A4

Michael Oliveira
THE CANADIAN PRESS

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TORONTO - Like any good mother, Zahra Bahmani was concerned when she heard her son was staying up late most nights playing online poker when he could have been studying toward his biochemistry degree at McMaster University.

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Joe Giron/the associated press

In this photo released by PokerStars on Tuesday, Poorya Nazari of Toronto smiles while playing to win US$3 million in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in the Bahamas on Saturday.

Now, she doesn't nag so much.

Poorya Nazari, who got his degree last month, accepted an oversized cheque for US$3 million on Tuesday as the winner of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure tournament in the Bahamas.

The 22-year-old spent about $700 to gain entry into the competition. After sitting down against the likes of well-known poker star Gus Hansen, Nazari initially thought most of his time in the Bahamas might be spent on the beach.

But after several gruelling 12-hour days of poker, Nazari beat out more than 1,000 other competitors for the win.

"It was pretty surreal, I just couldn't believe it was happening," said Nazari, who has long considered playing poker to be his future full-time job.

"I dreamt about doing something like that for a really long time, so it was absolutely amazing."

Nazari, who had previously won about $80,000 in another big poker payday, said he doesn't consider his success at the game similar to winning a lottery since poker requires a lot of skill and practice.

While he said he wouldn't tell aspiring players that winning big is guaranteed, he does believe that pretty much anyone can learn the game, its strategies and probabilities, and eke out some modest winnings - provided they're willing practise a lot.

"You have to put in your hours, you have to put thought into the game, think about the game constantly, and I would say it's not as easy as it looks," he said.

"But I think a lot of people (could) have some realistic goals that are easily achievable with some hard work. Just to make a very steady income, it's doable for pretty much anyone who's willing to put in the work."

While Nazari is still living with his parents at their home in Richmond Hill, Ont., north of Toronto, he plans on getting his own place soon.

Other than that, he said he doesn't know what he'll do with his new-found riches.

"Right now I'm just trying to take it all in," he said. "I really don't know what I'm going to do and what my plans are for all the money.

"I never thought what I would do if I came across this much money, so I'm going to have to take some time and think things through."