Ex-Eastenders actor Michael Greco has won the third leg of the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour, taking home in excess of £100,000 after winning a marathon eight-hour final table in Cardiff.

This was the first major win for Michael, who was overjoyed to have succeeded where 314 other players failed. “This means so much to me and I’d like to thank Blue Square and Grosvenor for organizing such a well structured event,” said Greco in the immediate post tournament interview.

Going into the final Greco was short stacked with just 167,000 but he doubled up on the second hand when his pocket aces held up against eventual runner up Hoss Parhizkar’s K-T. Having removed himself from the danger zone, he then progressed to build up his stack to a size that put him in contention for one of the top three places.

After taking out Swansea’s Roberto Romanello in third place Michael had a commanding chip lead and went on to take down the title after a relatively short heads up encounter with Southampton’s Hoss Parhizkar, an IT specialist who plays poker in his spare time. Greco’s winning hand was K-9 versus J-T.

Michael hit a king on the flop and all the chips went in the middle after his opponent picked up a straight draw on the turn when a 9 hit the board. “No queen, no seven” chanted Greco as the river was dealt. The last card was jack, giving Hoss a pair, but not enough to beat Michael’s two pair.

Roberto Romanello was the crowd favourite and amused the audience throughout the final with his very own brand of table chat. Romanello, a fish and chip shop owner from Swansea, his two brothers and his father all took part in the tournament.

Brother Anthony Romanello was unlucky not to join his sibling on the final table having been eliminated in tenth place and just missing out on a TV table appearance. For much of the final it looked like Roberto was going to go the distance, but it was not to be, as his pocket nines were not good enough for Greco’s A-J.

Final table results:
1. Michael Greco, £97,680
2. Hoss Parhizka,r £51,980
3. Roberto Romanello, £34,650
4. Steve Craig, £25,200
5. Dave Smith, £18,900
6. Simon Zach, £15,750
7. Elliot Bowker, £12,600
8. Ian Nelson, £9,450
9. Kayshan Muthy, £6,300