After the 5th day of the WSOP Main Event drew to a close, just eleven players from the UK remain in the hunt for the $10m first prize. With 202 players remaining, all the remaining contestants have locked up a payday of at least $60,000, but will be aiming for the big prizes on the final table.
It began well for the 26 British players among the 522 who started the day, with only one (James Bagley in 492nd for $32,500) busting out during the first level of play. By the second break of the day, with 371 stacks left, only one more Brit (Daniel Carney in 387th for $40,000) had been eliminated.
But the pace of UK bust-outs picked up during the second half of the day, sending many of the UK’s best bracelet prospects to the rail. By the time the day drew to a close, at the end of level 24, with blinds at 25k/50k (50k ante), just eleven players from the UK still had chip stacks.
Kassouf Tops UK Chip Chart After Day 5
Will Kassouf ended the day as the Billy Big Brit, his 6.9m chip stack being the 8th biggest in the entire field. He rose to the top in the last level of the day, having a count of under 2.5m during the penultimate level. His big move north began when he took out Carmino Argiero holding A♥A♦ against A♣Q♥ to climb up to 4.5m.
But it was during the last few hands of the day that the Londoner propelled himself into the top ten of the leaderboard. He gained the most in another hand where he was dealt aces, taking a million chips from David Swift.
Soon after that he then eliminated the short-stacked Jonathan Azoulay with 3♣2♠ versus 10♣9♠ to end the day on a high, 3-high-like-a-boss, obv.
Rising Like Lions
While Kassouf has assumed the position of the alpha male in the UK pack, slaying a few gazelles along the way, several other UK poker cats have also shaken their chains and risen, like lions after slumber. Adopting more predatory postures in the hunt for poker glory are Mitchell Hynam (5.65m) and Sam Darkin (5m), who both moved significantly north during Day 5. Along with Kassouf, they are the only Brits with stacks above the average, which is now 2.9m. Although a little below the mean (but above the median), Steven Alper also moved upwards. Having started the day on under 1m, he concluded it with 2.65m, the fourth largest of the Britpack.
Perhaps the most impressive performances of the day came from Henry Fewster (2.435m) and Andrew Wilson (1.81m), both of whom had returned in the danger zone, with under half a million chips at the start of the day. While both are still a little behind the curve, their stacks are not in any immediate danger, as the tournament is now very deep and they have 40 and 30 big blinds, respectively.
Nicholas Ramsey on 2.605m, Ben Jackson (2.57m), Jamie O’Connor (2.1m), Ben Winsor (1.795m) and Paul Gibbons (1.435m) are the other Brits still in with a shot at glory in the Main Event.
UK Players Main Event Day 5 Survivors Chip Counts
| Position | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 8 |  Will Kassouf | 6,900,000 |
| 22 | Mitchell Hynam | 5,650,000 |
| 30 | Sam Darkin | 5,000,000 |
| 97 | Steven Alper | 2,635,000 |
| 99 | Nicholas Ramsey | 2,605,000 |
| 101 | Ben Jackson | 2,570,000 |
| 106 | Henry Fewster | 2,435,000 |
| 116 | Jamie O’Connor | 2,100,000 |
| 131 | Andrew Wilson | 1,810,000 |
| 134 | Benjamin Winsor | 1,795,000 |
| 155 | Paul Gibbons | 1,435,000 |
End of Day Heartache for MacIntyre and Sheils
Fraser MacIntyre started the day as the chip leader of the 26 remaining British players, on 2.735m, but slipped backwards on the leaderboard during the first level of the day. Although not particularly short stacked, the 2m chips he possessed when he played his last hand was below average.
Holding J♥J♠ on the button, he defended a raise from Kohei Aria by moving all-in. However his Japanese opponent had two red kings and the board provided no help for the Scotsman. MacIntyre departed in 214th place for $60,000.
Following him out the door in 212th place was Brandon Sheils, the last British player to bust on Day 5, also cashing for $60,000. Contrastingly, Sheils started the day well, moving over the 3m mark during the first level of the day, but fell back as the day progressed.
On a flop of 9♠5♣10♣ Sheils bet out 300k and called his opponents’ jam for his last 1.3m. He was in good shape, holding K♦K♣ versus A♣9♣.
Needing to fade a club, another nine or an ace, the 5♦ on the turn was harmless enough, but the bastard A♦ on the river turned the lights out (for now) on Brandon’s dream of becoming more famous than his cash game wizard of a brother, Richard.
All things considered, Brandon has had a terrific run in Vegas this summer and will be heading back to the UK with confidence, satisfied with most parts of his game.
Down & Out
While it was certainly another great day for Will Kassouf and it was definitely a bad end to the day for MacIntyre and Sheils, it was also not a kind day for several of the other Brits who started Day 5.
Oliver Braddock, Stephen Chidwick, Tom Middleton and Scott Margereson had begun Day 4 with above average stacks, but all found the rail, some sooner than others. Stephen Chidwick lost ground early on in the day and slipped into the danger zone during the second level of play. He became the fourth Briton to hit the rail in 350th for $45,000, soon after Matthew Beltcher’s exit in 368th for $40,000.
Seun Oluwole (331st), Tom Middleton (329th), Carl Shaw (317th) and Oliver Braddock (289th) were the next to depart, all collecting $45,000.
