After nine intense days, the 2026 PartyPoker Tour Manchester has wrapped up in stellar style. While the final day of the fourth PartyPoker Tour stop of the year saw six trophies finding new owners, most eyes were on the raffling conclusion of the £500 Main Event. It’s safe to say there haven’t been many £500 buy-in tournaments that have yielded such an experienced final table as the one played at Manchester235 Casino on Sunday, June 21. When all was said and done, an Irish recreational player, albeit exceptional, would overcome WPT winners, Eureka Cup champions, and other prominent opponents to claim the very prestigious title.
From Manchester With Love
Considering the turnout at Manchester235 Casino between June 13-21, it’s safe to say that many poker enthusiasts were excited when PartyPoker announced they would return to Manchester’s finest card room. Overall, the numbers have been bigger than the 2025 stop, which can be explained not only by the brand awareness PartyPoker has built up since its return to the live poker scene last year, but also by their incredibly beneficial online campaign. Many players have been able to secure their poker adventure from the online qualifiers, which start from mere cents. One of those who claimed multiple seats for Manchester through the various satellites online was Imran Primohamed, who finished second in the £150 Mini Main Event, as Anwar Kanj emerged victorious.
While the aforementioned Mini Main Event always becomes the most popular tournament of the PartyPoker Tour in terms of entries, there is, naturally, something special about the Main Event. It’s the tournament everyone wants to win, and this time was no exception. The four starting-day flights attracted 260 entries in total, which translated to a £115,700 prize pool. In other words, the £100,000 guarantee was reached by some margin, and with £22,000 up top, there was a lot to play for.
Day 2 commenced at 16:00 on the penultimate day of the festival (Saturday, June 20) with 68 players taking their seats. Karl Roberts was the chip leader going into Day 2, but he had his work cut out for him; prominent players such as 2025 PartyPoker Tour Manchester £500 Main Event champion Deniz Orhan, PartyPoker Team Pros Jaime Staples and Matt Staples, 2026 PartyPoker Tour London (Winter Edition) £500 Main Event champion Thomas Sanderson, the aforementioned Primohamed, and poker legend Dara O’Kearney had all made it through. Three PartyPoker Tour Ambassadors – Barny Boatman, Barry Carter, and Daniel Diaz – were also in the mix, ready to compete for the prestigious title and eternal poker glory.
The Day 2 contestants were not yet in the money; 39 players would be guaranteed the £1,000 minimum cash. Roughly four hours into Day 2, Matthew Cox became the unfortunate bubble boy, as he was at the unfortunate end of a three-way showdown pre-flop. The remaining contenders celebrated for a brief moment before going back into focus mode. They were not done yet, and the next goal was to reach the final table. Still in the mix at this point were the two PartyPoker Team Pros, brothers Jaime Staples and Matt Staples. They fought long and bravely, but ultimately, they were eliminated in twenty-fourth and twenty-second place for £1,150 each. Soon thereafter, reigning champion Deniz Orhan went out in twentieth place for £1,350. A few hours later, Day 2 came to an end when Ka Pun was eliminated in tenth place for £2,400. The remaining nine contestants bagged their chips, and they’d be reunited with them at the final table at 15:00, Sunday, June 21.
Best £500 Final Table of All Time?
The final table lineup was arguably the best-ever seen during a PartyPoker Tour event. Amongst the remaining players were names such as online crusher/WPT winner Andrew “BowieEffect” Wilson, 2024 EPT Prague €550 Eureka Cup winner Endrit Geci, and 2023 Grosvenor UK Poker Tour £1,250 Main Event winner Calogero Morreale. PartyPoker Tour Ambassador Daniel Garcia had also made it to the prestigious stage, being the only player left in the field wearing the PartyPoker patch in an official capacity. One player looking for redemption was Pirmohamed, looking to finish one place better than what he did in the Mini Main Event.
Dean Perry became the first casualty of the final table roughly 20 minutes in. On Blinds 25,000/50,000, he min-raised on the Button and was then faced with a 375,000 three-bet from Pirmohamed in the Big Blind. Back to Perry, who four-bet shoved 1,275,000, and Pirmohamed made the call. Perry’s J♥10♠ couldn’t get the job done against Pirmohamed’s A♠Q♥, and Perry had to settle for £3,000 after finishing ninth.
Roughly half an hour later, Thales Salomao moved all in for 765,000 (Blinds 30,000/60,000) after an opening from Calogero Morreale (Button) and a call from Pirmohamed (Small Blind). Morreale made the call and tabled Q♣Q♠. He was in good shape against the J♥J♦ of Salomao, and his queens stood the test of time. As such, Salomao was eliminated in eighth place for £3,600.
Alex Montgomery would be next in line, and he wasn’t too excited over how things went down. During the same Blind level, he thought he open-shoved 500,000 from Small Blind, but he had failed to notice a 125,000 UTG-opening from Morreale. Perhaps Morreale took this information into consideration as he made the call with 7♥7♦. Montgomery’s K♣2♥ didn’t stand a chance, and he went to collect his £4,300 for finishing seventh.
Before the six remaining players went on the first break of the day, Michael Breen had acquired quite some chips, mostly at the expense of Pirmohamed. He was now the chip leader, while Pirmohamed and Garcia were the two shortest stacks with eight Big Blinds each. Both of them managed to get a shove through here and there, but ultimately, the bell would toll for Garcia. On Blinds 40,000/80,000, he got his 800,000 stack in the middle with A♦3♦ and was at risk against Breen’s A♥8♥. Garcia couldn’t improve, and the PartyPoker Tour Ambassador went out in sixth for £5,300.
