That is the advice from Brian Clarke, who scooped £96,500 in one of the UK's biggest poker championships at Blackpool's G Casino.

Mr Clarke defeated stiff competition from 341 practised poker pros from all over the UK to win the penultimate leg of the annual Grosvenor UK Poker Tour.

The poker champion turned the tables to make an incredible comeback in the nerve-wracking final, during which he kept his cool despite the massive prize.

Mr Clarke, a single dad from central Blackpool, said: "My advice to poker players would to be patient, take it slow and stay absolutely
focused.

"I try not to react to anything until the game is over.

"I would say it is a game of skill until the very end, when it becomes a matter of luck.

"In this case it was only when I laid the last card that I knew I had won."

The player also has mentors, Alistair Findlay and Mark Greenwood, who set up the UK's biggest online poker website from Mr Greenwood's house, www.aworldofpoker.com.

Mr Greenwood said: "We help Brian stay focused by giving him pep talks between games.

"There is a huge psychological element to the game and I'm sure staying calm is the reason he did so well."

After playing poker for just four years, Mr Clarke refused to pay the expensive entry fee normally required to take part in big poker tournaments.

He explained: "To play in this leg, there was an entry fee of £1,060.
"I only played because I gained free entry by qualifying online.

"I'm even more ecstatic that I won as it shows you don't have to be rich to take part.

"Blackpool has a huge poker community, because it has great facilities at its casinos.

"I am only an amateur who plays in these casinos, and I was close to tears when the realisation kicked in.

"Now I can treat my boys and pay off the mortgage."