Stephen Chidwick begins the defence of his 2018 US Poker Open crown by winning Event #1: $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em for $216,000, after beating Sean Winter, heads-up.

There was a time when the thought of someone catching Sam Trickett at the top of the UK All-Time Money List for live tournament earnings was as absurd as a young kid from a council estate in the North of England taking up basketball.

Since Trickett won $10m for his runner-up finish in the $1m buy-in Big One for One Drop at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) the blueprints for the high roller landscape has changed dramatically, as more and more money flowed into that part of the game.

The narrative changed also.