PartyPoker World Open III has been won by The 45-year-old former betting shop owner Anthony Hardy, who defied the odds to scoop $200,000, the biggest prize of his life.

Hardy, from Sidcup in Kent, overcame a very strong 72 runner field that included the likes of Roland De Wolfe, Juha Helppi, Dave “The Devilfish” Ulliott, Liz Lieu, Ian Frazer, Thomas Wahlroos and the Hendon Mob.

All were rated more highly in the betting at the start of the event by PartyBets.com. Hardy himself was what he would call “double carpet,” a 33/1 chance.

The event was produced by Matchroom Sport and will be televised on Channel 5 in the UK and distributed internationally later this year. “It is a dream to win the tournament, I’m so chuffed,” said Anthony, whose nickname “The Booky” is influenced by the spelling on his car registration plate. “I didn’t hit many cards in the semi-finals or finals but I just continued to hang in there.” Hang in there is what he had to do as Ian Woodley, a fellow London poker pro, looked the most likely winner from the first hand of the final table. 

Hardy barely registered a look in the early rounds as attention was focused on the early eliminations of the big names involved, with Devilfish and Roland De Wolfe out first in their heats. The limelight at this stage really belonged to snooker star Jimmy White, who proved he was a “whirlwind” on the felt by winning both the special celebrity table and a heat involving pros only.

“The Booky” went on to the final table in third position but admits that the path to the showcase was rocky. “My initial heat was very strong, including the likes of Arshad Hussain and Barny Boatman. Then in the semis, I was down to just 37,000 chips but managed to double-up twice. Before that, I thought I may be history.”

When the action went heads-up Woodley was 756,000 to Hardy’s 444,000 and after frequent swings Hardy got the advantage. The final hand saw Woodley go all-in with king-five unsuited from the small blind, only to run into Hardy’s pair of queens that held up after no help for either player on the board. All Woodley could say at the end was, “that’s poker.” The last word therefore went to Hardy, who said, “that’s the booky ladies and gentlemen!”

A PartyPoker spokesman said: “Anthony’s patience and never say die approach made him a deserved winner. “The Booky” is the kind of player you don’t find as often these days, he is an old school live cash game player but got involved in tournaments when internet poker took off. You won’t find him with an iPod or headphones on but you might need both if he is trying to talk you off a hand!”

Final results:
1st: Anthony Hardy, NTHONY HARDY $200,000
2nd: Ian Woodley, $100,000
3rd: Ian Cox, $50,000
4th: Ram Vaswani, $40,000
5th: Ian Frazer, $30,000
6th: David Rudling, $20,000/p>