British grandad wins $2.6m at World Series of Poker

Flushed with pride

John Hesp has set the poker world alight by finishing 4th in the 48th World Series of Poker event.

The 64 year-old grandad from East Yorkshire scooped $2,600,000 in prize winnings, thought to be the second biggest poker prize ever for a Brit.

Now known for his flamboyant, colourful suits, Hesp had previously only competed professionally in Hull, and had won just over $2,000 in various tournaments.

He paid a $10,000 buy-in to enter the Vegas tournament, after saying it had always been his dream to play poker in a Vegas casino.

It’s fair to say his first trip was a pretty successful one.

Hesp’s success may seem highly unlikely, but in the world of professional poker, unlikely events happen all the time.

For example, in our look at the 10 most unlikely events in history, we looked at the time that the two rarest hands in poker appeared in the same game.

In the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event tournament, Motoyuki Mabuchi went all-in with four aces, but was defeated and eliminated by Justin Phillips’ Royal Flush.

The exact odds of this event are astronomical (commentator Lon McEachern claimed they were 1 in 2.7 billion during the live broadcast), and have since been calculated at 1 in 165 million by Wizard of Odds.

We’re looking forward to seeing Hesp back on the worldwide poker circuit soon!