Sweden's Martin Jacobson lands US$10m World Series of Poker prize

A Swede who started playing online poker after late restaurant nights while he trained to be a chef is US$10 million richer after winning the top World Series of Poker main event prize.

Martin Jacobson, 27, from Stockholm, had three tens to beat Felix Stephensen of Norway and his pair of nines.

"There's no such thing as a perfect tournament but this was close to perfect, maybe," Jacobson said on Tuesday night after the confetti blasts signalled his win had been cemented and friends and family ran to embrace him.

Jacobson would come home after working late nights in a restaurant and none of his friends would be awake to chat or meet up, so he started playing online poker, said his mother, Eva.

He was the only player of the final nine to have previously earned more than US$1 million in World Series of Poker career earnings at tournaments. But he had never landed the top spot until Tuesday when he won the most-watched contest in the tournament. "It's his thing," Eva said during Tuesday's head-to-head gameplay.

Jacobson exhibited a calmness throughout the two days of poker playing.

He didn't wear sunglasses, a hoodie or a baseball cap like other players to hide "tells". He often stared at his opponents across the table, blinking through black-rimmed glasses.