Foxwoods Classic

Time for another life-changing money win story – this one with a difference though, as the winner has pledged most of his plunder to charity, sponsoring much needed surgery for kids in Guyana.

The Foxwoods Poker Classic No Limit Hold’Em Championship, which part of the World Poker Tour, drew to a close in Connecticut, USA, at the weekend with Annand "Victor" Ramdin scooping the first prize of $1,331,889 and a $25,000 seat to the WPT Championship.

The event was held at the largest gaming facility on the east coast of America, Foxwoods Resort Casino, and drew a big field of 430 players, with the televised six-player final table being staged in the Grand Pequot Ballroom.

The tournament was a $10,000 buy-in and the experienced Ramdin dominated less experienced opponents to net the big cheque, and a crack at the WPT World Championships on April 18 at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, and a tilt at over $2 million in first place prize money.

Ramdin readily admitted this was the biggest poker win of his life, but he has been on the money radar in the big tournaments for a while now.

His most recent success was placing 9th at last month’s PartyPoker Million V. Added to two top 25 places in 2005, including one at the Bellagio, 38-year-old Ramdin’s career seems to be on the up.

This time out, he finally beat Yale student Alex Jacobs in heads up play when his A-J fought off K-J.

New Yorker Ramdin was shocked by the final result: "Oh my God I was stunned. I was so focused on not seeing a King fall that it took me a minute to realize I’d won. When it hit me, all I could do was lay on the table and celebrate."

The self-proclaimed semi-professional player donates most of his winnings to charity and this cash-out will be no exception. His donation to Guyana Watch will sponsor open-heart surgeries for five needy children in his native Guyana.

"I’m so happy for the children," Ramdin said. "The charity is really important to me and I’ve never had a chance to help out this much."