PartyCasino World Blackjack Champs prizepool topped $250 000

38-year-old Tucker Keeling from Oklahoma has won the inaugural $250,000 PartyCasino.com World Blackjack Championship on board the PartyPoker.com Million V in the Caribbean.

Tucker went home with a bank account $113 000 richer, and stunned reporters when he revealed that in 2001 he had been given between 2 and 5 years to live after being diagnosed with motor neurone disease.

"I suppose I've beaten the odds in more ways than one," said Tucker. "I've been beating the odds for five years and I'm especially delighted to win because my illness meant I had to quit work some time ago. Even going into the last hand I didn't think I was going to win but I hit 20, which proved to be enough. In the semi- finals, I only won by $25 after betting all my chips and catching BlackJack. It was one hell of a ride."

The champ qualified for the tournament online through a raffle on PartyPoker.com.

A PartyCasino spokesman said, "Tucker's story is inspirational. There couldn't have been a better winner."