-largest city, and a WSOP that serves notice to the rest of the poker world that another high-stakes hot spot has emerged.