It’s shaping up to be a good series for British poker players, with Benny Glaser already securing two bracelets and taking an early lead in the Player of the Series race. While he is the only player from the UK to taste victory so far, several have made final tables and another has just gone very close to taking down a title.
Meanwhile the hotels on and off the strip are beginning to fill up with players bearing UK passports, all in search of an upgrade to their lives, not just their rooms. Many more players from the UK will arrive over the next few weeks, with the biggest surge expected at the end of the month as those intending to play the Main Event make their way to Nevada. More and more familiar names are expected to feature in this report as the series gets deeper.
Read on for the latest news of how British players are doing at the 2025 WSOP and other poker festivals currently running in Las Vegas.
Moorman Denied 3rd Bracelet
Chris Moorman has narrowly missed out on winning the third bracelet of his career in Event #22 $25,000 High Roller 6-Handed. He dominated for much of the last day of the tournament and went into the heads up stage with the chip lead, but was pegged back by Slovenian Blaz Zerjav and had to settle for second place and a mere $1,129,608 as a consolation prize.
Moorman had begun the day in 5th place of the 15 who returned, out of a total field of 336 starters. He lost a quarter of his chips in the first few orbits, but then began to build in the right direction. By the first break of the day he had in excess of 8m chips and had assumed the lead, which he took onto the final table of seven players.
That lead grew quickly and when he eliminated 2023 WPT Championship winner Daniel Sepiol in 7th, his stack breached the 20m barrier, more than double that of his nearest challenger.
Once the official final table began (with delayed coverage on PokerGo), Moorman maintained his lead, but did not begin to pull ahead again until there were just three left. He briefly surrendered the lead when 3-handed, but went into the final stage of the tournament with almost a 4-1 chip lead.
But the lead was liquidised early on when Blaz doubled up, but a few hands later Moorman had an opportunity to win it all, with 9♣9♠. However Zerjav had A♠Q♠ and as shown in the screenshot from the TV coverage, an ace on the flop prevented that from happening.
Moorman then faced a 9-1 chip deficit, but didn’t roll over and attempted to rebuild, doubling to nearly 9m chips. But it was not meant to be, he got his last 3.675m chips in with A♣J♥, but Zerjaz had A♠K♣ and there was no improvement.
Sternheimer Takes 3rd in $10k Dealer’s Choice
Philip Sternheimer was one of three players returned for the unscheduled fourth day of Event #18, $10,000 Dealers Choice, with $354,444 to play for. He was the shortest stacked and his shot at the bracelet was ended soon after the resumption of play, by eventual winner Ryan Hoenig. This was Philip’s 3rd cash of the series, but his biggest so far, $154,460 for 3rd place, taking his lifetime earnings close to $3.5m.
- Read More: Ryan Hoenig Wins $10k Dealer’s Choice
57 Brits Survive Colossus Day 1s
Days 1c and 1d of Event# 19, $500 NLH Colossus have now been completed and a further 39 Brits have joined the 18 who progressed from the first two flights. These 57 are among the 2,326 who made it into Day 2, with a total of 16,301 entries in the event overall. The prize pool is yet to be confirmed.
Gary Blackwood posted the largest stack of the 11 Brits who came through Day 1c, with 665,000 chips. Bracelet winner James Dempsey also made it through, but with just 154,000.
| Player | Chips |
|---|---|
| Gary Blackwood | 665,000 |
| Samuel Welbourne | 541,000 |
| Anish Vithlani | 537,000 |
| Adam Snook | 532,000 |
| Jason Green | 325,000 |
| Dominic Feldman | 322,000 |
| James Dempsey | 154,000 |
| Simon Fowler | 129,000 |
| Antonio German | 105,000 |
| James Hill | 99,000 |
| Daniel Moran | 55,000 |
Day 1d was the big one, as expected, and 28 players from the UK were still in when play was brought to a halt. Ryan Mandara posted the largest of the Brit stacks, with just over 1m chips to his name. Ben Miller, Sebastian Crane and Roberto Romanello all ended the day with above average stacks. Alex Burton, Derek Miller and Brandon Sheils also survived, all sitting in mid-division. At the bottom end of the table there are also a few familiar faces, notably Rob Sherwood, Garry Bush and Kevin Allen.
