I won £2 million playing poker - this is what I did next
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.
Mr Hesp became an overnight poker star after he stormed Las Vegas to win £2million, as the Daily Star reports.
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.
But the granddad-of-eight left poker’s top pros stunned when he finished in fourth out of 7,200 players in the World Series of Poker Main Event - the world’s biggest and most prestigious poker tournament.
Mr Hesp, 67, came away a millionaire having enjoyed the high life for a few weeks.
But back in East Yorkshire, you would be hard pushed to be persuaded about his incredible windfall.
There is no flashy car, no exotic holiday, only a trip to the Yorkshire Dales in his caravan with wife Mandy.
“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.
“When I say everything, I had my caravan in the Yorkshire Dales.”
Mr Hesp has revealed the money he won in Vegas remains largely untouched.
“We particularly enjoy the Dales for the peace and quiet that we get - and that was enough,” he said.
“We didn’t need any fancy holidays or any big expensive toys or anything like that.
“So the money is still in the bank!
“We treated family, that sort of thing, so they had a few quid out of it but other than that, we haven’t really spent anything on ourselves.”
This year, the World Series of Poker is taking place online only, and being hosted by GG Poker, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
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.
Watch: John Hesp returns to Napoleons Casino in Hull
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.
Simply by making the top thousand players, Hesp had achieved more than he could have ever imagined.
But when he got to the top 20, every elimination was suddenly worth a life-changing amount of cash.
And he insists his desire to have fun only worked in his favour.
“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.
“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.
“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.
“It was almost like I donned my jacket and my hat and became the fun face of poker.
“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.”
Such has been his remarkable tale, it is now in the process of being turned into a movie. Read more about that here.
But Mr Hesp has turned his back on poker’s high life, happy to quit while he was very much ahead.
The extent of his poker playing is now restricted to private home games with his closest friends.
“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.
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“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.
“That experience alone was worth everything. The fact I won that money was wonderful.
"Take the money away and that experience alone was worth $10,000.”
from Online Poker
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