Jobless woman's poker win

A WOMAN who placed a Pounds 1 bet on a hand of poker days after being made redundant is celebrating a win of more than Pounds 290,000.

Evadne Gayle, 50, said yesterday that she was stunned when she was dealt a royal flush at a Birmingham casino's national stud poker game.

She had become convinced that her run of bad luck would never change after being made redundant a few days after borrowing Pounds 50,000.

But when she went to the casino for a single game, the cards showed an ace, king, queen, jack and ten of hearts.

Ms Gayle, from Edgbaston, Birmingham, said: "It was like a dream, I had to pinch myself." She said that it had been a "low period" in her life. "This win has heralded a complete reversal in fortunes."

Ms Gayle, who is a care worker, plans to pay off debts, go on holiday and give money to her four adult children.

Ms Gayle is the biggest winner on the national poker game of "Super Stud", which links together all Grosvenor casinos in the country to generate an ever increasing jackpot.