The poker industry is glamorous and fast packed because it gives everyone an equal opportunity of making it big and winning large sums of cash. The industry is more competitive than it has ever been but the rewards are also better than before. Zal Irani decided to take part in the Seventh Annual Chicago Poker Classic (CPC) which kicked off in Hammond, Indiana at the Horseshoe Casino.
Irani entered the first event which was a $360 No-Limit Hold’em that had six starting flights and attracted 2,296 participants. Irani was blow away by the sheer size of the competition but felt comfortable at his home casino as he battled it out over a four day period. Irani went through some trying times but help his nerve and stuck to his plan to emerge as the event winner after a trying four day period.
He was awarded a $100,000 for winning the event along with a $2,000 seat into the CPC Main Event. The 43 year Irani had a career as a financial planner and decided to take up professional poker as a career in 2012. He has had reasonable success since then and used his background to develop a robust poker strategy that has helped him to win three six figure events at the Horseshoe Casino. He came in fifth at the 2012 WSOP Circuit $1,675 Main Event and won $104,371 and won the runner-up prize in a 2013 CPC $350 no-limit hold’em event when he won $104,275. His total prize money as of now comes up to $717,637.
In a statement, Irani said
I couldn’t pick any other place I’d want to play. Las Vegas in the summer is fun for the World Series [of Poker], but coming into [the Horseshoe], honestly it reminds me of playing football in high school. I walk in here and it feels like home. I couldn’t ask for anything better. It’s hard not feeling pretty confident being in this place.
Anthony Parille finished in second place and won $61,166; Michael Hahn took third place and won $40,100. Parille and Hahn were also awarded a $2,000 seat into the CPC Main Event. The 2015 CPC series at the Horseshoe Hammond will come to an end on the 16th of March. The $2,000 Main Event is scheduled to take place on the 13th of March.
