In September, The Poker Room at the Grosvenor Victoria Casino in London will once again host 888 Live, for a week-and-a-half of non-stop marquee poker event action. Running for 11 days from 4th-14th September, the festival features a £1,100+£150 Main Event with a £250,000 guarantee. There’s £680,000 guaranteed across the festival, which focuses on multi-day events, rolling out one after another from start to finish.
It’s the 7th time since 2021 that 888 Poker Live has taken residency at the newly refurbished casino, known to locals and visitors alike by its long-standing nickname, “The Vic”. Satellites, cash games and sprinkle of PLO tournaments are also included on the festival schedule.
The defending champion is David McConnachie, who won the last 888 Poker Live London Main Event, in April 2023 taking the most after heads up deal with Francis Obadun. He topped field of 385 to secure a payout of £83,100. The tour did not make a stop at the Vic in 2024, as it was undergoing a major refurbishment. If you’re not even sold on the poker offering, it’s worth taking a look at the new Vic.
Event Schedule
So, what’s on the menu? The event schedule is dominated by multi-day events, which slot in one after another throughout the festival. There are a few one-day events dotted about and several satellites, but the majority of the schedule is dedicated to marquee events.
Marquee Events
| Dates | Event Name | Buy-in | Starting Days | Guarantee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 04.09 – 06.09 | Crazy 8 Opening Event | £450+£50 | 3 (1A, 1B, 1C Turbo) | £100,000 |
| 05.09 – 07.09 | Mystery Bounty | £200+£200+£50 | 3 (1A, 1B, 1C Turbo) | £50,000 |
| 07.09 – 10.09 | Mini Main 888 | £300+£40 | 3 (Day 1A, 1B, 1C Turbo) | £100,000 |
| 10.09 – 11.09 | High Roller | £1500+£150 | 1 (Day 1) | £100,000 |
| 11.09 – 14.09 | 888poker LIVE Main Event | £1100+£150 | 3 (Day 1A, 1B, 1C Turbo) | £250,000 |
| 13.09 – 14.09 | The Dragon | £500+£50 | 1 (Day 1) | £50,000 |
The first of these is the £450+£50 Crazy 8, with a £100,000 guarantee, running from Thursday 4th-Saturday 6th September, 2025. You’d be forgiven for thinking this has some kind of unique format or gimmick, but no, it’s just a regular NLH event, with an 88,000 starting stack.
With three starting days and tasty £100,000 guarantee, you’d be crazy not to play it. There you go, there was a purpose for the name after all. All three starting days begin at 12pm, in consecutive days, with the final one run on a turbo (15-mins) clock, before Day 2 begins, later on Saturday.
Next up is the £200+£200+£50 Mystery Bounty, which also has three flights, running from Friday 5th to Sunday 7th September. This one has a more familiar 25,000 starting stack and will contest Day 2 at 4pm on Sunday, when the mystery bounties will be awarded with every ITM knock-out. The guarantee for this event is £50,000.
With a £100,000 guarantee, a £300+£40 buy-in and a longer structure featuring 40-minute levels, the Mini Main is one of the most anticipated events on the schedule. It has three starting days (one of which is turbo), but will take two further days to conclude after they are completed. It runs from Sunday 7th – Wednesday 10th September.
Before the focus shifts to the Main Event, there’s the small matter of the £1,500+£150 High Roller to contend with, which also has a £100,000 prize pool guarantee. It’s also a multi-day event, but with just one starting flight. If you are planning to play the high roller, it’s worth buying in and taking your seat from the very start of the tournament, at 3pm on Wednesday.
The reason for this is because those who do will be entered for free into a last player standing competition, where the winner picks up an 888 London Main Event entry worth £1,250. Please note that for the purposes of this promotion, players are allowed to sit down, last player standing refers simply to their active participation in the event.
This leads nicely into the Main Event itself, which has the same buy-in as GUKPT Main Events, priced at £1,100 + £150. It also has three starting days and carries a £250,000 guarantee.
The final multi-day event on the schedule is the £500+£50 Dragon, which has just one starting day, at 1pm on the final Saturday of the festival. It also has £50,000 guaranteed.
One Day Side Events
While most of the itinerary focuses on multi-day tournaments, there are a few one-day events taking place throughout the week. There are two PLO tournaments, the first on Tuesday with a £220+£30 buy-in, the second on the final Sunday is with bounties, priced at £150+£150+£30.
There are also two Hold’em one-day side events, the £500+£50 Big Shot, with a £30,000 guarantee, on Tuesday 9th, plus the £200+£20 888 Live Closer on the final Sunday.
| Date | Start Time | Event Name | Buy-in | Guarantee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon 08.09 | 6pm | PLO 4 Card with BB Ante | £220+£30 | |
| Tue 09.09 | 5pm | The Big Shot | £500+£50 | £30,000 |
| Sun 14.09 | 2pm | PLO 4 Card Bounty | £150+£150+£30 | |
| Sun 14.09 | 4pm | 888poker LIVE Closer | £200+£20 |
Live Satellites
With much of the festival dedicated to bigger buy-in events and multi-day tournaments, there are also several live satellites running to support them, offering opportunities for players to win their way in for a fraction of the usual buy-in. There are several Main Event satellites and two high roller satellites on the schedule, some with ten seat guarantees.
