Scholars up and down the UK can now go back to their pints of snakebite and black as the PokerRoom University Student Poker Tour has drawn to a close, with rookie player Mark Raywood winning the first prize of a £11,500 sports car.

Raywood, who has only been playing poker for three months came out on top after stiff competition from thousands of other students from universities around the UK. The Student Poker Tour kicked off on 20 February in Liverpool and encompassed Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, Nottingham, Leicester, Birmingham, London and Bristol.

Mark is originally from Crosby in Liverpool but currently living in Leeds while he is at university. It's now much easier for him to flit between the two now that he has his own wheels.

The tournament consisted of two rounds; the first took place at ten student hangouts, with PokerRoom.com on hand at each event to offer expert advice.

The second round took place online the following day, with the winner of each university competing at the final table. Pitting his skills against the best student poker players in the country, Mark faced the tense challenge head-on to beat his way to the top and become University Student Poker Tour Champion.

Thrilled by his success, Mark hopes to win more great prizes on PokerRoom.com and to get his friends more involved with the game: "I was the only one of my friends to make the final but I am sure that my win will encourage them to play more often!"

PokerRoom.com's spokesman Robert Gustavsson said, "The University Student Poker Tour has been a resounding success and we have been overwhelmed by the response. We aim to continue to create innovative methods to target new markets to maintain our position at the top end of the online poker industry.

Congratulations to Mark on such a fantastic win. I am sure that he will go from strength to strength and we look forward to seeing him in many more PokerRoom tournaments in the future."

Launched in 1999 with a 'play money' format, PokerRoom.com was among the first gaming sites on the Internet. In 2001, with the introduction of 'real money' games, the site quickly became one of the top sites with growth rates larger than any competitor.

The site was voted best poker site by readers of PokerPlayer, InsideEdge and Total Gambler at the 2006 UK Gambling Awards held in January, thanks to its efforts to be a bit more 'fun' than the competition. With innovations such as the 'Pokah!' community which enables players to set up profiles, chat and send messgaes, proving particularly popular with users.