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John Shaw from Dunfermline
held his nerve to outplay the seven other finalists in the Late Night
Texas Holdem Poker Ace Tournament.
What makes the
46-year-old father of two’s achievement all the more remarkable is that
he only started playing the game in February.
John, a security van
driver, said today it had been a nerve-wracking experience.
He had to make it
through two qualifying rounds, a televised heat and the final, which was
shown on Channel 4 late last night.
“I didn’t really
rate my chances going into the final,” he said.
“The cards seemed to
come for me, so I just went for it. I was lucky.
“I was really
pleased, especially because I was one of the least experienced there.
“I thought I did
really well for someone who had never played the game until the start of
the year.”
John took the game
up after his brother-in-law got a poker set.
“I just got
interested and started playing on-line,” he said.
“My first major
success was qualifying for the tournament, but that was more by accident
than anything.
”I had to play two
qualifying rounds, a heat and then the final, which took place in July.
“I’ve had to keep
the result secret since then!
“It was the first
time I’d ever played against real people.
”What with all the
lights and cameras and so on, it was a bit nerve-wracking. I’m not used
to that sort of thing, but once you start playing you are concentrating
on the cards so much that you forget about everything else.”
John’s partner Lucy
and his children were delighted with his win — they got a cut of his
winnings. |
