The Main Event of the 2025 WSOP is underway and over 20 British players bagged stacks in Day 1a, the first of four starting days in poker’s most prestigious event. It’s the one that everyone has been waiting for and plane loads full of Brits have made their way out for the latter stages of the series, all hoping to return as heroes, with bags of cash and maybe some jewellery.
This poker.pro Brit Report will continue to deliver news of all the UK cashers in every Bracelet event, but will now focus mostly on Event #81, the $10,000 Main Event of the 2025 World Series of Poker.
2025 WSOP Main Event Day 1a UK Survivors
Oghenovo Constare posted the biggest stack of the 25 players from the UK who made it to the end of Day 1a. The 236,900 chips that he accumulated during the opening flight was the 12th biggest of the 634 who progressed, from 923 starters. It’s a very slight increase on the 914 who took part in the opening flight in 2024.
Jonathan Wong bagged the second-biggest Brit stack in the flight, securing 185,800 for Day 2. Oystein Kristoffersen had the third biggest with 177,800. Also making it through the opener was Rohit Mariwalla, fresh from his 14th place finish in the $3,000 NLH a few days ago. He had the sixth-largest stack of the surviving UK players on 132,200.
Three of the UK’s former bracelet winners also progressed from Day 1a, although none of them have made much progress yet. Harry Lodge has 74,600, Darius Samual is on 67,000 while James Dempsey returns for Day 2 with just 48,600. Dempsey started the day well, but his stack receded during the latter half of the day, although not as quickly as his hairline did in his mid-20s (me too btw).
One other British bracelet winner played on Day 1a, but sadly Barny Boatman’s continuation in the Main Event will now be restricted to commentating duties, if Hartigan and Stapes let him in the booth again.
| Position | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 12 |  Oghenovo Constare | 236,900 |
| 43 | Jonathan Wong | 185,800 |
| 51 | Oystein Kristoffersen | 177,800 |
| 62 | Luke Marsh | 167,400 |
| 67 | Adam Snook | 162,900 |
| 118 | Rohit Mariwalla | 132,200 |
| 138 | William Gibbons | 125,000 |
| 174 | Mohammad Iqbal | 111,900 |
| 199 | Sachin Joshi | 106,000 |
| 205 | Boutros Awad | 102,300 |
| 208 | Seun Oluwole | 101,600 |
| 254 | Jack Maskill | 89,800 |
| 273 | Paul Ephremsen | 85,300 |
| 279 | Ryan Bell | 83,900 |
| 321 | Graeme Newman | 76,500 |
| 329 | Bamdad Garzin | 75,300 |
| 335 | Harry Lodge | 74,600 |
| 380 | Darius Samual | 67,000 |
| 384 | Carolyn Duffy | 66,300 |
| 438 | Candice Nice | 55,900 |
| 450 | George Pop | 53,100 |
| 463 | Joseph Bold | 50,900 |
| 477 | James Dempsey | 48,600 |
| 502 | Aleem Kanji | 45,000 |
| 614 | Isaac Wayneright | 17,300 |
Main Event Schedule of Play
The Main Event continues until July 16th, when the new champion will emerge victorious from the final table. Let’s hope there’s not another situation that forces the WSOP to withhold the bracelet, as that farce has certainly been pathetic to witness.
Everyone has something to say about it, but nobody wants to talk about the much bigger elephant in the online poker room world, sites putting bots into their own games to fake their liquidity. Instead, most are far more concerned with whether two players chopping a $1m bonus is good or bad for poker. Whatever.
