An amateur poker player has bagged himself $1.6million after bagging first prize in a tournament he entered with just $160. The lucky bastard.
Shurane Vijayaram, 33, who had little to no experience among professional ranks, trounced a total of 723 players to take home the Aussie Millions Poker Championships with a lousy pocket fives.
Credit: Aussie Millions
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Vijayaram had recently paid $130 to enter an amateur tournament just a week before, winning a $10,600 entry into the Aussie Millions main draw.
"I've always just tried to play cards and relax, it's only a game," Vijayaram told Age newspaper.
Image: Twitch
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"I just try to play my best game and not think about people that are really good players. It doesn't matter who you are, you just have to get the cards."
Image: Twitch
And he isn't the first of his kind to achieve a bit of luck on the poker table in this way. What's their secret?!
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Chris Moneymaker
The most famous player to have achieved a similar feat is Chris Moneymaker, dubbed the man 'who revolutionised poker'. Moneymaker became the first person to win a World Series of Poker main event after qualifying online.
Moneymaker at the 2003 WSOP. Image: PA
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In 2003, Moneymaker (a stage name based around the German surname Nurmacher) entered the WSOP after winning an online match with $40 and ended up winning $2.5 million.
Jamie Gold
Jamie Gold steamrolled his way through the 2006 World Series of Poker with the help of his table rhetoric used for both bluffs and calls.
Somehow managing to flop consistent, incredible hands, he managed to secure the largest first place payout in WSOP history, putting him number one in overall prize money.
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Don Johnson
Not the star of Miami Vice but 'professional gambler', Don Johnson won $15 million from three casinos in half a year.
Johnson did this by choosing casinos with favourable house rules, playing at tables with optimal deck-numbers, picking dealers who stopped drawing when their hand totaled 17 but included an Ace (increasing his chances), among a whole throng of other techniques.
Johnson then negotiated a 20% payback with a casino (some offer high-rollers 10% payback to entice them). This meant that if he won $500,000 he'd keep everything. If he lost that, he'd get $100,000 back.
He racked up $15 million and the rest is history. His money is apparently no longer in Atlantic City or Las Vegas.
Archie Karas
One of the greatest examples is the story of Archie Karas, who drove into Las Vegas in 1992, as cliche as they come, with $50 in his pocket and went on hit the greatest ever hot streak in gambling.
Getting a $10,000 off a friend to play high stakes Razz, a game in which the lowest hand wins. Given his recent losses in a high stakes L.A. poker game, he figured this would suit him perfectly - and it did. Karas repaid his loan within three hours with 50% interest. He continued to play for three years and never lost. Walked away with $40 million a happy camper.
Featured Image Credit: Twitch