Poor No More: The Poorya Nazari Interview

By Arthur Crowson Jan 10, 2009 | 10 months ago

Poorya Nazari wins the 2009 PCA

Poorya Nazari was the one player no one expected to win the 2009 PCA.

There were several well-known pros at the final table, with Kevin Saul, Dan Heimiller and Dustin Dirksen all in the hunt, but it would be the soft-spoken poker player from Toronto who would take it all down.

Nazari put the pressure on the final table with his constant aggression and in the end couldn't be beat.

After an epic three-handed session it took Nazari only four hands to dispatch his heads-up opponent Anthony Gregg.

PokerListings.com talked to the shell-shocked Canadian just moments after his victory.

Despite winning $3 million you seem pretty calm. Has it set in yet?

Definitely not. I think it will hit me tomorrow on the plane ride home.

You went into three-handed play with a big deficit in chips to Benny Spindler. How did you catch back up to him?

The brawl for it all.

I was just trying to be really aggressive on the button and when I was out of position I tried to mix it up with limping, calling and three-betting. I definitely tried to play as many buttons as possible.

We noticed you were reraising a lot during three-handed - was that part of your strategy?

I noticed the other two guys were playing a little more timidly, so I decided to play a bit more aggressive.

How did it affect the texture of the final table when Kevin Saul went out?

Well, he was pretty short coming into the final table, but it was still good to see him get knocked out because he's such a great player. Very talented.

The Saul-man busted early.

What kind of limits were you playing before you came to the Bahamas?

I play mostly tournaments on PokerStars. Pretty much anything $10 and higher.

Did you satellite your way in?

Yeah; it was one of those $33 rebuy ones.

Will you play higher limits now that you have a $3 million bankroll?

Possibly. Probably not that much higher though. I'll probably stick to what I was doing before.

How did you actually get into poker in the first place?

What heads-up match?

I started playing in high school with friends probably around grade 10. Probably about six years ago. Small home games mostly.

How would you describe yourself as a player?

I dunno. I tend to mix it up pretty well depending on who's at the table.

You were pretty aggressive at the final table. Is that a big part of your game?

I just let the table dictate play. I noticed they were playing timidly so I got a little more aggressive.

Even though it was really short did you have a plan heading into heads-up play with Anthony Gregg?

Wins all the booty!

He was less than 30BB deep so I was just going to min-bet basically every hand.

This was a really long tournament with over 1,300 players. Who was the toughest player among them all?

Definitely Dustin Dirksen. His game was really impressive. He tended to play a lot of pots in position. He was three-betting a lot pre-flop so I'd have to say him.

What do you think was the most important hand of the tournament for you?

I'd have to say the last one. It was the biggest hand of the tournament. It was a $17 million pot and there was only $26 million in the pot, so it was huge.

Will we see more of you on the poker tour?

Yeah; I just heard that I won a seat into the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo, so I'll be there.

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Poorya Nazari is not a name pro by any means but he proved once again that you don't have to be Daniel Negreanu or Phil Ivey to win a major tournament. Nazari instantly becomes the 2009 moneymaking leader. Although he doesn't plan on playing a lot of high-stakes tournaments, he's yet another success story for every player who's ever wanted to take a shot.