The Main Event of the 2011 PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker(WCOOP) ended in a five-way chop that saw Canadian Mike goleafsgoeh Leah (pictured) finish in third place for an amazing $560,000. Hailing from Toronto, Leah recorded the largest cash of his poker career and his third online tournament finish of over $100,000. PocketFives.com caught up with Leah to break down the score of a lifetime.

When the chop came to fruition, Leah was the short stack at the table, giving him extra motivation to lock up a big-time payday even though making deals is not his cup of tea. Leah told PocketFives.com, “I don’t usually like to chop. I like short-handed play and feel I have an edge in almost any situation, but everyone was playing very well and it was so much money, so it’s pretty hard not to lock up an extra $250,000 when you’re 5/5.” The winner of the WCOOP Main Event, Kallllle, took home over $1.2 million.

During the first 11 hours of Day 1, Leah cruised through the $5,200 No Limit Hold’em tournament, but lost an all-in pre-flop pot with pocket queens against A-J to leave him short-stacked just outside of the money. He hung tight until the money bubble popped and the field entered Day 2.

On the second day of play, Leah recapped, “I was playing with about 20 big blinds most of the day. I doubled up a couple of times to 40 big blinds, but quickly punted back down to 20. I just kept on surviving and finding good shove spots to keep myself alive and waited everyone out. Thirty-minute levels helped a lot for that.” The top 189 players landed in the money and the total prize pool passed $8.1 million.

The 2011 cycle marked the first WCOOP since Black Friday and the subsequent departure of PokerStars from the American market. This year’s go-around featured zero players in the U.S., but Leah told us that the field continued to be talented: “The game has changed so much in one year since the last WCOOP Main Event that it’s hard to compare. A lot of the best U.S. players moved somewhere to play, so we were missing a lot of the softer U.S. players. It played very aggressively.”

A haul of over a half-million dollars will be used in part to pay back his backer, but Leah admitted that the money could indeed be life-changing: “It gives me security and the freedom to keep doing what I’ve been doing for a few more years comfortably. I can enjoy life, don’t have to work, and can play poker when I want to. I can’t complain.”

Leah’s tournament history contains several marquee chops. He forged a heads-up deal in the Full Tilt $750,000 Guaranteed for $100,000. Earlier this year, he chopped two ways in an FTOPS No Limit Hold’em Cubed tournament for another $111,000. On his dealings, Leah told PocketFives.com, “It depends on the situation. As chip leader, I definitely don’t want to chop, as I feel I will win most times. As a shorter stack playing for a big sum, if the deal is right, it makes sense.”

On last Sunday’s chop, Leah contended he received a fair deal: “If the deal wasn’t fair for me, I would not have chopped, but it was a fair deal, everyone was playing well, and it’s hard to turn down a couple hundred thousand dollars.”

In September 2008, Leah left a 16-year career as a sales rep in order to play poker. He paved the road to success from there: “I have a very addictive personality and dive into anything I do. I had a great job, but poker and work were getting in the way of each other and both were suffering, so I had to choose one or the other. I had a secure backing deal waiting for me and no wife or kids to support, so if I were ever going to give it a go, it was then. You only live once.” Indeed.

Leah shot up to #146 in the PocketFives.com Rankings last week, which is his highest mark ever. He just broke through $2 million in tracked online poker cashes, nearly 60% of which has come on PokerStars. He now plans to chronicle his WCOOP Main Event run on Tournament Poker Edge, a training site he recently signed with.

Congratulations to Leah and all PocketFives.com members who cashed in 2011 WCOOP events.