Ozzy Osbourne, the modern lawn tennis, endless miles of canals… Birmingham is a city known for many things, and now, the city’s resume has extended even more. From now on, “Brum” will always be remembered for the 2025 PartyPoker Tour Birmingham.
It’s been a hectic yet entertaining nine days at Resorts World Birmingham for the fourth PartyPoker event of the year. Just like the previous affairs, the tournament schedule was wonderfully diversified with a big supply of different tournaments. Naturally, though, the £500 Main Event was the one event that was always destined to get the biggest share of attention. The tournament concluded around 21:00 on Sunday, October 19, and when all was said and done, a certain player who came up short earlier in the week had claimed his redemption.
Sweet Redemption
The £500 Main Event during the 2025 PartyPoker Tour Birmingham scored 343 entries; the £100,000 guarantee was demolished as the final prize pool read £152,635, with a £27,420 first-place payout. That makes it the second-biggest Main Event of the tour this year (the biggest one came in London in April, when Getnet Kassa emerged victorious for £38,408 in a field consisting of 491 entries).
The nine remaining players of the £500 Main Event had definitely deserved their seats on the final table. It had been a long journey for all of them to get to this stage of the tournament; they had all managed to get through a starting-day flight and then survived the marathon that was Day 2.
The contestants took their seats at 14:00, eager to start the fight for the trophy and the £3,110 first-place payout. The TV crew set up the live stream, which was broadcast with a 30-minute delay, allowing fans and spectators to follow the action semi-live. It was a mix of skillful players, and even though some were more experienced than others, they had all displayed great poker skills throughout the tournament. The stage was also set for a quite amazing story; Robert Douran and Tai Hoang both were apparent on the final table. This was very exciting, considering Douran beat Hoang heads-up a few days earlier in the £500 Mini Main Event.
It wouldn’t take more than ten minutes before Tony Pearce became the first victim of the final table. He got it all in with A♥10♣ against the A♦K♥ of Jiten Chauhan, and didn’t manage to improve his holdings. As Pearce bid farewell in ninth place for £3,110, the number of contestants was reduced to eight. Shortly thereafter, Timothy Slater joined Pearce on the rail. Being the short stack, Slater got it all in with A♦J♣, but much to his displeasure, Hoang woke up with K♦K♣. No dice for Slater, who received £4,120 for his eighth-place finish.
With seven players remaining, Nicholas Gott had now become the shortest stack around the table. Eventually, he picked up A♥8♠ and decided it was good enough to pull the trigger. Joshua Curry called him off with 7♣7♥, and even though Gott hit an eight on the flop, Curry secured the win after he turned a full house. As such, Gott had to settle for a seventh-place finish for £5,340.
The next player to bite the dust would prove to be Michael Casson. He defended A♦3♣ from the Big Blind after an initial opening from Hoang, and Casson slow-played a flopped two-pair. All the money went in the middle on the turn, though, and much to Casson’s displeasure, Hoang had turned a superior two-pair. Casson was one of the most experienced players on the final table, so presumably, his competition was pleased to see him exit in sixth for £6,770.
Birmingham resident Joshua Curry was one of presumably many who must’ve been thrilled to see PartyPoker pay the Resorts World Birmingham a visit; it’s been years since the resort had a poker event of this magnitude. Curry got to enjoy the event in the best fashion possible, as he was one of the final table players. His impressive run would come to an end in fifth place for £8,390. He lost an all-in situation against Douras and was left with 20,000, which at that point was the sixth of one Big Blind. He managed to spin it up to 920,000, but eventually, he lost it all when James Fowler hit a case king on the river to send Curry home.
With four players remaining, Douras and Hoang were both still in the mix. As mentioned before, they finished first and second in the £150 Mini Main Event out of 660 entries. Would they be able to do the impossible feat of finishing in the top two in the Main Event as well? That would prove not to be the case for Douras, as he lost a flip for his tournament life against Chauhan. Not only is Douran a very experienced player with many decent results throughout the year, but add to that his goodrun in Birmingham this week. He wasn’t an easy opponent to get rid of, but, in the end, his Main Event results read fourth place for £10,435.
Fowler was the chip leader going into Day 3, much thanks to his aggressive style of play. That was what had given him a good stack moving on from Day 2, but it also cost him some crucial pots at the later stage of the final table. After losing a big pot against Hoang with a flush on the board, Fowler was crippled and moved all in from the Small Blind with K♣5♦. “Jiten wakes up with ace-king for the fourth time today,” the commentators said on the stream, referring to the A♦K♠ of Chauhan in the Big Blind. Fowler had to settle for a third-place finish for £12,970.
The stage was now set for a heads-up showdown between Chauhan and Hoang, and the presumptions were great. Would Hoang be able to claim the Main Event title, or would he have to settle for a second runner-up finish? The stakes were also high for Chauhan; not only did he start the final table as the second-smallest stack, but when there were five players left, he was already guaranteed a career-record big cash. The stacks were very even at the beginning of heads-up; it was anyone’s game at this point.
Hoang won the first two hands and got a little head start on the heads-up race. Roughly 20 minutes later, he rivered a straight, and as Chauhan called off a large value bet on the river, Hoang earned himself a three-to-one chip lead. Both players then picked up some pots here and there, but it was Hoang who kept eating up the Chauhan stack bit by bit. Eventually, Chauhan attempted to limp the 200,000 Big Blind, but Hoang didn’t allow it and forced his opponent all in. Chauhan made the call with his Q♥J♥ holdings, and was up against the A♣3♣ of Chauhan. The board ran out in Hoang’s favor, and ace-high was good. Chauhan had to settle for £18,320 for his second-place finish.
As such, Hoang was crowned the winner of the £500 Main Event during the 2025 PartyPoker Tour Birmingham for £27,420. After finishing second in the £150 Mini Main Event a few days ago for £9,080, he got his sweet redemption in the best way possible. Without a shred of doubt, it’s safe to declare Hoang as the undisputed player of the series.
£500 Main Event – Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Tai Hoang | Thailand | £27,420 |
| 2 |  Jiten Chauhan | United Kingdom | £18,320 |
| 3 | James Fowler | United Kingdom | £12,970 |
| 4 | Robert Douras | United Kingdom | £10,435 |
| 5 | Joshua Curry | United Kingdom | £8,390 |
| 6 | Michael Casson | United Kingdom | £6,770 |
| 7 | Nicholas Gott | United Kingdom | £5,340 |
| 8 |  Timothy Slater | England | £4,120 |
| 9 | Tony Pearce | England | £3,110 |
With that, the 2025 PartyPoker Tour Birmingham is done and dusted. This was the tour’s fourth stop, and it’s steadily growing bigger and better. There will be a fifth and final event before the year is over. While PartyPoker has not yet revealed the dates and location, there’s no doubt that the stellar organization behind the brand will deliver yet another sublime event.
