A MATHS whiz-turned poker ace has won more than £1 million in a Las Vegas tournament, years after he started playing part-time at university.

Professional player Ben Heath took on the No Limit Hold ‘Em High Roller tournament at the Rio Hotel and Casino Complex – and walked away with his first seven-figure prize.

Incredible

The Brighton gambler not only scooped $1,484,085 in cash, but also collected the coveted World Series Of Poker gold bracelet.

He said of his win “It was an incredible feeling.”

He added: “When I was younger, I was pretty shy when it came to interviews and things like that so didn’t really want to win the bracelet.

“I would have rather just taken second place.

“But now that it has happened, I have to say, it feels great.”

Ben originally earned a first-class honours degree in maths at Warwick University.

But casual games of poker with friends gave him a taste of the professional poker player lifestyle, which the 27-year-old was determined to achieve.

He said his parents, Chris and Jan, were “incredibly supportive” of his poker dreams.

“I really couldn’t have come this far without them,” he said.

With career earnings of more than £3.6 million to date, the maths whiz is glad he took the risk.

Keeping his degree as a backup career option, Ben left university and began living and breathing poker every day of the week.

Then in 2015 he made the jump to the prestigious World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, finishing 60th and winning more than £6,000.

His major breakthrough came in a tournament in the Bahamas in January 2017.

Just a week after finishing 42nd in one competition, he won a side tournament and nabbed more than £116,000 in prize money.

From there, Ben took a flight straight to Melbourne and came second, winning an astounding £603,000.

But his career highlight remains his £1 million win in Las Vegas this year, surrounded by six supportive friends.

“Luckily, I have friends who understand what my goals are in life, so they’ve been great,” Ben said.

“They tell me to go play my best, which is what I try to do.

“It’s never ‘Go and win the tournament’, because the results don’t matter to me.

“It’s all about how well I played.

“I’m probably not going to play too much of the small stuff, but I’ll be around all summer, playing other events.”