Final tables for important poker tournaments are often played without Canadian participants. However, when Canadians do maneuvre their way to the finals – as was evidenced in the World Series of Poker this season, players from the Great White North know how to take down the pot.
The latest example was made evident at PokerStars on Sunday November 10 in the PokerStars Sunday 2nd Chance matchup, one of many Sunday major online poker tournaments sponsored by PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and the WSOP. The tournament was a $200 buy-in for a guaranteed $175,000 poker pot, though the 1,369 entrants into the event grew the size of the pot to $273,800.
The final nine players competed for the majority share of the poker pot, including Canada’s own Poorya “isuckoutonu” Nazari. The competition was fierce among the finalists, but in the end, Nazari managed to outplay his opponents to take the $47,000 majority stake of the online poker pot.
The victory is even more remarkable for Canadian poker players as Nazari is self-admittedly only a part-time poker player. Nazari last played the Sunday 2nd Chance tournament in March, when he also managed to win the tournament for a cash prize of $53,000 – a remarkable feat to win the same tournament twice in one year.
Nazari also became known on the online poker scene in 2009 during the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event. The tournament became the largest of its kind that year, and Nazari took down the $3 million pot to win the coveted event.
Nazari’s latest success follows on the heels of unprecedented Canadian accomplishments in the WSOP. The WSOP dubbed the 2013 season as the Year of Canada in acknowledgement of Canadian poker players’ achievements.