| Player | Chips |
|---|---|
| Ryan Mandara | 1,072,000 |
| Ginold Rendel | 897,000 |
| Ben Miller | 782,000 |
| Ashley Scott | 773,000 |
| Sebastian Crane | 721,000 |
| Roberto Romanello | 598,000 |
| Gary Armstrong | 503,000 |
| Elliott Hayes | 490,000 |
| Michael Allen | 425,000 |
| Nicholas Marchington | 416,000 |
| Alexander Burton | 401,000 |
| Leo Worthingtonleese | 372,000 |
| Peter Kirby | 352,000 |
| Brandon Sheils | 308,000 |
| Alan Bryant | 306,000 |
| Vincent Sanchez | 302,000 |
| Derek Miller | 254,000 |
| Mark Baxter | 250,000 |
| Richard Robinson | 242,000 |
| Phillip Mathias | 228,000 |
| Saigokul Kannan | 226,000 |
| Garry Bush | 218,000 |
| Richard Stavert | 214,000 |
| James Khoury | 163,000 |
| Robert Sherwood | 158,000 |
| James Morris | 158,000 |
| Jayne Moon | 109,000 |
| Kevin Allen | 95,000 |
Kendall Through to Day Two of Big O
Tony Kendall is one of six British players to have made it to Day 2 of Event #27, $1,500 Big O, in which 221 remain, all in the money, as the bubble burst towards the end of Day 1. He had been sitting on an average stack, but was pegged back to just 60k as the bubble loomed, but made the cut and will return with 58,000. He’s now guaranteed his second WSOP cash of the series, two from two attempts.
Patrick Leonard bagged the largest of the UK players’ stacks with an above average 235,00 with another former bracelet winner Steve Jelinek progressing with 114,000. These are the chip counts of the Brits who made it through and are still in with a chance of a bracelet and the $297,285 first prize.
| Player | Chips |
|---|---|
| Patrick Leonard | 235,000 |
| Rishi Amin | 160,000 |
| Jack Moore | 152,000 |
| Steve Jelinek | 114,000 |
| Anthony Kendall | 58,000 |
| Jonathan Bowers | 43,000 |
Other British Cashes
Adam Owen was the only British player to get a return in Event #23 $1,500 Badugi, where he finished in 41st place for $3,610. This was his 4th cash of the series so far, but he’s still waiting for a big score.
Six Brits cashed in Event #24 $1,500 PLO Double Board Bomb Pot, but none are amongst the 13 who will return for Day 3 to fight for the $290,400 first prize. Sebastian Crane in 47th was the highest placed of these six in the 1,452-player field, cashing for $6,784. Adam ‘Wilko’ Wilkinson who chopped the Seniors at the Wynn a few days ago also cashed, his first of the 2025 WSOP, so far.
| Finishing Position | Winner | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 47 | Sebastian Crane | $6,784 |
| 147 | Adam Wilkinson | $3,027 |
| 160 | Manuel Martinez | $3,027 |
| 166 | Nicholas Marchington | $3,027 |
| 170 | Brandon Sheils | $3,027 |
Philip Sternheimer’s fourth cash of the series in Event #25 $10,000 Seven Card Stud, was the only one on the payouts list that bore a Union Jack. He finished 13th, receiving $20,999 for his second cash of the day, following his 3rd in the Dealer’s Choice.
Sinead Davenport 4th in Wynn Ladies HR
There was a further final table for Sinead Davenport, who has already tasted success at the 2025 series, winning a daily deepstack last week. This time she finished 4th for $19,538 in the $3k Ladies High Roller at the Wynn Summer Classic. It was apparently the largest ever buy-in for a ladies event, attracting 76 entrants.
The winner was Dusti Smith, who had narrowly missed out on a bracelet just before entering this one. She took 2nd place in WSOP Event #17 $2,009 NLH for nearly $300,000 before scooping a further $61,335 in this one.
* Hands and photos courtesy of PokerNews and WSOP
