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Experience or confidence? Which would you rather have when it comes to winning poker tournaments?
Akbar Zamani may not have had the same experience or career results on the felt as his final table opponents, but he was oozing confidence, frustrating his opponents with unorthodox plays when he topped a field of 676 entries. It was all capped by a blistering final table run and a triumph heads-up over runner-up Antonio Ma to claim his first WSOP Circuit ring and $187,882.
Runner-up Antonio Ma couldn't stop the inevitable. Never a doubt
Zamani entered the day second in chips behind Noah Curhan, who would finish in third place, but by heads-up play he had gained a slight lead going into play against Ma.
From there, however, it was all Zamani.
Their heads-up match lasted barely a level before Zamani claimed victory after showing down repeated flushes, trips, and two pairs, leaving Ma frustrated throughout.
Noah Curhan finished his run in third place. And as for the hands Zamani didn’t show down? Well, the runner-up won’t like to hear what Zamani had to say about those hands.
“Most of the hands that I played, I was actually bluffing, but I bluffed with confidence.”
Zamani credited that confidence more than anything to his win.
“When we sat down, the two of us, I just felt that I’m going to win it. Yeah, I love heads-up. I think I had control over him. When we started heads-up, I dominated him… I knew when was the right time to bluff.”
Next stop: Main Event
The win may be the biggest in the poker realm for Zamani, but it’s actually not his biggest financial win ever, as he told us that he was the lucky recipient of a $500,000 lottery win a few years back.
He says his nearly $200,000 score for this win will propel him to playing more poker around the Bay Area where he plays a monthly $1,000 Last Saturday of the Month tournament in San Jose.
It will also land him a seat that he’s earned in the 2025 WSOP Tournament of Champions, and he says that the WSOP Main Event will also see him this coming summer.
WSOPC Thunder Valley Main Event final table results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Akbar Zamani | $187,882 |
| 2 | Antonio Ma | $125,260 |
| 3 | Noah Curhan | $87,120 |
| 4 | Michael Lin | $61,645 |
| 5 | Erle Mankin | $44,390 |
| 6 | Julian Bonorris | $32,540 |
| 7 | I Le Wu | $24,290 |
| 8 | Jiangfeng Win | $18,470 |
| 9 | Jose Mas | $14,310 |
