Florida man Martin Zamani now has $4,333,100 in poker tournament earnings after seemingly saying marijuana was the secret to his success.
Photo by Poker Go
American poker player Martin Zamani said he was high in the middle of a tournament.
He went on to place first for a win worth $666,000 before giving an awkward post-event speech in which he said only four words.
It all went down at the US Poker Open series of high-stakes tournaments that have taken place every year since 2018 at the Poker Go studio inside the Aria Resort and Casino, Las Vegas.
Each year a potential windfall of millions of dollars is made available to skilled winners, with buy-ins ranging from $10,000 to $50,000.
Midway through the main event, he reportedly told Poker Go presenter Natalie Bode about the secret to his success as he had already cashed three times for a $169,800 total in recent weeks at the US Poker Open, according to poker database Hendon Mob.
—PokerGO (@PokerGO) April 5, 2023
Being high served Zamani well as he out-lasted 36 other entrants to scoop first place in the main event, a golden eagle trophy, and his second-biggest tournament check.
In the final hand of the tournament, as Zamani had amassed a significant stack of 6,610,000 (chips, not dollars), he picked up the king of clubs and six of hearts.
Accomplished pro player Nick Petrangelo, who has earned almost $30 million in tournament earnings, was dealt the queen of spades and ten of hearts with 790,000 chips left behind.
Photo by Poker Go
With one high card in a king, Zamani felt confident enough to put his opponent all-in, which Petrangelo obliged as he had a decent hand with the potential for a straight (five running cards), as well as a pair.
As the pot was worth 1,540,000 chips, even if Zamani lost, he'd have 5.86 million chips and still be able to try and bully Petrangelo in subsequent hands.
As the flop (first three community cards) came ten of diamonds, three of clubs, and king of diamonds, both players connected with the board.
But as Zamani had top pair over Petrangelo's middle pair, he still had his opponent beat.
Photo by Poker Go
A four of diamonds arrived on the turn (fourth community card) while a jack of diamonds completed the board on the river.
As the two final cards failed to improve Petrangelo's pair, Zamani — with his kings — took the pot to eliminate his final opponent.
Though Zamani had won tournaments before and even took home $895,110 in January 2019 when he won the $25,000 PCA High Roller event on Paradise Island, his crowning achievement at the US Poker Open is arguably his most notable triumph to date.
But, alas, viewers would have been forgiving for not being aware of this as his facial expression barely changed when Bode interviewed him again after the event before rewarding him with the trophy.
"This was a tough final opponent, so how does it feel to come out on top?" Bode asked.
"Got lucky," Zamani said simply.
"With this win, you're the overall series winner. Do you know where you're going to store [this trophy] yet?"
"No idea," Zamani said.
That concluded the interview.
Then, as the Poker Go team cut to a graphic to display the final standings, one commentator said: "Martin Zamani, not a man of many words … he said he was very high, and it was pretty apparent when you saw him standing.
"But nothing but respect for the man who absolutely dominated this final table — he crushed this thing."
In recent form, it's like Zamani alone is putting the "high" back into high-roller events.
