Craig Varnell rises like Lazarus to win the World Poker Tour Choctaw Main Event when at one point he was down to a mere three big blinds.

A diamond-studded red dress by Vera Wang, a trip to see the fornicating baboons at the zoo, or the skin of an apple – you never know what gifts you’re going to receive on your birthday. On Craig Varnell’s 36th birthday, he was never going to wear a dress, he couldn’t get to the zoo, and he didn’t fancy the apple peel. Nah, Varnell wanted one thing and one thing only – a World Poker Tour (WPT) Main Event title.

WPT Choctaw began where the name suggests, and ended in the HyperX Esports Arena in Las Vegas. Varnell started second in chips to Will Berry and was the most decorated player at the final table with a WPT500 title and World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet hogging space on his bookshelf back home.

“I never would I have thought I’d have a WPT title,” Varnell told PokerNews.