A Northern Ireland student will play against the world's best poker players in Barcelona next year after winning a platinum pass worth over £20,000.
Tom Parsons, from Holywood , plays amateur poker in his spare time alongside studying an International Politics degree at Queen's University - and now he is preparing for a holiday of a lifetime in August 2020.
The 21-year-old won his Platinum Pass whilst at Lex Live 2, a poker event in Stratford, London, hosted by PokerStars Ambassador and Twitch streamer Lex Veldhuis.
Every participant who completed at least 10 of 14 tasks in London, had their names put into a draw which drew six names who competed in a live 'Spin & Go' challenge.
Tom had originally thought that his winning of the challenge would get him a Lex Live branded t-shirt.
"This has just been the most ridiculous day of my life,” he told PokerStars.
"I haven’t eaten all day, and I’m not even hungry anymore. How could I feel anything else but complete euphoria right now?
"We all thought the prize would be a t-shirt or something so when Lex told us the prize was a Platinum Pass, I just started shaking - it is just a dream."
Each Platinum Pass awards free entry to the €22,500 buy-in tournament as well as a six-night hotel stay, flights, transfer and certain other expenses for the winner and a guest.
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