Julian Thew promised his wife he would pay off the mortgage by the time he was 40 and he did - with a game of poker. Julian Thew, 39, won £470,000 at a tournament in Austria - just two weeks before his birthday.

Julian, of Nottingham, quit as a draughtsman three years ago after his wife Amanda gave him a book on the game. She said: *I was worried but he's proved me wrong.*