| Date | Day | Start Time |
|---|---|---|
| Wednesday, July 2, 2025 | Day 1A | 12:00 p.m. |
| Thursday, July 3, 2025 | Day 1B | 12:00 p.m. |
| Friday, July 4, 2025 | Day 1C | 12:00 p.m. |
| Saturday, July 5, 2025 | Day 1D | 12:00 p.m. |
| Sunday, July 6, 2025 | Day 2abc | 12:00 p.m. |
| Monday, July 7, 2025 | Day 2d | 12:00 p.m. |
| Tuesday, July 8, 2025 | Day 3 | 12:00 p.m. |
| Wednesday, July 9, 2025 | Day 4 | 12:00 p.m. |
| Thursday, July 10, 2025 | Day 5 | 12:00 p.m. |
| Friday, July 11, 2025 | Day 6 | 12:00 p.m. |
| Saturday, July 12, 2025 | Day 7 | 12:00 p.m. |
| Sunday, July 13, 2025 | Day 8 – Play to Final Table | 12:00 p.m. |
| Monday, July 14, 2025 | Rest Day | — |
| Tuesday, July 15, 2025 | Final Table Day 1 – Play Down to 4 | 1:30 p.m. |
| Wednesday, July 16, 2025 | Final Table Day 2 | 1:30 p.m. |
Luke Schwartz Hunting For Bracelet No. 2
Luke Schwartz, one of the original bad boys of UK poker, is amongst the last four in Event #77 $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better. He’s on his first WSOP final table in six years and is third in chips with just under 2m. The chip leader is Qinghai Pan on 5.265m, going for his third career bracelet in the 186-player event, with a $411,051 first prize.
Schwartz has been involved in many memorable moments in televised poker, often hilarious, such as in this clip from the Premier League, when Luke gets irked by David Benyamin and goes on a four-minute verbal tirade against the Frenchman, all with Kermit the Frog watching quietly, having already mucked his hand.
Only one other British player made the money in this event, James Cheung, who banked $21,580 for 17th place.
Other Bracelet Event News
Event #75 $1,000 Mini Main Event
Forty from the UK cashed in the $1,000 Mini Main Event, with Alexander Ellison going the furthest, claiming 30th place for $29,380 from a total field of 10,794 entrants. He was one of five Brits to make the top 100 in the event won by Martin Kabrhel.
- Read More: Martin Kabrhel wins 4th WSOP Bracelet
Guy Taylor, who has recently landed in Las Vegas, secured his first cash of the series, taking $3,050 for 570th place. Gerald ’Skullman” David also cashed, in 674th for $2,560.
| Position | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 30 | Alexander Ellison | $29,380 |
| 43 | Yiqian Song | $24,010 |
| 56 | Navid Nasseri | $16,370 |
| 65 | James Hill | $13,660 |
| 99 | Ben Collins | $7,130 |
| 127 | Mark Remnant | $7,130 |
| 161 | Kevin Joyce | $7,130 |
| 164 | Garry Medlock | $6,170 |
| 184 | Robbie Bull | $6,170 |
| 186 | Thomas Hall | $6,170 |
| 193 | William Stephenson | $6,170 |
| 256 | Jack Allen | $5,390 |
| 265 | Grace Walsh | $5,390 |
| 277 | Richard Robinson | $5,390 |
| 322 | Harry Lodge | $4,730 |
| 326 | Vincent Nemenyi | $4,730 |
| 345 | Adam Matues | $4,730 |
| 361 | Andrew Hawksby | $4,190 |
| 421 | Nathan Farnaby | $3,740 |
| 450 | Najeeb Elkamand | $3,740 |
| 451 | Konstantinos Patsourakis | $3,740 |
| 482 | Robert Douras | $3,360 |
| 539 | Saheb Raju | $3,360 |
| 541 | Richard Watts | $3,050 |
| 564 | Adam Snook | $3,050 |
| 570 | Guy Taylor | $3,050 |
| 581 | Pratik Ghatge | $3,050 |
| 594 | Dale Hancock | $3,050 |
| 596 | Mark Robinson | $3,050 |
| 598 | Timothy Bullen | $3,050 |
| 606 | Daniel Moran | $2,790 |
| 610 | David Hudson | $2,790 |
| 626 | Geoffrey Sims | $2,790 |
| 627 | Alfie Adam | $2,790 |
| 639 | Ben Miller | $2,790 |
| 640 | Chun Lau | $2,790 |
| 645 | Robert Legg | $2,790 |
| 674 | Gerald David | $2,560 |
| 702 | Steven Heron | $2,560 |
| 830 | Luke Marsh | $2,410 |
Event #78 $600 PokerNews Deepstack Championship
Three British players remain in the cheap and cheerful PokerNews Deepstack, which attracted 5,667 entrants. Xizhe Yuan, with 6.3m, has the 4th largest chip stack of the 55 players who remain in contention for the $302,165 first prize. Timothy Joiner with 2.64m and Felix McPeake on 1.5m are also still in with a chance of taking home another UK bracelet at the 2025 WSOP.
