HOLDING 27 $100,000 dollar chips in his hands at Crown Perth, Nigel Williams was cracking jokes when the cashier asked ‘would you like cash or cheque, sir?’
The Perth father of two had just hit the jackpot winning $2.7 million on a $10 bet on Texas Holdem Poker at the casino.
“Geez, I should have brought a bigger bag,” was his response as he relived the moment he became an instant millionaire with Tim Gossage on radio station 6iX on Wednesday.
Mr Williams, 45, said he was playing roulette when he decided he needed a break and turned his attention to Texas Holdem Poker.
For those who don’t play the game, Mr Williams explained players can place either a $5, a $10 or a $15 jackpot bet.
“I just put down a $10 jackpot,” he told the radio station.
“If it is a $5 jackpot and you get a royal flush you win $1.8 million, if it is $10 it is $2.8 million, and $15 it is $3.8 million, so a couple of people have already asked why I wasn’t betting $15.
“On the sixth hand that I was playing I got a royal flush.”
Mr Williams said the “dealer was stunned”.
“There was nobody else playing it was just me,” he said laughing.
“They brought me 27 $100,000 chips and I took them to the cashier and they said ‘would you like cash or cheque, sir’ and I looked at them and said ‘geez I should have brought a bigger bag’.”
A self-described “immigrant battler,” Mr Williams said he came to Australia at the age of 17 with his family from Zimbabwe.
Despite the big win, Mr Williams — the managing director of a golf course management company – doesn’t plan to completely down tools.
“I’ve got the greatest job in Australia — so what I will do is semi-retire, I’ll work five days instead of seven, and I’ll put the money in the bank,” he said.
“I’m not going to do anything until March.”