Lee Biddulph, a 28 year-old british chef from Blackpool, took home one million dollars after battling with 3,900 other players in Paradise Poker's first Million Dollar Freeroll tournament this week. According to Paradise Poker the online tournament was the largest online ever, and even better, entry into the tourney was absolutely free.
The freeroll tournament was held in a tropical location in beautiful Costa Rica. The final table was made up of eight players from the U.S. and one from the U.K. After seven hours of play, the final culminated in a showdown between Lee Biddulph from Blackpool, England and software engineer Mike Darweesh from Tempe, Arizona, who entered the final table as chip-leader.
On the last hand both players were all-in before the flop. Darweesh showed a Q9, but Biddulph revealed a better hand, AT. The Flop came A63, causing an explosion of excitement from the crowds. After the Turn and River produced an 8 and a 6 respectively, Biddulph became the winner of the first one million dollar free-roll tournament ever.
Bruce Stubbs, marketing director of Paradise Poker, commented: "In the end – the $1 Million Freeroll Tournament has been a historic event, lots of fun and ample opportunity for online poker players who want to try out their skills with the best of amateurs. Our second $1 Million Freeroll Tournament is already in progress."