UK chef Lee Biddulph scoops the inaugural ParadisePoker.com Million Dollar Freeroll
Blackpool-based chef Lee Biddulph made history last month by becoming the world’s first online poker million dollar winner after netting the ParadisePoker.com Million Dollar Freeroll.
And his victory was made all the more sweet by the fact that as the only Brit on the final table he swiped the first prize from under the noses of eight pesky yanks.
Biddulph, who got to the final via a series of online satellite qualifiers, went into the final table in second place with 1,580,000 chips, but still had a long way to go to catch up with chip leader Mike Darweesh, a software engineer from Arizona, who controlled the table with around a third of the 8.6 million chips.
The live final, which took place in Costa Rica, brought the last The chip leader was a bit arrogant but the rest were really nice and wished me luck nine players face-to-face for the first time after beating around 4,000 other hopefuls for a crack at the million dollars. And although Lee made off with the pot, the other eight didn’t leave emptyhanded – we reckon a free holiday for two and $10,000 is certainly better than a slap in the chops.
But it wasn’t all plain sailing for Biddulph (boon8) as he almost came a cropper at the last hurdle when his A-9 collided into Darweesh’s A-Q with a 3-3-3 flop.
‘That hand was by far the biggest pot of the game and definitely the turning point. I was dominated but a King came on the turn and was just enough to split the pot,’ Lee told PokerPlayer.
Feeling flush
Thankfully the game swung our boy’s way minutes later when the four community diamonds filled flushes for both players. Lee’s Ten of diamonds bettered Mike’s Nine, and left the yank severely shortstacked. A hand later and Lee’s Ace-high sealed the win.
‘It felt fantastic to win,’ said Lee. ‘The chip leader was a bit arrogant but the rest were really nice and wished me luck.’
So back in blighty what does Biddulph have lined up now? ‘I’m going to set up a property development company, renovating and building houses.’ Fair enough, but apart from buying souped-up motorbikes for his brother and girlfriend and going back to the day job on a part-time basis, we hope he’s putting $10k aside for next year’s WSOP, just in case…
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