World Series of Poker Main Event: Yorkshire poker player Mathew Huby rubs shoulders with the stars

Mathew Huby qualified for the World Series of Poker $10k Main Event after he came top of the Let's Play Poker Live (LPPL) online league, which runs regional poker leagues across the country and online alongside partypoker.

The lorry driver, of Morley, said he would not think about the $10m top prize and instead simply enjoy the social side of the game, which is what he does when playing with friends back home in Yorkshire.

And one of the people he met through the tournament in Las Vegas was Hollywood superstar Vince Vaughn, who opened the event dressed as Roman emperor Caesar.

The 38-year-old also got to hold one of the new WSOP bracelets, which Vaughn helped launch at the event.

And Mathew held his own very well against the second-biggest field the tournament has ever seen. He made it through to Day 3 of the event, which saw just under 3,000 players begin from an original field of 8,663.

The huge field meant there was more than $80m in the prize pool, with $10m going to the winner and $6m to the runner up. Such was the size of the field and prize pot that even the person who finishes 1,300th will pick up $15,000.

But sadly, Mathew fell just short of that on Saturday (Jul 9), crashing out of the tournament shortly before the end of the day.

Speaking after his exit, he said he had loved the experience of playing against the world's best poker players, and would once again try to qualify for the event next year.

“I was just trying to get through day one to be honest,” said Mathew, whose chips reduced from 60,000 to 20,000 on the first day, before he went all in and managed to start Day 3 with more than 80,000 chips..

“Playing for ten hours on day one was mentally draining. It was really gruelling," the father-of-two added.

“I was just trying to get through the first day. My main objective was to stay in the competition. I was keeping cool and just trying to relax."

When he is not driving around the UK in his truck or playing poker, Mathew is a big Leeds United fan and also coaches his son's local football team.

In July 2017, Bridlington businessman John Hesp won $2.6million when he finished fourth in the WSOP Main Event after battling his way through a 7,221-strong field.

The 69-year-old was a self-confessed regular £10 no-limit Sunday re-buy player at the Napoleon Casino in Hull until he made his bucket list trip to Vegas.