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Hector Berry Leads 888poker LIVE London Main Event After Day 1A
- Hector Berry tops Day 1A of the 888poker LIVE London Main Event with 384,000 chips.
- Bryan Taylor wins the £2,000 High Roller for £42,410; Richard Broda claims the £340 Mini Main title.
- Final Main Event figures will be clearer after upcoming flights, but side events show strong attendance.
The first numbers are pilling in from the 888poker LIVE London Main Event, and from the looks of it Hector Berry has given himself the best start of the lot.
Berry bagged 384,000 chips at the end of Day 1A at Grosvenor, which ended up being just enough to lead the 18 players who progressed from the opening flight. Another 106 entries were recorded on Thursday, with another full flight and a turbo flight still to come on Friday.
While a considerable chunk of this 888poker stops revolves around the £1,250 Main Event, the 11-day festival has much more to show for itself than just that one event.
Think of this article as a halfway point, covering the most surpising wins so far and reminding you of what's still to come.
Hector Berry Sets the Early Main Event Pace
As we've already said, Berry finished Day 1A with 384,000 chips to his name, putting some distance between himself and second-ranking Frenchman Julien Sitbon, who bagged 345,000.
Chris Balmforth follows in third on 311,000, just ahead of Longmao Fan with 308,500 with Simon Burns rounding out the top five with 231,500.
| Rank | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hector Berry | 384,000 |
| 2 | Julien Sitbon | 345,000 |
| 3 | Chris Balmforth | 311,000 |
| 4 | Longmao Fan | 308,500 |
| 5 | Simon Burns | 231,500 |
888poker ambassadors Ian Simpson, Lucia Navarro and Ricardo Mateus also managed to survive the opening flight. Simpson has 192,500, while Navarro and Mateus finished within 1,000 chips of one another on 123,000 and 122,000.
While it's still far to early to make predictions, the current chip lead is no stranger to bigger stages. The British player won the inaugural $600 PokerNews Deepstack Championship at the 2024 WSOP, picking up his first bracelet in the process.
Day 1B begins at noon on Friday, followed by the turbo flight at 8 p.m. The surviving players return for Day 2 on Saturday before the tournament reaches its conclusion on Sunday.
Bryan Taylor Takes the £2,000 High Roller
Just as the Main Event was making its first steps, another of the festival's biggest tournaments was being decided.
Bryan Taylor defeated Andrew Hulme heads-up to win the £2,000 High Roller and £42,410. Ultimately, the tournament recorded 80 entries and paid 10 places from a final prize pool of £136,800.
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bryan Taylor | £42,410 |
| 2 | Andrew Hulme | £28,320 |
| 3 | Martin Kopernicky | £18,460 |
| 4 | John Duthie | £13,000 |
| 5 | Arthur Conan | £9,580 |
Taylor entered the final day fourth in chips and eventually met Hulme heads-up. The last hand saw both players hold an ace, with Taylor's ace-five making a pair of fives on the flop against Hulme's ace-four.
This London win continues a strong 2026 for Taylor, who had already accumulated 22 final-table appearances this year and arrived in London at the top of Grosvenor's National Poker League leaderboard.
Richard Broda Wins the Mini Main
So far, the £340 Mini Main produced the largest confirmed field among the major completed events.
Hungary's Richard Broda topped 402 entries to win £26,220 from a £114,560 prize pool. Broda entered the nine-handed final table third in chips before defeating Guang Yang heads-up. Yang collected £17,520, while Pranav Agarwal finished third for £11,490.
The field also included Adam Wilkinson, Yucel Eminoglu, Vikram Mehta, Oliver Hutchins and Christopher Day among the players who reached the money.
Broda's victory followed Gaverin Warner's win in the £500 Crazy 8 Opening Event, which attracted another 279 entries and generated £119,270 in prize money. Warner collected £22,430 for first place.
Can the Main Event Match 2025?
There is still too much registration left to draw much from the Main Event's 106-entry opening flight.
Last year's London Main Event attracted 367 entries and generated a £383,500 prize pool, comfortably clearing the same £250,000 guarantee attached to the 2026 edition. Gang Wang went on to win the tournament for £86,600.
This year's side-event numbers at least suggest there has been no shortage of traffic at The Vic. The Mini Main passed 400 entries, the Crazy 8 reached 279, and the High Roller closed with 80 despite its £2,000 buy-in.
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