All are run as cashout satellites, where players win their seat when they have reached a target chip count. Players can also buy-in to events using Grosvenor Live Credit.
| Date | Start Time | Event Name | Buy-in | Guarantee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thu 04.09 | 9pm | 888poker LIVE Main Event Cashout Turbo Satellite | £125+£15 | 10 seats GTD |
| Fri 05.09 | 9pm | 888poker LIVE Main Event Cashout Turbo Satellite | £125+£15 | 10 seats GTD |
| Sat 06.09 | 8pm | 888poker LIVE Main Event Cashout Satellite | £125+£15 | 10 seats GTD |
| Sun 07.09 | 9pm | 888poker LIVE Main Event Cashout Turbo Satellite | £125+£15 | 10 seats GTD |
| Mon 08.09 | 9pm | 888poker LIVE Main Event Cashout Turbo Satellite | £125+£15 | 10 seats GTD |
| Tue 09.09 | 9pm | High Roller Target Turbo Cashout Satellite | £165+£15 | None |
| Wed 10.09 | 12pm | High Roller Target Turbo Cashout Satellite | £165+£15 | None |
| Wed 10.09 | 8pm | 888poker LIVE Main Event Cashout Turbo Satellite | £125+£15 | 10 seats GTD |
| Thu 11.09 | 6pm | 888poker LIVE Main Event Cashout Turbo Satellite | £125+£15 | None |
Online Satellites
Online Satellites are still running on 888 Poker, with the qualifying path starting at as little as $0.01, with direct satellites costing $109 to enter, awarding packages values at $2,500, which includes the £1,250 Main Event buy-in plus $800 in expenses.
As Grosvenor Live credit is also accepted, satellites on Grosvenor Poker are another route to qualify for events at 888 Live London. These run daily, with varying buy-ins and prizes, which are awarded as Grosvenor Live Credit, which famously never expires.
Will Simpson’s Success Continue in London?
One player who has experienced more than his fair share of winning moments (and I don’t mean that he didn’t deserve them, just that it’s been frequent) is 888 Poker ambassador Ian Simpson.
Ian won the £330 Big Shot at 888 Live London in 2023, defeating a field of 284 runners to take the £18,000 first prize. He followed up his win in the same year, taking down the £550 Dragon at 888 Poker Live Coventry, where he outlasted a field of 159 to bank £21,360. Since then he has more than earned his sponsored pro status as an 888 ambassador, being the star performer of the live series in recent years.
In 2024 Simpson won another side event on the tour, the £200 NLH Rumble but it was not until January 2025 that he won his first 888 Live Main Event, taking down the Madrid edition for €62,000. That was his first and he didn’t have to wait long to double his Main Event victory tally, as he was also the last player standing at 888 Live Newcastle in April, where he addd a further £34,800 to his net worth.
- Read More: Ian Simpson Wins 888 Live Madrid
Although he didn’t win the next 888 Poker Live event in Reading, his 31st place finish was in the money. Will Simpson continue his 2025 100% cashing record in London and could he go close to making it three victories in a year?
They Are Spoiling Us!
Simpson will be there to serve up the Ferrero Rochers along with fellow 888 ambassadors Vivian Saliba, Aaron Barone, Nick Eastwood, Josh Manley and Ricardo Mateus. I must confess there’s a couple of these I’ve never heard of before, but I really don’t care who’s giving out those delectable crispy chocolate treats, I’ll accept them from anyone. Oh wait, there’s no player party, dang, guess that means no Ferrero Rochers either.
There are some ambassadors whose names are familiar, streamer Nick Eastwood, the highly successful, Brazilian bracelet winner Vivian Saliba and Aaron Barone. The latter of these, Aaron Barone, is better known as a high volume online player, who twice made Supernova Elite, back in the days when that was still a thing.
Aaron went to this year’s WSOP sporting a t-shirt depicting his HendonMob profile, which as an online player was quite sparse with just $8,162 in live cashed. However by the end of his trip to the WSOP, his live earnings had multiplied seven times, thanks mostly to a $45,000 score for his 326th place finish in the Main Event.
National Poker League
Although the event is sponsored by 888 Poker, it also forms part of Grosvenor’s National Poker League, with events counting towards the leaderboard, where a £40,000 sponsorship awaits the winner. Competition was fierce in this race until Thomas Clack finished runner-up in the Goliath, putting considerable distance between himself and the chasing pack, headed by Keith Littlewood.
- Read More: Paul Worsley Wins Goliath
