There's an adage about everybody loving a winner and if that is really the case, then council candidate George Zawadzki might be in line for a few extra votes.
Zawadzki is an avid poker player and last weekend won a competition put on by B.C. Poker. How much did he win?
Only a cool $52,000.
There were 550 players who started the $550 no-limit Texas Hold'em bounty event tournament at the River Rock Casino in Richmond. On the final day, the final table consisted of 10 players and Zawadzki went in with the big stack after pulling off a bold move the day before.
Having the most chips at the final table took pressure off, Zawadzki said, enabling him to watch others take one another out, jumping in only when he had the hand. But still it was a tense, hard-working 11 hours of poker that final day, and he was understandably ecstatic when he was left the final player sitting.
"It felt like the weight of the world was taken off my shoulders, and then some," he told the Undercurrent on Tuesday.
Zawadzki, who finished 13th in the same tournament last year, wasn't the only Islander playing the event. There were three others, including Jamie Hoopes, who made it all the way to 46th and won $991.
The champ and the other Bowen participants are part of group they call the Bowen Island Poker Association (BIPA) and play weekly, keeping standings and awarding their four leaders with seats at the B.C. Poker championship event. There are 12 regular members and others who play periodically.
Zawadzki says poker is not about gambling but about gathering information and making decisions. That's how he won. "I was able to make the right decisions throughout the event just by reading the other players and examining the situation," he said. "Sometimes it's not about the cards you're holding but knowing what the other guy is holding."
He's gonna be smart with the money and invest it "for a rainy day", he says.
Anyone looking to come out and play poker with BIPA can contact him at georgeonbowen@gmail.com.
