British poker player Julian Thew has won first place and a prize of €670,800 at the European Poker Tour Baden Classic event in Austria.

Thew, from Nottingham, is a familiar face on the UK poker scene. He recently won £59,000 at the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour in Plymouth, and has cashed six times in EPT tournaments in just three years, so his win was well earned.

“I pledged to pay off my mortgage before my 40th birthday and only had ten days to go when EPT Baden began. I still can’t believe I’ve won. EPT fields are so big now, with such good players - you think you can do it, but then you also think it’s just never going to happen,” said Thew.

A tense heads-up against Hungarian Denes Kalo, ended when Thew pushed all-in with A-8 and was called by short-stacked Kalo with A-5. Thew was marginally ahead, and with no fives to come on the board his kicker stood up, meaning it was all over for the Hungarian.

“Julian is a superb player and extremely popular on the European poker circuit. He has come so close before in EPTs and we are delighted he has now won an event,” said Conrad Brunner, head of communications for sponsors PokerStars.

Second place finisher Kalo earned himself €375,000 and Vladimir Poleshchuk, who had been chip-leader at the start of the final, came third scooping €225,000. In fourth position was Thomas Fuller, who will take €160,820 back to his home in the USA, and in fifth was Thierry Van den Berg from Holland, who banked €132,900.

The four-day EPT Baden Classic, with a prize pool of €2,143,200, attracted a total of 282 players from 32 different countries including formiddable poker pros Patrik Antonius, Vanessa Rousso and Barry Greenstein.

The European Poker Tour will resume again 30 October for the Dublin event, which will then be followed by the EPT Prague in December, with PokerStars hosting online satellite tournaments to them during the run-up.