Andy Church might not be a well-known poker star, but that didn't stop him from winning £100k at the Poker Classics in London! Church walked away with the No Limit Hold'em honours and this week he took some time out to chat to Sportinglife's Poker Editor, Liezl van der Merwe.

31-year-old Andy is not a professional player, but he certainly has a knack for the age-old game. In 2004, he made money in the WSOP main event in Vegas, finishing 129th, in only his second live tournament.

Definitely a great achievement! Here‘s what he had to say...

Liezl vd Merwe: Hi Andy, where are you at the moment?

Andy Church: I live in London, but I'm originally from Kent.

L: If you're not playing professional poker, you're a Sportlinglife/UKBetting client? What do you do for a living?

A: I work for online football bookmaker Premierbet

L: How long have you been playing professional poker and has it always been a passion/hobby?

A: I've been playing for around three years, mainly online limit hold em. My live tournament experience is fairly limited, the weekend's tournament was only my third or fourth major event. I certainly wouldn't class myself as a professional poker player, but it is something I enjoy immensely and feel I have a certain aptitude for.

L: Who's the best poker player in the world? Your thoughts?

A: To be honest, I'm not qualified to comment on who is the best. I only play Hold Em. I really admire the guys who can play all the variations just as well.

I'll get plenty of grief if I don't say Tony ‘The Lizard' Bloom as he's my boss! He has a really aggressive game with plenty of different gears and is never afraid to stick his chips in, but is more than capable of slowing down and picking his spots. I also have the utmost respect for Keith ‘The Camel' Hawkins who looks to be in great form and I think he could have a big year.

Putting personal friendships aside, the most difficult opponent I have come up against is Bruno Fitoussi on Sunday. I only came across him on the final table but I gather he played a fearless game all tournament. He looked the likely winner for long periods – I was lucky enough to have two big hands against him in crucial pots. I certainly wasn't looking forward to Bruno still being in the frame when we were down to the last four or five, he would have made it extremely difficult. I was also very impressed with Nik Whiten who finished fourth – he had position on Bruno and stood up to him extremely well.

L: Tell us about that memorable Sunday at the Grosvenor Victoria Casino?

A: It was a long day for sure and I was surprised it went on as long as it did.

Credit to the organisers for a great structure with plenty of play. For some bizarre reason I felt really confident all weekend. I guess I knew I was playing my best but I actually felt I was going to win almost throughout the tournament which doesn't really make any kind of sense for somebody as inexperienced in tournament play as myself!!

I made a couple of huge calls in big pots with all my chips at stake and my read on the other players both times was right, as were the calls. My pre-flop all-in call on Sunday with 99 against Steve Walmsley's AK was probably the turning point on Sunday. There was added money in the pot and I was getting a great price and was lucky enough that he failed to hit. That pot elevated me to amongst the chipleaders and gave me a real boost just as I was wondering if it was all starting to go wrong.

The only time I felt under big pressure was when we were down to 10 players – two tables of five – and the blinds and antes made it very expensive short handed and I was forced into some lay downs which saw me enter the final table as the short stack. Because of my small stack at that stage I had to commit all my chips in the first hand I voluntarily entered in the final and, again, the poker gods were with me as I called Chris Singh's all-in with AQ and found him with AJ.

AK suited for me v Bruno's Queens was a huge turning point and put me in a very strong position which I probably failed to quite take advantage of, mainly due to Bruno's keenness to set me all-in whenever I raised! I gradually saw my stack diminish, but after two or three hours play only saw two of the final nine drop out it went a bit crazy very quickly and my QQ and 66 held up in successive hands to knock out Bruno and Brian Johnson.

I had great position when we were down to three and made it count. I almost surprised myself with how aggressive I was given my inexperience in short handed play, but I had quickly clocked how wary Stuart Nash was to clash with me given there was one other very short stack still left and the difference between 2nd and 3rd place was £30,000.

L: What was your winning hand?

A: The Heads Up final against Stuart was over very quickly. The blinds were high and despite having a chip advantage of around 300,000 I knew one losing showdown with any real action would probably see me finish second. So when Stuart pushed all-in on the flop and I had second pair (4s) with an appalling kicker (a 5) I had to be pretty sure I was ahead. I got the impression he didn't want a call and rather than dwell too long on it and give myself a chance to talk myself out of the call I decided, for a change, to go with my first instincts, make the call and keep my fingers crossed. I was comfortably ahead, but I couldn't quite believe it when the turn and river were both fours as well to leave me with quads on the final hand of the tournament!

L: Was it your first big tournament victory?

A: Yes

L: What's your winning secret?

A: Get all your chips in with 45 offsuit and hope for the best!!!

But, seriously, I think the key to my success at the weekend was making some big laydowns at the right times. I passed AK twice on Sunday when there was plenty of action before me despite initially preparing to stick all my chips in. Basically, I took the view that all I had was Ace high and hoped there would be better opportunities coming along, which thankfully proved to be the case. But, I am the first admit I got dealt some nice cards all weekend and a lot of my hands played themselves.

L: What are you going to do with the money?

A: I wasn't planning to play the World Series this year, but am now contemplating a return to Vegas after all. Haven't decided yet though.

L: Where will you be playing next?

A: No idea, I haven't looked at the schedule. I am not a regular tournament player and my job generally means I struggle to find the time to play at weekends. I had actually recently made a conscious effort to cut down on my poker playing time and get on with other aspects of my life and I only decided to enter the weekend's event the day before it started.

L: Any tips for the poker player hoping to hit the big time?

A: I have learned a lot by talking to friends with plenty of experience and reading loads of books. I know I have an awful lot to learn and of course there were plenty of elements of luck in my win at the weekend, I'm just pleased to have put myself in the position whereby a little luck going my way gave me the chance to win it.

My only real tip is a little personal but I will share it anyway. Do not drink alcohol while playing poker (online or live). I have lost count of the times in the past I have made horrendous plays (and lost money) purely thanks to the effect of a few beers. Towards the end of last year I went through quite a tough time which was made worse by, shall I say, excessive alcohol consumption. I haven't touched a drop now for five months (not even after Sunday's win!!) and this tournament was actually the first tournament I have played since I gave up drinking and I cannot even start to describe what a difference it made to the way I played and the way I felt about myself. In many ways, winning the tournament was more about proving a point to myself than the money.

L: Thanks for chatting to us Andy and once again well done! And good luck for future tournaments!