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Cascarino, an ex-Republic of Ireland footballer, won the seventh leg of the Grosvenor U.K. Poker Tour in Bolton last weekend to rack up a £52,850 prize.

To get to that win during the four-day tournament, Cascarino had to overcome local legend Ali Mallu in heads-up play. Mallu had dominated the final table from its start, and after Roberto Romanello was eliminated in third place, he had a 4-1 chip lead over Cascarino.

Mallu continued to press hard, using his big stack and aggressive style to try to power his way to a win, but Cascarino held his ground. Two hands in a row, Mallu pushed all-in, only to see Cascarino make the call and take down both hands.

With that, the tide had turned as Mallu was left with a little more than $60,000 in chips as they went into a dinner break. When play resumed, it only took a few hands before Cascarino had the win in hand.

In the final hand, Cascarino had #Ac#8c against Mallu's #9h#3h. The flop brought #5c#3c#Tc to give Cascarino the flush and the victory.

"I had a great sports career, but even this I think has overtaken some of the things I have done in football," Cascarino said. "I just enjoyed it. I've had a strange year, and this has made a big difference for me in the poker world."

Cascarino has been a regular on the U.K. poker circuit for the past two years after taking up poker six years ago. The 46-year-old has previously won invitational events in the Caribbean, but the GUKPT win is his first major victory on home soil.

He did it against a fairly well-stacked field as well. Though this was the smallest field for a GUKPT main event so far this season, the final table featured several prominent pros including Surinder Sunar and Kevin O'Leary.

The final-table results were:

Place Player Prize 1st Tony Cascarino £52,850 2nd Ali Mallu £30,600 3rd Roberto Romanello £21,900 4th Rob Sherwood £14,900 5th Kevin O'Leary £11,400 6th Dennis Clough £8,750 7th Surinder Sunar £7,000 8th Sid Harris £5,250 9th Greg Hunt £4,400

With the win, Cascarino also picks up a seat in the GUKPT's £3,000 Grand Final and a seat in the tour's £75,000 Champion of Champions Tournament. The next stop on his own schedule, however, is a trip to the European Poker Tour event starting in Barcelona on Wednesday.

The Grosvenor U.K. Poker Tour will make its next stop at the G Casino in Thanet Oct. 16-19.

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