LAS VEGAS (AFP) - A 21-YEAR-OLD college dropout won the World Series of Poker early Tuesday, completing the biggest comeback in the tournament's history to earn a US$8.5 million (S$11.8 million) jackpot.

Joe Cada, the youngest champion in the 40-year history of the game's richest and most prestigious event, won with a pair of nines after about 90 hands head-to-head against second-place finisher Darvin Moon.

'I'd like to thank all my fans and my friends,' an emotional Cada told a raucous theater full of supporters in bright-yellow T-shirts bearing his name.

Later, he told reporters: 'It's really surreal right now.'

Cada squandered a huge lead at the start of play late Monday against 46-year-old Moon before barreling back in a finale of constant betting in which he moved strongly ahead for a time.

It was played before an audience of more than 1,500 people at the Rio Hotel-Casino at a table stacked with bricks of cash. A diamond-encrusted championship bracelet gleamed on the side of the table.

Cada's triumph was particularly stunning because he was down to just two million chips out of US$194.8 million on Saturday but came back to finish as the chip leader.

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