Australian poker player Nauv Kashyap topped a record field to win the inaugural World Poker Tour New Zealand Main Event in Auckland last night, taking home NZ$169,200 for his first-place finish.
Kashyap outlasted the 360 entries into the $2200 buy-in main event at SkyCity casino, making it the largest mainevent in New Zealand history.
"Obviously I ran very well at the final table, so I'm very happy with the way it came out, but you have to take the luck when it comes," Kashyap told WPT after his win.
Kashyap came into the final day with the chip lead, but he faced some adversity early in the day before dropping the hammer in the late stages at the final table.
"I got lucky in a lot of ways," Kashyap said. "When I was bluffing, I wasn't called. When I had it, they happened to call. You can't really change the way the cards go, and it worked out well."
When he was asked by WPT Anchor Lynn Gilmartin what his celebration plans were, Kashyap offered this response: "Well, I've got my wife and kids upstairs. My wife can't be here since she has to look after the kids. She has been following the live stream so I will get to have some drinks with her to celebrate."
WPT New Zealand Final Table Results
1st: Nauv Kashyap – NZ$169,200 2nd: Jack Efaraimo – NZ$108,000 3rd: Sosia Jiang – NZ$68,400 4th: Kelvin Li – NZ$54,000 5th: Anthony Inns – NZ$39,600 6th: Zac Metin – NZ$32,400 7th: Nic Southorn – NZ$25,200 8th: Daniel Neilson – NZ$21,240 9th: Eden Smith – NZ$17,280
Jack Efaraimo, "the godfather of New Zealand poker," finished in second place for the third time this series, earning him the WPT New Zealand Player of the Series title.
