888poker’s Ian Simpson Takes Down PSO Manchester High Roller

The £2,200 PokerStars Open (PSO) Manchester High Roller has crowned its champion, and Ian Simpson is that man. The 888poker ambassador came out on top of a 106-strong field and received £53,140 of the £233,200 prize pool.

Having won the €888 buy-in 888poker LIVE Madrid Main Event for €62,000 in January and then the £560 buy-in 888poker UKPL Newcastle Main Event for £34,800 in April, this PSO Manchester is Simpson’s third live title of 2025.

Speaking to PokerStars shortly after his hat-trick completing win, Simpson said, “You’re meant to have been short at some point – I just wasn’t. I did have to make some calls and bluffs, but I had a series of big hands, and I just had to click the call button. On one bullet too – very nice!”

£2,200 PSO Manchester High Roller Final Table Results

The top 15 finishers received a slice of the £233,200 prize pool. PokerStars ambassadors Adam McKola and Kenny Hallaert finished in 15th and 12th place, respectively. Steve Warburton fell in 11th, and Billy Irvine’s exit in tenth burst the final table bubble.

Javier Rodriguez, one of three Spaniards at the final table, busted in ninth for £5,940 before Mitch Johnson crashed out in eighth for £7,140. Rodriguez’s fellow Spaniards, Gerard Cortés and Joan Hereu, were the next to fall by the wayside. They took home £8,920 and £11,160 for their efforts. As a result, Cortes now has almost $700,000 in live earnings, while the prize Hereu collected represents a new career-high.

Portugal’s Rui Bouquet busted in fifth for £14,500, with the 2024 European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona runner-up Andrew “stato_1” Hulme seeing his latest deep run end in a fourth-place finish worth £18,840.

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Third-place and £24,500 went to Antoine Labat, the Frenchman who finished ninth in the 2018 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. Labat’s demise left Simpson heads-up against Nicholas Swann.

Swann was seemingly unaware of Simpson’s long and illustrious poker career, asking the 888poker ambassador if he had enjoyed much heads-up practice in the live arena.

“I’ve had a good couple of years…” came the jokey reply from the 2013 Irish Open Main Event champion.

Simpons put his superior live poker experience to good use, sending Swann to the rail in second place. Swann, who recently finished fifth in the £1,000 GUKPT Edinburgh Main Event for a career-best £10,690, received £34,300 and set himself a new high score. Simpson received the all-important winner’s trophy and a £53,140 top prize, the fifth-largest live score of his career.

Other PSO Manchester Results

Four other events have crowned their champions, including the £220 Women’s Event. Amber Sullivan triumphed in that ladies-only event, turning her £220 into £2,478. Sullivan has made waves since her first cash in March 2024. She won the £170 London Poker Festival’s Championship event and took down the £200 Ladies Event at the GUKPT Goliath in July 2025. This latest victory means Sullivan has won almost $40,000 in the past 18 months despite most of her tournaments being at the lower end of the buy-in scale.

There were also victories for David Docherty, who won the £220 No-Limit Hold’em Deep Stack for £7,232, and for Muhibur Rahman and Oleksandr Shevnchenko.

Matthew Pitt hails from Leeds, West Yorkshire, in the United Kingdom, and has worked in the poker industry since 2008, and worked for PokerNews since 2010. In September 2010, he became the editor of PokerNews. Matthew stepped away from live reporting duties in 2015, and now concentrates on his role of Senior Editor for the PokerNews.