It’s now over a month since the World Series of Poker drew to a close, but the world of live poker keeps spinning all year round, with dozens of events taking place across the globe. Here at poker.pro, we keep an eye out for significant results by UK players in events outside Great Britain.
Who counts as a UK player? Anyone who has an English, Scottish, Welsh or Northern Irish flag as either their nationality or place of residence on their HendonMob profile will count. If you consider yourself to be from the UK, that’ll do. Now, let’s get into it!
Jake Cody wins Seminole Hard Rock Open Main Event for over $500,000
The most notable victory by a British player in the last month was Jake Cody’s win at the Seminole Hard Rock Open in Florida. He took down the $5,300 Championship Event, batting off a field of 889 competitors to take the title, trophy and $510,850 first prize. The tournament came to an abrupt end after a 3-way deal was agreed with Jeremy Wien and Stephen Song.
Cody rarely plays live tournaments these days, preferring cash games to the grind of the MTT circuit. But when he does, it’s usually at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, Florida. This is where nine of his eleven cashes since 2023 have been achieved and this was not his only recent victory at the venue. In April, Cody won the $2,200 WPT Deepstack for $93,900, which itself was his best result for over a decade.
Cody went into the final table with a significant chip lead, maintaining it all the way until the deal was agreed. Despite the significant nature of the win, it will not mark a full-time return to the tournament grind, as Cody remains committed to being a cash game player. Nevertheless, he’s bound to make the odd appearance here or there and it would be no surprise to see him score big again before too long.
Two other British players cashed in the event, Dean Hutchinson (41st for $21,800) and Paul Hizer (74th for $13,100), which had a total prize pool of $4,311,650.
Cody was not the only Brit to taste success at the festival, as mixed games specialist David Tarbet was the first to cross the finishing line in Event #28, $600 H.O.R.S.E, for $14,020. Tarbet also made two other final tables during the series, taking 8th in Event #17, the $600 Mixed PLO and 4th in Event #48, the $600 10-Game Mix.
Another UK player, Ritchie Allen, went close to securing a title, but fell just short in Event #4, the $600 PLO Deepstack, taking the runner-up spot, for $11,700, in a field of 138 entrants.
All UK Cashes at the Seminole Hard Rock Open
| Event # | Tournament | Entries | UK Players | Position | Payout |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | $400 NLH Deepstack | 5,658 | Mitchell Hynam | 29th | $7,700 |
| Jamie Dwan | 228th | $1,180 | |||
| Phil Rigby | 230th | $1,180 | |||
| Najeeb Elkamand | 374th | $840 | |||
| 4 | $600 PLO Deep Stack | 138 | Ritchie Allen | 2nd | $11,700 |
| 17 | $600 Mixed PLO | 159 | David Tarbet | 8th | $2,540 |
| 18 | $1,100 NLH Triple Stack | 525 | Najeeb Alkamand | 19th | $5,200 |
| 26 | $600 Big Bet Dealer’s Choice | 65 | Paul Gibbons | 9th | $11,175 |
| 28 | $600 H.O.R.S.E | 85 | David Tarbet | 1st | $14,020 |
| 29 | $800 NLH Platinum Stack | 1,020 | Phil Rigby | 23rd | $5,900 |
| Jake Cody | 61st | $2,540 | |||
| 42 | $1,100 Deep Stack Turbo | 46 | Jamie Dwan | 3rd | $6,440 |
| 43 | $5,300 Championship Event | 889 | Jake Cody | 1st | $510,850 |
| Dean Hutchinson | 41st | $21,800 | |||
| Paul Hizer | 74th | $13,100 | |||
| 44 | $400 NLH Deep Stack Seniors | 147 | Paul Gibbons | 6th | $3,894 |
| 48 | $600 Ten Game Mix | 63 | David Tarbet | 4th | $2,950 |
| 52 | $3,000 NLH Deep Stack | 232 | Mitchell Hynam | 15th | $9,500 |
| 61 | $400 NLH Deepstack | 110 | Giulio Stanzione | 6th | $2,020 |
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James Mahone 2nd in WPT Cyprus Main Event
Londoner James Mahone just missed out on becoming a WPT champion, falling at the final hurdle in the championship event at WPT Cyprus. The $3,500 buy-in event, held at Chamada Prestige Hotel & Spa, attracted a field of 775 entrants, generating a prize pool of over $2.4m.
