Leicester woman, Eleanor Gudger wins £140,000

Law graduate Eleanor Gudger has played her cards right by winning £140,000 at a poker tournament.

The 32-year-old former IT worker from Leicester claimed the win after taking the gamble to become a professional poker player last year.

Eleanor, who lives off Groby Road in Leicester, won the money on Monday at an international poker tournament at the Dusk Till Dawn casino in Nottingham.

She said: “It is by far my biggest win yet and it was a great experience.

“I love playing poker as it is always exciting but winning like this is special.”

Eleanor beat more than 2,000 players to claim the top prize after winning the tournament.

She started playing poker with friends in 2007 and discovered she loved the game and was good at it.

“I went from playing with friends for fun to playing in pubs for small amounts of money.

“After years of playing online and learning more and more I went to Las Vegas to play in big tournaments.”

Eleanor’s first big win was in 2012 at a ladies tournament in Las Vegas.

She said: “I won $26,000 (£16,672) and was very happy. It was a lot of money.

“It made me think that maybe I could actually earn a living at poker.”

in March this year Eleanor won £37,000 after coming third in the UK poker tournament in Nottingham.

Eleanor has not only been lucky in poker she has also been lucky in love.

She moved from London to Leicester last year after she met her fiance Kevin Wheeler at a poker tournament in London in 2011.

“I took my place at a poker table next to a man and we chatted. It turned out we had played against each other on internet poker sites.

“His online name was For Fox’s Sake and mine was ELZ442. I remembered his name and also remembered that I beat him too.

“We got on really well and have been together ever since that night. It was pure luck that we met as we were just given a seat next to each other.”

Eleanor is this week playing in another international poker event at the Nottingham casino which has total prize winnings of £1 million.

Dusk Till Dawn owner Rob Yong said: “It’s a fantastic result for Eleanor.

“She played a brilliant tournament and thoroughly deserved her victory. Eleanor is one of a growing number of female poker players enjoying great success at the game.

“It was tremendous to see her take top place, the title and prize money.”