Brit wins £1m in all-night Las Vegas poker game

the Mirror

BUSINESSMAN Paul Maxfield has scooped almost a £1million playing poker in America.

The
father-of-two picked up the prize in the World Poker Tour Championship
- after an £8,000 win on the internet encouraged him to enter.

Paul,
48, flew to Las Vegas with brother-in-law Steve Elliot and spent a
month enjoying his winning streak in the world's gambling capital.

He said: "We lapped it up, sitting by the pool drinking cocktails.

"Steve was right beside me all the time as I played the cards, jumping up and down with excitement."

Paul
won the tournament's $25,000 (£13,000) entry fee during a game at the
luxury Bellagio Hotel - where George Clooney filmed heist movie Ocean's
Eleven.

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The pair did not expect success in the championship and twice booked flights back to Britain.

But
Paul reached the final and, after an all-night seven-hour marathon game
against Vietnamese-American Tuan Le, collected $1.7million (£900,000)
as runner-up.

It is believed to be the biggestWIN: Paul and Bellagio sum won by a Briton playing poker in the United States.

When
the pair returned home to Stoke-on-Trent, they were greeted at the
airport by Paul's family playing the Elvis Presley hit Viva Las Vegas.

Paul,
who runs an engineering firm, said: "I'm going to buy a new car,
probably a Mercedes. More than likely, I'm going to retire and take up
my hobbies - golf and poker."

Paul started playing the game for pennies when he was 17.

Now he plans to return to Las Vegas for the $5million (£2.6million) World Series.

Poker
has taken off since it was launched as an internet game and had
tournaments televised. Celebrity players include Ben Affleck and
Stephen Fry.

Lipstick
size cameras now show players' cards from under the dealer's table, and
commentators guide viewers through the players' game plans.