UK film director Nick Scott has used winnings from playing online poker to chase his dream, setting up a production company and putting a short film into pre-production.
'We’re pretty sure that ours is the first film to be entirely funded by online poker winnings,' says Scott, who turned to poker after being frustrated by the lack of official film funding. 'It’s difficult for British filmmakers to fund their projects. It was going to take us months to raise the cash ourselves.'
Scott was introduced to online poker at a friend’s poker night. He financed the project after six hours of play from a £3 stake on Betfair Poker. 'I qualified for Betfair Poker’s daily £15,000 tournament and just played unbelievably tight,' said Scott. 'Players kept dropping out and after some careful play, I found myself playing one-on-one for £5,000.”
A lucky final hand meant Scott finished in first place. “I started dancing a little jig around the room,” he said. “I rang my producer up to tell her that I’d just won our budget but she didn’t believe me and hung up.'
Betfair’s head of poker Ben Fried said, 'Nick saw off more than three hundred players to win the tournament. If he keeps playing, this time next year he might be financing a Hollywood blockbuster.'
UK film director Nick Scott has used winnings from playing online poker to chase his dream, setting up a production company and putting a short film into pre-production.