Anyone who has security stopping a casino’s day-to-day business for a winning game of cards is bound to feel a little shellshocked. Christopher Welburn enjoyed that rare privilege when he won ￡35,000 ($43,211) playing three card poker at a casino in the UK’s southern port city of Portsmouth.

“I didn’t believe him at first,” said Welburn of his friend James’s celebration of the winning hand at the Grosvenor G Casino in Gunwharf Quays.

The Hampshire native said the penny dropped when “the whole table was looking at me and nodding” and then security arrived and brought casino proceedings to a halt.

was quite mental really”

Welburn, who is from the town of Waterlooville, said the experience: “was quite mental really.”

Being three card poker, the dealer’s Ace and King of Clubs turned the petrochemical industry worker’s straight flush into a royal one, and thanks to his multiplier bet, he was able to hit the jackpot.

Welburn, who used some of the winnings to fly to Turkey on Sunday, plans to buy a house and visit friends in Florida. He also awarded James ￡5,000 ($6,173) as a thank you for giving him his ￡100 ($123) stake.