Student Wins $96K Poker Tournament

Daniel Booth a 19-year-old university student and part-time supermarket shelf-stacker has won $96,000 at a poker tournament in Adelaide.
Daniel who has only been playing the game seriously for five months won the inaugural Adelaide Holdem Championship at the Skycity Casino over the weekend which featured Australian poker star Joe Hachem.

The tournament carried a total prize pool of more than $340,000 and included players from around Australia and overseas. Many paid a $3,000 entry fee while others, like Daniel Booth, won a seat at the table through a series of regional poker tournaments.

“I never dreamed I would win this tournament especially since I was up against so many of the worlds best,” he said. “I’ve only recently started playing poker and taking it seriously since the poker league started in Adelaide pubs and hotels in June of this year.”

Hachem, who shot to fame when he won the World Series of Poker in 2005 and a prize of more than $7 million, was knocked out of the tournament on Saturday night but stayed around to present the cash prize to the winner. “It’s fantastic that such a young man who is playing his first live poker tournament for cash triumphs,” he said.

Daniel’s life returned to normal though on Sunday. He was back to work for a double-time shift!