Amateur poker player from Northampton wins tournament and £4,500

Ray Church, aged 40, was taking part in the partypoker Grand Prix Poker Tour Mini tournament and won £4,550 and a free entry to the GPPT Main event taking place at the AMEX Stadium, Brighton.

Ray was among 509 entries in the tournament which boasted a prize pool of more than £35,000 at the Broadway Casino in Birmingham.

He said: “When there was just three of us left we did a deal over the prize money - but I really wanted to play on for the trophy. I was so proud to have won it.”

Ray felt that to have lifted the silverware was reward for the time he has spent honing his skills at the game he first started playing eight years ago.

A keen football fan it has also been his biggest win in that time.

“I am really proud of myself. It is a fantastic feeling to have won the title,” he said.

Tom Waters, boss of partypoker, said: “Ray did brilliantly to win against a strong field of players.

“It was fantastic to see genuine grassroots poker players turning their £77 entry tickets into big money paydays.”