Fifty other UK players made the money, including Ian Simpson (223rd for $2,052), Steven Watts (437th for $1,425), Sam Acheampong (489th for $1,333) and Andrew Teng (832nd for $1,200).
| Position | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 63 | Matthew Skeadas | $4,709 |
| 69 | Callum Vibert | $4,709 |
| 136 | David Welch | $2,608 |
| 149 | Alex Todd | $2,302 |
| 150 | Callum Gordon | $2,302 |
| 153 | Luke Tatum | $2,302 |
| 164 | Ben Miller | $2,302 |
| 169 | Scott Danby | $2,302 |
| 178 | Justin Barnes | $2,302 |
| 181 | Varun Gaur | $2,302 |
| 204 | Tom Eady | $2,052 |
| 223 | Ian Simpson | $2,052 |
| 259 | Claudiu-Mihai Burlacu | $1,846 |
| 262 | Ricky Murphy | $1,846 |
| 351 | James Osullivan | $1,538 |
| 358 | William Watkins | $1,538 |
| 385 | Keir Wallace | $1,538 |
| 392 | Robert Mcadam | $1,538 |
| 418 | Andrew Fleming | $1,425 |
| 425 | Thomas Bolton | $1,425 |
| 437 | Steven Watts | $1,425 |
| 451 | Saheb Raju | $1,425 |
| 466 | Richard Watts | $1,333 |
| 489 | Sam Acheampong | $1,333 |
| 502 | Steven Queen | $1,333 |
| 503 | Steven Smart | $1,333 |
| 537 | Ryan Marks | $1,259 |
| 566 | Daniel Toffel | $1,259 |
| 603 | Hemal Mehta | $1,200 |
| 611 | Daniel Cole | $1,200 |
| 618 | Paul Tait | $1,200 |
| 626 | Christopher Gordon | $1,200 |
| 634 | Rupom Pal | $1,200 |
| 664 | Mark Mcdade | $1,200 |
| 676 | David Hudson | $1,200 |
| 678 | Martin Hogarty | $1,200 |
| 681 | Ali Ayub | $1,200 |
| 735 | Jamie Dale | $1,200 |
| 743 | Samuel Goodman | $1,200 |
| 746 | Jun Li | $1,200 |
| 749 | Danny Grogan | $1,200 |
| 763 | Robert Douras | $1,200 |
| 765 | Antony Friel | $1,200 |
| 775 | Sandeep Chaduvula | $1,200 |
| 826 | Anthony Hughes | $1,200 |
| 832 | Andrew Teng | $1,200 |
Event #79 $100,000 Pot Limit Omaha High Roller
No players from the UK made the money in the super high roller PLO event, which at the time of publishing still has seven players left in, including Phil Ivey, Alex Foxen, Shuan Deeb and chip leader Isaac Haxton. Benny Glaser bubbled in this one, departing in 20th place, with only 19 making the money. Negreanu and Nick Schulman both made the money in the 121-player field, but missed out on seats at the final table.
Event #80 $800 Summer Celebration
The first starting day of the $800 Summer Celebration…..seriously, get better names for these bracelet-carrying sides, Summer Celebration, that’s just lazy, it’s terrible, maybe even worse than the military-themed Salute for Warriors or the highly contrived Battle of the Ages…rant over, let’s start again…
The first starting day of the $800 Summer Celebration…nah, sorry can’t do it, still ranting…here’s the Day 1a basics:
- 3,054 players
- 168 remain
- Five of these are Brits
- There could be more, this event isn’t being fully reported on during its starting days.
| Position | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 83 | Hamish Tong | 595,000 |
| 128 | James Bagley | 370,000 |
| 159 | Idris Drief | 220,000 |
| 160 | Andrew Hedley | 215,000 |
| 165 | Alfie Adam | 185,000 |
Event #82 $10,000 8-Game Mixed Championship
Three players from the UK are among the 75 who will return for Day 2 of the $10k 8-Game Championship. Familiar names indeed, with Robert Wells in 18th having the largest stack of the three on 181,000. Jon Shoreman has 100,000 and Benny Glaser is hanging on in with 50,500.