Shortly thereafter, it was Pirmohamed’s turn to be dominated. He pushed his 770,000 (i.e., 10 Big Blinds) in the middle after a 160,000 opening from Morreale. Morreale made the call and tabled A♣J♣, which was bad news for Pirmohamed and his A♥10♣. Pirmohamed couldn’t produce a miracle, and he received £6,400 for finishing fifth. Still, though, what a week Pirmohamed had at Manchester235 Casino, going deep in both the Mini Main Event and the Main Event. To put the cherry on top, he qualified for both events through the PartyPoker online qualifiers, which start from mere cents. They are, without a doubt, a big factor for the PartyPoker Tour’s success, and the fact that so many players can – and have – secured their live poker adventures for mere coffee money is nothing less than amazing.
As previously indicated, the line-up on this final table was insane, considering the shy buy-in of £500. The poker.pro live reporter Christoffer Karlén has covered many final tables in the past with significantly higher buy-ins, and yet, the level of skill at this table in Manchester made this a contender for the most prominent final table he has ever witnessed. Geci, with more than $1,300,000 in live tournament earnings, was one of the reasons for this. He didn’t make too much noise on the final table; he displayed great discipline throughout the tournament. The Blinds were now 50,000/100,000, though, and he was the shortest stack with 1,075,000. He committed 800,000 of his stack to a pre-flop raise from the Cut-off, and Wilson made the call on the Button. Geci then check-called a bet from Wilson on the 9♠9♦6♦ flop for his tournament life. He was hoping for his A♠K♥ to improve, but the J♥5♦ runout meant the pot belonged to Wilson. For finishing in fourth place, Geci was awarded £7,500.
The remaining three players went on another short break before resuming play on the same blind level. Morreale began three-handed play as the chip leader, but soon lost it to Breen. No need to be too worried for Morreale, though; he and Breen had distanced themselves from Wilson, who was down 1,420,000 once Blinds 60,000/120,000 kicked in. Then, disaster struck for Morreale. He opened to 360,000 on the Small Blind, and chip leader Breen decided to put maximum ICM pressure. He forced Morreale all in for 4,100,000 in total, but a snap call from Morreale was not according to Breen’s plan. Morreale tabled A♥A♦ and was in very good shape to claim a significant chip lead. Breen was the underdog with 4♠4♦, but he wouldn’t be for long. He flopped a set, and Morreale wasn’t able to catch up on the runout. In brutal fashion, Morreale was out in third place for £10,000, and going into the heads-up, Breen had an eight-to-one lead against Wilson.
Wilson isn’t an online poker legend, a WPT winner, and has more than $2,500,000 in live tournament earnings for nothing, though. He was determined to capture the title at his home casino, whatever it took. Naturally, the one-versus-one duel started with Breen applying as much pressure as possible. Things were becoming critical for Wilson, who found himself with only four Big Blinds on Blinds 80,000/160,000. Then, he started writing his Cinderella story. Not once, not twice, not thrice, but four times he managed to double up through Breen. Before you knew it, he had more or less completely evened out the playing field, and it was anyone’s game.
Breen was writing his own story, though, where he played the main part as a human bulldozer. With big bets, he kept putting Wilson in uncomfortable spots, and suddenly, Breen had once again acquired a decent lead over his opponent. Before Blinds 100,000/200,000 kicked in, the two warriors went on a 15-minute break. The very first hand, once they returned, Wilson limped on the Button, and Breen then utilized his stack, consisting of 55 Big Blinds, to force Wilson all in for 2,040,000. Wilson snap-called with K♥Q♠, and he was up against the A♣J♦ of Breen. This was Breen’s fifth chance to eliminate Wilson in an all-in-and-call pre-flop scenario. He took a very firm lead on the 7♦A♥5♥ flop, and Wilson wasn’t able to catch up as the board completed with 9♠5♣. That settled it; Wilson was declared the runner-up for £15,000, while victory belonged to Breen. He was crowned the Main Event champion of the 2026 PartyPoker Tour Manchester, and was rewarded the coveted trophy and the £22,000 first-place payout.
2026 PartyPoker Tour Manchester – £500 Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Michael Breen | Ireland | £22,000 |
| 2 |  Andrew Wilson | England | £15,000 |
| 3 |  Calogero Morreale | Italy | £10,000 |
| 4 | Endrit Geci | England | £7,500 |
| 5 | Imran Pirmohamed | England | £6,400 |
| 6 |  Daniel Diaz | Spain | £5,300 |
| 7 | Alex Montgomery | England | £4,300 |
| 8 |  Thales Salomao | Brazil | £3,600 |
| 9 | Dean Perry | England | £3,000 |
London Calling
That’s a wrap for the 2026 PartyPoker Tour Manchester. As the official English media partner of the tour, poker.pro was excited to have boots on the ground the event throughout, as live reporter Christoffer Karlén was covering every knook and cranny of the action from both the Mini Main Event and the Main Event.
There won’t be much time to rest, though, seeing as the next PartyPoker Tour Stop is roughly two weeks away. The 2026 PartyPoker Tour London (Summer Edition) will be played at Genting Casino Stratford between July 4-12, and if history is to give us any indication, it should become one of the biggest stops of the tour this year. All the flagship tournaments, such as the Mini Main Event and the Main Event, are on the schedule, accompanied by the PLO Masters Series, poker.pro-branded Mixed Games, and a whole lot of other fun. Of course, poker.pro will have boots on the ground covering all the action, filled to the brim with energy after a very successful event in Manchester.
