Big prize on the cards in Melbourne | Manawatu-Wanganui Sport | Surfing, Rugby, Soccer, Football, Cricket in Manawatu-Wanganui

Grayden Bell has been dealt a few bad hands of late. Unemployment has been one.

But the Wanganui 22-year-old won't have to worry about the bills if he strikes the jackpot in Melbourne this weekend.

Grayden will be one of 600 players chasing $600,000 at the finals of the Australian Poker League at Crown Casino.

 It's not the Holy Grail of poker-playing - that honour belongs to the Las Vegas World Series of Poker - but it's up there, says Grayden.
 

By his own admission, Grayden is pretty much a full-time card player these days - it's not a bad way to kill time between jobs. Besides, poker has its cash benefits.

At the nationals at Taupo in January he walked away with about $2000 in prizemoney by winning the pro-open on the Saturday and finishing second in the main event on Sunday.

That earned him two seats in Melbourne - he's given one to his Wanganui poker buddy Shane Matthews. In all, there will be 10 Kiwis pulling poker faces in Melbourne this weekend.

Grayden has been a poker player for four years after learning the game by watching his brother and mates duke it out night after night.

 Poker is as psychological as it gets, but Grayden says he doesn't sit  in front of a mirror working on his poker face. "I try not to bluff," he says. 

And what about Melbourne: can he pull off the big prize?

It's on the cards, he says.

Time for some advice from country crooner Kenny Rogers: "Know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em."