When snooker star Jimmy White struck the jackpot at a major televised poker event
Snooker legend Jimmy White showed his skills on a different kind of table covered in felt when he won a major televised poker tournament, defeating professional players on his way to a $150,000 jackpot.
In 2003, former Masters and UK Championship winner White took part in the second edition of the Poker Millions competition shown on Sky Sports TV in the UK.
Played to ‘Texas Hold-em’ rules, the event featured a host of big-name card professionals competing alongside invited sports stars such as White and fellow snooker player Steve Davis.
Selected to attract a new audience to the event, both White and Davis proved they weren’t there just to make the numbers up, upsetting the odds by winning their respective heats and qualifying for the live televised grand final held in West London.
At the six-player final table, Davis was eliminated in fifth but still collected a very tidy sum of $30,000 for his efforts.
Speaking after his exit, Davis said: “I didn't know what I was doing out there. I've been playing regularly on the internet since I won my heat - which is great, because I can sit in my own living room and take on Mark Williams in Wales and Stephen Hendry up in Scotland.
“But sitting down with real human beings - professionals - is very different. My head was in a jamjar. I couldn't remember my cards. They might have been blue for all I knew. I was trying to maintain control but I could feel my eye twitching. No point trying to bluff after that”.
However, White - who was a rank outsider before the final began - battled his way through to the final two where he came heads-up against decorated poker star Joe Beevers.
And after five hours of action, White completed a fairy-tale victory past midnight as his pair of aces defeated Beevers’ pair of jacks in the final hand of the event to claim the title and six-figure first prize.
The surprise champion said: “I've been gambling since the age of 12. Horses, dogs, dice, roulette, you name it. I don't play the other games any more -- but if I'd been betting on this, I'd have backed Joe. It must be ten years since I've won this kind of money in a final. And that was snooker”.
White has played in big poker tournaments since, including at the World Series of Poker in America.