An amateur poker player has won $2.4 million in his first ever live poker tournament. Eric Hershler, a South African native living in Los Angeles, beat out a table full of top pros to take the biggest prize in the history of the World Poker Tour (excluding the championship event).

PartyGaming published its annual report today, and as expected the company reported a drop in annual profits due to the US anti-gambling law, but strong showings since then.