Nigel Farage’s former adviser, who had an on-off four-year relationship with Made In Chelsea star Georgia Toffolo, loses £16m in a single night during a high-stakes private poker game in Montenegro .

Even in the nerve-wracking world of high-stakes poker, that’s a huge amount of money to lose.

Last night the gaming world was abuzz with claims that George Cottrell, former senior adviser to Nigel Farage, lost a staggering £16million in a high-stakes private poker game in Montenegro last night. last week.

The aristocratic banker, ex-boyfriend of I’m A Celebrity winner Georgia Toffolo, reportedly played against Chinese billionaires, Hollywood celebrities and some of the world’s top high roller poker stars when he bet the huge sum on just one night.

Before the showdown, a British poker player posted on social media that the game was “way too big for me”, explaining that it would cost almost £160,000 just to see the first three community cards distributed, known as flops.

Cottrell, 30, who spent eight months in a US prison for wire fraud after being arrested in 2016, was still “having fun” in the early hours of Thursday morning when his chance finally came.

The Triton Poker Series, a high-stakes tournament for elite players, is currently taking place at the five-star Maestral Casino in Budva, watched by thousands online via a live video stream. Sources say Cottrell’s heavy losses occurred in a private VIP room.

A poker source told the MoS last night: “Despite George losing so much money, he seemed to be enjoying himself and didn’t leave the table until 7am. At this point, he was $20m (£15.7m) short.

Cottrell, Mr Farage’s former chief of staff, was unavailable for comment last night.

Raised and educated on the private island of Mustique in the Caribbean before attending the prestigious Malvern College boarding school in Worcestershire, Cottrell worked at banks including JP Morgan and Credit Suisse before entering politics.

He played a key role in the Brexit campaign as UKIP treasurer. But just weeks after the Brexit vote, the financier, known as ‘Chic George’, was arrested in the US after being caught offering money laundering services to agents infiltrated feds.

He was initially charged with 21 felonies, but prosecutors later agreed to drop all but one wire fraud count, to which he pleaded guilty. He was released after serving eight months in prison.

Since then he has enjoyed an on-off four-year relationship with Made In Chelsea star and I’m A Celeb winner Georgia Toffolo, 29, before dating a Miss Montenegro winner. Model Andjela Vukadinovic, 22, holidayed with Cottrell last summer in the south of France after winning the beauty pageant earlier that year.

Sources say Cottrell’s disastrous poker performance last week will likely now see him seen by his peers as the ultimate ‘whale’ – an extremely wealthy player who is known for taking significant risks but can be seen as gambling. easy money for the most experienced. players.