by Joe Walker

joewalker@thekmgroup.co.uk

In less than four months Sam Holden will sit round a table with eight other men and play a game of cards.

But with a $28 million prize pool up for grabs, it won’t be your usual Wednesday night bridge session – this is the World Series of Poker.

Almost 7,000 players forked out $10,000 each for a shot at the $8.7 million top prize, but only nine remain.

One of those is 22-year-old Sam, of Stour Street, Canterbury, who guaranteed himself a minimum $782,115 pay-out – almost £500,000 – after making the final table

It’s not a bad effort for the former University of Kent student, who only started playing poker professionally after graduating last year.

He said: “It’s absolutely insane to think I’m in the last nine of the World Series of Poker.

“It was always a dream to make it this far but I never really expected it to happen. It still hasn’t really sunk in.

“It would obviously be disappointing to finish ninth, but I’ll be happy as long as I play well. I’m definitely going to play to win it.”

Sam – who has pocketed £120,000 in online winnings - only started playing poker shortly before moving to Canterbury in 2007.

He said: “I met a few friends through the uni’s poker club and started playing online. I had a fair bit of success and started earning money to pay my way through uni. It was kind of like a part-time job.”

After graduating with a degree in forensic science last year, Sam took the leap into professional poker.
He said: “I told myself I’d try it for a year and see how I got on. It didn’t take long for me to start making a profit and I eventually had a big enough bankroll to take a shot at the World Series.”

Sam flew out to Las Vegas on June 24 to prepare for the tournament, which started on July 7 - his 22nd birthday.

He said: “It was absolute madness. Vegas during the World Series is just crazy.
“There were poker players and tourists everywhere. To play in front of so many people and be featured on TV was bizarre.”

Sam played for 84 hours over eight days before making the final table and had to re-schedule his flight so he could carry on playing.

When asked what he’ll do with his winnings, Sam – whose previous biggest win was $88,000 in an online tournament - is as shrewd as he is on the poker table.
He said: “It really depends how well I do in the final. I want to buy a flat in London with Laura, which hopefully I should be able to do. If I win or come second I’ll probably invest in some property."

Sam is the only Brit in the final, which will be held at the Rio hotel in Las Vegas between November 5 and November 7.