Post details: Wellington poker player's $1m hand
01/22/05
Wellington poker player Jamil Dia has played his best hand yet, beating 262 others to win a $1 million championship at a casino in Melbourne.
Mr Dia runs the Alamir Lebanese bakery and kebab shop in Miramar. He has been playing cards for 30 years but had never won anything like this.
After three gruelling days facing some of the world's best players, Mr Dia won the A$1 million (NZ$1.08 million) top purse at the Crown Casino's "Aussie Millions" poker championship yesterday. Each player paid A$10,000 to enter.
Mr Dia, 48, who came to New Zealand from Lebanon 15 years ago, has entered many competitions, winning up to $18,000.
"I have a large family, a wife and four children, and the $1 million will come in very handy. It is a little life-changing, but I won't be giving up the day job just yet," he said in Melbourne before flying back to Wellington last night.
There was joy at the family home in Miramar.
"It's very exciting," said his wife, Wafaa Dia, who was so stuck for words at her husband's triumph that she asked their son Ali, 14, to do the talking. He said his father had travelled as far as Russia to play in championships.
Categories: Poker Stories & News 
