Sheraz Nasir Wins 2015 WPT Canadian Spring Championship; Denies First Female Champion
Edmonton, Alberta accountant Sheraz Nasir took down the 2015 partypoker World Poker Tour Canadian Spring Championship at Playground Poker Club just outside of Montreal, Quebec, Wednesday, earning $237,390.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize (CAD) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sheraz Nasir | $237,390 |
| 2 | Lu "Chanel" Zhang | $166,402 |
| 3 | Levi Stevens | $106,820 |
| 4 | Gary Lucci | $79,130 |
| 5 | Trevor Delaney | $59,340 |
| 6 | Dylan Wilkerson | $47,470 |
Nasir came into the final day of the first event on the WPT Season XIV schedule trailing only chip leader Trevor Delaney and holding a ton of motivation. He had already bested the 10th-place finish he posted at WPT Montreal back here at Playground this past November, but today was all about making a real mark on the WPT and the City of Montreal.
In just the first hand of six-handed play, two-time 2014 WPT runner-up and 2014 WPT Johannesburg champ Dylan Wilkerson went broke, losing a race with nines to Levi Stevens' A♣J♠.
Lu "Chanel" Zhang then began picking up steam pulling into what looked like a dead heat with Delaney before he suddenly blew up, shoving with sixes after the river on a king-high board. Zhang had aces and made the call to bust him fifth and take a stranglehold on the event.
In fact, Zhang appeared primed to take a 4-1 chip lead on the rest of the table three-handed when she went all in on a king-high flop against Nasir holding pocket aces and he made the call with top pair of kings. But Nasir spiked another king on the river to double and the dynamic changed dramatically.
Zhang fought back to go into heads-up play almost even with Nasir, busting Gary Lucci fourth after winning a classic race with the A♠Q♠ against the J♦J♥ and dumping Levi Stevens in third in dominating fashion.
During the final duel, the lead flip-flopped several times over the three-hour match, but Nasir managed to ensure Zhang, who generally goes by her English name Chanel, would not become the first female champion of an open event on the main tour of the WPT, when he picked off her ace-high shove on a jack-high board with two sixes holding just the 2♠2♥.
With that, the $237,390 CAD first-place prize, a customized Playground Poker Club WPT championship belt, trophy, and a seat in the WPT Season XIV World Championship belonged to Nasir as he had bested a field of 370 entries over five days to earn the victory.
It has been a fabulous week of poker at the 2015 partypoker WPT Canadian Spring Championship and Playground Poker Club were top notch hosts throughout.
Check out what Nasir had to say about the big win in the video interview with PokerNews' Caitlyn Howe below.
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