Nova Scotia's Alex Livingston is walking away with $4 million US after finishing third at the 50th World Series of Poker Main Event in Las Vegas.

Livingston, 32, of Halifax, was beaten at the final table by Germany's Hossein Ensan, who pocketed the $10 million first-place prize. Italy's Dario Sammartino was second and won $6 million.

Livingston is a former chess champion who studied economics at Tufts University outside Boston. He finished 13th in the 2013 World Series of Poker and now has $4.65 million in career earnings in the event.

The 11-day tournament began July 3 with a field of 8,569 — the second largest field in the 50-year history of the event.

Ensan, a 55-year-old native of Iran who immigrated to Germany 30 years ago, became the oldest world poker champion in 20 years when he won the 301st hand at the final table to finish off Sammartino after nearly eight hours of play.

"Unbelievable," said Ensan, who now lives in Greven, Germany. He was making his first appearance in the Main Event with a previous total of $2.67 million in career earnings.

Word travels fast. Thrilled with 3rd. Congrats to Ensan and Dario, couldn’t have asked for better people to share the experience with. Thanks for all the love. Will post more thoughts when I’ve decompressed a bit <a href="https://t.co/3R1Bu0pcIA">pic.twitter.com/3R1Bu0pcIA</a> —@rumnchess

"I am so happy. I thank my fans at home in Germany, also in Iran and my fans, my buddies here. This is the best feeling in my life," he said after claiming the winning hand when Sammartino pushed his chips all in early Wednesday at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip.

Ensan, who also won a diamond-encrusted gold bracelet, entered the final night with a commanding lead holding 60 per cent of the chips in play among the three international finalists.

Sammartino took the lead briefly for the first time late Tuesday more than three hours into the final round — bringing his fans in "Super Dario" T-shirts to their feet — and Livingston was eliminated about 15 minutes later.

But Esan stormed back to take the lead about 90 minutes later and never looked back on his way to becoming the oldest champion since Noel Furlong won the title in 1999 at age 62. It was the first time in 27 years a native Iranian has won. Mansour Matloubi won in 1990 and Hamid Dastmalchi in 1992.