The next batch of British bustees earned a bit more, as the payouts jumped up to $52,500. Andrew Hedley (Scottish but lives in Ireland) in 276th, Joe Hindry (271st), Rohit Mariwalla (258th) and Guy Leathley (242nd) all cashed for this amount.
Scott Margereson went close to the end of the day, but left the arena in 224th place, busting with pocket nines versus pocket kings. He stalled just long enough before committing his final chips, to ensure he laddered up one more place, achieving a pay-jump to $60,000.
UK Players Cashing on Day 5
Fifteen of the 26 Brits who began Day 5 are now ex-participants of the 2025 WSOP Main Event. This is what they took home with them.
| Position | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 212 | Brandon Sheils | $60,000 |
| 214 | Fraser MacIntyre | $60,000 |
| 224 | Scott Margereson | $60,000 |
| 242 | Guy Leathley | $52,500 |
| 258 | Rohit Mariwalla | $52,500 |
| 271 | Joe Hindry | $52,500 |
| 276 | Andrew Hedley | $52,500 |
| 289 | Oliver Braddock | $45,000 |
| 317 | Carl Shaw | $45,000 |
| 329 | Tom Middleton | $45,000 |
| 331 | Seun Oluwole | $45,000 |
| 350 | Stephen Chidwick | $45,000 |
| 368 | Matthew Belcher | $40,000 |
| 387 | Daniel Carney | $40,000 |
| 492 | James Bagley | $32,500 |
Tamer Kamel 5th in $5,000 Super Turbo
Tamer Kamel was the highest finishing of 12 British players who made trips to the payout desk in Event #87 the $5,000 Super Turbo Bounty. Appearing on his first WSOP final table, he collected $156,060 for a 5th place finish.
Steven Watts was the second highest finisher of the UK crew, exiting in 38th for $17,352. Bracelet holders Eliot Sion, Roberto Romanello and Benny Glaser also cashed in this event.
| Position | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | Tamer Kamel | $156,060 |
| 38 | Steven Watts | $17,352 |
| 46 | Jonathan McCann | $14,587 |
| 70 | Elior Sion | $9,481 |
| 71 | Roberto Romanello | $9,481 |
| 80 | Lewis Spencer | $7,685 |
| 93 | Benny Glaser | $7,685 |
| 100 | Christopher Kyriacou | $7,087 |
| 147 | Aleem Kanji | $6,749 |
| 152 | Kully Sidhu | $6,749 |
| 163 | Phillip Mighall | $6,749 |
| 180 | Talal Shakerchi | $6,749 |
Sternheimer and Frankland Still in $50k Super High Roller
Seventeen players remain in Event #88 $50,000 Super High Roller, with $2,686,913 up top for the winner. The high roller event attracted a sizeable field of 252 players with Germany’s Christopher Nguyen leading the way on 13m chips.
German UK resident Philip Sternheimer sits in 11th place with 3.3m chips, chasing a second bracelet of the series. Main Event bubble boy Mathew Frankland is also still afloat, with 2.5m, in 13th place. Benny Glaser was the only other player from the UK who cashed, taking $102,024 for 34th place.
Other Bracelet Event News
The UK had 25 cashers in Event #85, the $600 Ultrastack. The highest placed Brit was Colin Downie, whose 11th place netted him $28,020. Matthew Bonham, Ian Simpson and Tom Hall exited in successive places, finishing 25th, 26th and 27th respectively,
- Read more: Dreams Come True as Justin Fawcett Takes Home his Maiden Bracelet in Event #85: $600 NLH Ultra Stack
| Position | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 11 | Colin Downie | $28,020 |
| 25 | Matthew Bonham | $14,320 |
| 26 | Ian Simpson | $14,320 |
| 27 | Tom Hall | $11,360 |
| 57 | Terence Etim | $6,550 |
| 121 | Gareth Howell | $2,980 |
| 156 | James Meachen | $2,610 |
| 161 | Mazin Karkotli | $2,610 |
| 162 | Jordan Bamford | $2,610 |
| 220 | Arron Pointon | $2,310 |
| 223 | Daniel Charlton | $2,310 |
| 276 | Navid Nasseri | $2,060 |
| 321 | Konstantinos Patsourakis | $2,060 |
| 360 | David Welch | $1,860 |
| 384 | Savvas Mitsikouridis | $1,860 |
| 429 | Adam Matues | $1,690 |
| 434 | Michael Brown | $1,690 |
| 444 | Colin Lovelock | $1,690 |
| 452 | Alexander Everson | $1,550 |
| 457 | A Wong | $1,550 |
| 468 | Tamer Kamel | $1,550 |
| 476 | Calogero Morreale | $1,550 |
| 547 | Sinead Davenport | $1,430 |
| 576 | Cezary Wasilowski | $1,360 |
| 593 | Leeann Barnes | $1,360 |
Two British players are still In Event #86 $1k Mystery Bounty PLO, which is now down to the last 29 players, going into the third and presumably final day. James Cheung is currently sitting in 7th with 8.55m chips. Callum Gordon is in 19th overnight, with 6.15m. Bracelet winner Daniel Willis busted in 30th place, just before play was suspended for the day. He was one of 23 other British players who cashed in the event. Others making trips to the payout window included Nick Marchington, Ludovic Geilich, Adam Owen and Patrick Leonard. Full UK results for this event will be published in tomorrow’s 2025 WSOP Brit Report.
* Hands and photos courtesy of PokerNews, WSOP and Brandon Sheils
