John Locher/Associated Press

Mistakes can be costly. But for poker player Christian Pham, a simple miscue turned out to be very profitable.

In fact, he made $81,314 from it.

The 40-year-old entered a World Series of Poker event last week. While he thought he had signed up for no-limit Texas hold 'em, he instead wound up in a no-limit deuce-to-seven lowball draw tournament for a $1,500 entry fee.

The games are just a little different.

Unfortunately—which is now fortunately—for him, he didn't realize he was in the wrong tournament until it was too late.

"I thought I had registered for the $1,500 limit hold 'em," Pham said, per PokerNews' Remko Rinkema. "I would've unregistered if I knew what the event was."

With no chance to withdraw, Pham gave it a shot. It may not have been a huge issue if he had known how to play. But that wasn't the case.

“We don’t have this game in Minnesota [where Pham lives],” he said, per WSOP.com. “I learned the game at the table. I was figuring out what to do as I went along, and I also got lots of good cards. That helped, too."

Thanks to somebody at his table, he picked up the rules quickly—and well enough to win the tournament.

Pham ended both the first and second days as the chip leader, and at the end of the third day, he was the proud owner of a brand-new World Series of Poker bracelet and a cash prize.

“Now, I love this game,” Pham said, per WSOP.com.

Considering that he made more than $81,000 his first time playing, it's easy to see why.

[World Series of Poker]