John Duthie: Friends would call him "meek", he says

Mr Duthie, who says friends would describe him as "meek", declared: "The feeling is euphoric."

"It is the most tremendous feeling in the world, I feel like I have gone through so much through the last four or five days. I am completely exhausted.

"All I can say is I hope my wife is watching. She absolutely hates poker, she said to me `why are you going over there, you won't win'.

"When I phone her to tell her I have won �1m she'll probably just say `can you pick up the kids from school?'"

Mr Duthie, who has played poker for nine years, eventually triumphed with a full house - two aces and three eights.

Runner-up Teddy "Sugar Teddy" Tuil is an Israeli retailer

The week-long championship at the Hilton Hotel casino in Douglas attracted some of the biggest names in the gambling world.

But most of the top players - including US legend Amarillo Slim - were knocked out before the closing stages.

The 156 original entrants from 17 countries were whittled down to six finalists.

They were kept in a closed room after the final began at 1900GMT on Sunday and were forbidden to leave or speak to anyone outside until each one of them lost his place.

Each man had played for up to 12 hours a day since the tournament began with 20-minute breaks every two hours.

The type of poker played was Texas Hold'em, a "community card" game in which some cards are dealt face-up in the middle of the table and shared by all the players.

Each player has two cards of their own to combine with the five community cards to make the best five-card hand.

Strict UK gaming laws

The final night's play was televised to an estimated 300 million viewers worldwide.

The �1m first prize was put up by Ladbrokes Casinos.

Mr Tuil won a �100,000 runner up prize and even the 20th placed player went home with �2,000.

The venue was chosen because of the UK's gaming laws, which prevent the organiser of a poker game publicising where it is to be held. Such rules do not apply on the Isle of Man.

The losing finalists were: