Nabil Hirezi, a Jacksonville local, won the 2014 World Poker Tour (WPT) Jacksonville bestbet Open Main Event yesterday, leading nearly wire-to-wire at the final table. For his efforts, Hirezi takes home a first prize worth $206,041, which includes a $15,400 seat in the WPT World Championship.
Hirezi had a sizeable lead going into the final table, holding 2,792,000 chips, compared to 1,916,000 for James Calderaro, the owner of the next largest stack. And for most of the tournament, it was smooth sailing for Hirezi. The final table started a little before 2:30pm ET and by 4:00pm, Hirezi had over 5 million chips. He fell back to around the 3,500,000 mark by 5:00pm and finally lost the lead for the first time all day when Calderaro eliminated Brian Green in third place. The 900,000 chips or so that Calderaro grabbed from Green on that hand allowed him to have the top stack going into heads-up play, 4,090,000 to 3,660,000.
Hirezi was unwavering, though, snatching the lead right back as soon as heads-up began. He grew the lead throughout most of the one-on-one match until Calderaro struck back, turning the tables after 6:00pm. Throughout the next half hour, it was a nip and tuck affair, neither player being able to runaway and hide.
On the final hand, Hirezi just had to do things the hard way after having a very easy time of things throughout much of the final table. Calderaro limped pre-flop to 50,000, Hirezi raised to 150,000, and Calderaro three-bet to 550,000. At that, Hirezi moved all-in and Calderaro instantly called for 3,395,000, revealing A♣-K♦. Hirezi showed T♣-T♦ and the race was on.
The flop would have been extremely interesting had Hirezi been holding a heart: K♥-6♥-5♥. As it was, it paired Calderaro’s King, giving him the lead and bringing him very close to back-to-back WPT titles in Jacksonville casinos (he won the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open in February). The turn was the Q♥, which did allow for the possibility of a chopped pot with another heart. Hirezi had just two outs remaining for the winning hand, though, or else his stack would be slashed severely. The river card…let’s pretend there is some suspense…the T♠. That gave Hirezi a set and the WPT Jacksonville bestbet Open victory.
This was a very special moment for Hirezi, who, as mentioned before, is a Jacksonville local, one who plays at bestbet almost every day. Now 59-years old, the successful dentist may have a use for some of the money beyond just buying a new car. In 2006, he setup the Rawand Hirezi Foundation in honor of his niece, who was tragically killed in a car crash. The Foundation aims to provide scholarships to “abused and troubled youth” in the Washington, D.C. area (Rawand attended George Mason University and lived in the D.C. area) as well as provide “financial and material help” to troubled youth programs.
2014 World Poker Tour Jacksonville bestbet Open Main Event – Final Table Results
1. Nabil Hirezi – $206,041
2. James Calderaro – $133,764
3. Brian Green – $86,043
4. Peter Le – $63,682
5. Jordan Cristos – $47,802
6. Faraz Jaka – $38,241
* Tournament updates courtesy wpt.com.