He went into the final day sitting third in chips of the remaining seven players, but went into the heads-up stage of the event trailing chip leader Ilia Kitsbabashvili by almost 10m chips. Mahone initially closed the gap on his opponent, but faced a 7-1 chip deficit by the time the final hand took place. In the final hand, Mahone’s pocket fives failed to hold against the A♠7♠ of his Georgian opponent.
Mahone, a cash game regular of the Vic for almost two decades, only began focusing more seriously on tournaments in the last few years, his best previous result being a 5th place finish in the GUKPT Blackpool Main Event in 2023, where he cashed for £16,580. His $255,000 runner-up prize has almost quadrupled his lifetime live tournament earnings.
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Rob Yong 4th in Onyx Super High Roller Series Invitational
The Onyx Super High Roller Series $102,000 Invitational saw 88 players take to the felt, creating a prize pool of $8,536,000. Just 13 players were paid and going into the final table, series owner Rob Yong held the chip lead, with 15.65m of the 88m chips in play. Phil Ivey and Jesse Lonis also made the final day as did another Brit, Matt Moss, who was in 6th place overnight with 5.85m.
Yong retained the chip lead going into the nine-handed final table, having swollen his stack to over 19m, with Phil Ivey his closest challenger on 15.5m. He was still the chip leader when they became 6-handed, but a surging Jesse Lonis overtook him shortly before busting the other remaining Brit, Matt Moss, in 6th place for $520,000. Lonis went on to win the title, with Yong exiting in 4th for $856,000, just behind third placed Phil Ivey.
David Nicholson 2nd in $51,000 Onyx Super High Roller Series Championship Event
David Nicholson took second in the $51k, Onyx Super High Roller Series Championship for a payday of over $1m. He and Austrian Daniel Rezaei chopped the prize pool heads up, ensuring Nicholson a seven-figure payout of $1,101,570. The Brit had a 2-1 chip lead going into the final stage, ensuring he got the most in the chop, but despite there only being $55k left to play for, it remained competitive until the end, when Rezaei’s A3 held up.
APT Incheon
Qibang Cheung, from Edinburgh, who also goes by the name James has had a great run at the latest Asian Poker Tour Incheon event, winning two tournaments, cashing six times, exclusively in non- Hold’em events. Known as a stud specialist, Cheung is now living in Macau, but frequently returns to Edinburgh.
Other Vegas Achievements by Brits During the WSOP
The Poker.Pro Brit reports during the WSOP focused largely on the Main Event during the last week of the series, however there were some notable results for UK players at other series in Las Vegas, which we may not have previously reported on.
Patrick Leonard was the star performer of the British players at the WSOP, with 15 cashes in total, his best result coming in the Heads Up, where he was third for $180,000. However he also found time to taste success at the Venetian Deepstack Series, where he won Event #90, the $1,600 UltimateStack, fending off a field of 737 runners to claim the title. Leonard defeated American Derek Gregory heads-up to bank the $164,108 first prize.
Two other Brits also cashed in the event, George Pop (25th for $7,645) and Adam Wilkinson (56th for $4,461).
Two-time National Poker League winner Matt Davenport also had a good end to his Vegas summer, taking 7th place in the $5,000 WPT Championship Event, which was also staged at the Venetian. Although he cashed four times in WSOP bracelet events, his $130,000 score in this event dwarfed the winnings he had accumulated during the rest of the summer.
Other British Worldwide Successes
There have also been good results for some other UK players in various other poker series over the course of the last month. Here’s a quick round-up of these notable wins and cashes.
Luke Dainton won the SuperStack Turbo at APPT Manila, in the Philippines. He bested a small field of 19 entries to secure the first prize of 243,545 of the local currency, equivalent to $4,289.
Robert Hertzog was 9th in the ZAR 5,000 Mini Main Event of the Splendido Poker Series for 19,500 ZAR ($1,100). At the same series, which was held at MonteCasino in Johannesburg, Max Deveson took 3rd in ZAR 16,000 NLH Team Event. He banked 86,000 ZAR ($4,754) in a 6-way final table chop. Deveson has had an amazing 2025 so far, this being his 23rd cash of the year, which has included three victories, two runner-up spots and now two third place finishes.
The Deepstack Showdown began at the Venetian as soon as the Deepstack Series ended and is still ongoing. Calvin Ferreira is the sole UK victor so far at the Showdown series, having won Event #14, the $150+$50 NLH Bounty, for $2,156 plus unreported bounties.
Photos courtesy of WPT, Merit Poker/Onyx Club, Seminole Hard Rock Casino and The Venetian
