It was an ordinary day in Edmonton when Larry Gazzola fired up ClubWPT and won a seat in the WPT Montreal Main Event.
"I just happened to be sitting down watching The Masters and I entered the tournament," Gazzola — or "gazzman" as he's known on ClubWPT — said to WPT's Ivy Teves just before the start of Day 1C. "After a few hours, I was able to win."
Gazzola's Canadian accent is the perfect match to his enthusiasm for an opportunity to play against the best players in his first WPT Main Event — but for qualifiers, poker is only part of the fun.
"It’s been fantastic. Everybody here has just been really, really great. We had a tour of the city yesterday the Old Town of Montreal. It was beautiful. The day was fantastic and everyone has treated us so very well."
He was accompanied to Montreal by his wife Eva, his "number one and only fan."
"We had a nice lunch and last night we had dinner. I'm glad to have her here with me and she's rooting for me of course. Hopefully. I can make her happy."
Gazzola beat out a field of around 2,300 players to earn his spot in the third of three opening flights at Playground Poker Club. Consistency and late aggression he says, were the key to punching his ticket to Montreal.
"Well, yeah, I just tried to play consistently. I tried to really focus on playing the best I could. In the last hour or so, I had gathered a fair bit of chips, so I became a little more aggressive and it seemed to pay off."
This is the first WPT Main Event for Gazzola, and he had some butterflies. He prepared by watching old WPT episodes with an eye on the strategies of the best players, but one can only prepare so much.
"I'm excited, a little bit nervous. I know I'll be playing against some really good competitors. This will be my really biggest and hardest test of all."
In the end, Gazzola couldn't find a bag for Day 2, but that probably didn't ruin the weekend.
"I can only say that whoever I play against, I'll try to do my best. I'll try to make our Sherwood Park Poker Degenerate Club happy to see me here."
Photos courtesy of World Poker Tour/Enrique Malfavon
