He embraced the razzmatazz of Las Vegas and was renowned for his distinctive jacket and flamboyant nature.<\/p>\n
When it came to winning Bridlington man John Hesp was a larger-than-life character even in the neon lights of Sin City.<\/p>\n
But when it comes to spending cash he is a typical and humble Yorkshire man.<\/p>\n
Mr Hesp became an overnight poker star after he stormed Las Vegas to win 2million, as the Daily Star reports.<\/p>\n
The caravan salesman had only ever won a couple of hundred pounds at events at his local casino before his trip to Vegas in 2017.<\/p>\n
But the granddad-of-eight left pokers top pros stunned when he finished in fourth out of 7,200 players in the World Series of Poker Main Event - the worlds biggest and most prestigious poker tournament.<\/p>\n
Mr Hesp, 67, came away a millionaire having enjoyed the high life for a few weeks.<\/p>\n
But back in East Yorkshire, you would be hard pushed to be persuaded about his incredible windfall.<\/p>\n
There is no flashy car, no exotic holiday, only a trip to the Yorkshire Dales in his caravan with wife Mandy.<\/p>\n
My lifestyle was never extravagant or exorbitant, Mr Hesp said, and to win the extra money, I could have more or less had anything. But I had everything.<\/p>\n
When I say everything, I had my caravan in the Yorkshire Dales.<\/p>\n
Mr Hesp has revealed the money he won in Vegas remains largely untouched.<\/p>\n
We particularly enjoy the Dales for the peace and quiet that we get - and that was enough, he said.<\/p>\n
We didnt need any fancy holidays or any big expensive toys or anything like that.<\/p>\n
So the money is still in the bank!<\/p>\n
We treated family, that sort of thing, so they had a few quid out of it but other than that, we havent really spent anything on ourselves.<\/p>\n
This year, the World Series of Poker is taking place online only, and being hosted by GG Poker, due to the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n
At the tournament three years ago Hesp went from being an average man to an overnight poker superstar during and was even invited to dinner by the legendary Phil Hellmuth.<\/p>\n
Video Unavailable<\/p>\n
Click to playTap to play<\/p>\n
Play now<\/p>\n
Other poker superstars wanted selfies with him and Mr Hesp was known for his jovial table chatter and colourful jacket, which made him instantly recognisable anywhere in the poker room.<\/p>\n
Simply by making the top thousand players, Hesp had achieved more than he could have ever imagined.<\/p>\n
But when he got to the top 20, every elimination was suddenly worth a life-changing amount of cash.<\/p>\n
And he insists his desire to have fun only worked in his favour.<\/p>\n
How much did a $100,000 hike in prize money make to my style of play? I would say nothing, Hesp said. Whereas I think for most others, you would say that it did.<\/p>\n
When I say nothing, I say that with a degree of humility. It is not intended to be cocky. But I had won when I got into the top thousand players. Anything else was a bonus.<\/p>\n
I was determined to keep on playing just as I had been doing at the start with a spirit of fun and enjoyment in the game.<\/p>\n
It was almost like I donned my jacket and my hat and became the fun face of poker.<\/p>\n
In some way I would say it is a bit of an act, getting into a character mode. As we got towards the final table, it became symbolic of the fun side of it.<\/p>\n
Such has been his remarkable tale, it is now in the process of being turned into a movie. Read more about that here.<\/p>\n
But Mr Hesp has turned his back on pokers high life, happy to quit while he was very much ahead.<\/p>\n
The extent of his poker playing is now restricted to private home games with his closest friends.<\/p>\n
I was just a regular small town guy from Bridlington, who had a single buy-in to the biggest tournament in the world, Mr Hesp said.<\/p>\n
In doing so, all these top pros that I only ever dreamed that I would ever meet, were actually wanting to rub shoulders with me and have pictures taken with me.<\/p>\n
That experience alone was worth everything. The fact I won that money was wonderful.<\/p>\n
\"Take the money away and that experience alone was worth $10,000.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The rest is here: <\/p>\n
I won 2 million playing poker - this is what I did next - Hull Live<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" He embraced the razzmatazz of Las Vegas and was renowned for his distinctive jacket and flamboyant nature. When it came to winning Bridlington man John Hesp was a larger-than-life character even in the neon lights of Sin City. But when it comes to spending cash he is a typical and humble Yorkshire man. Continue reading