Paul Newman Denies Katie Swift in the 888poker UKPL Blackpool Opener

The 888poker UK Poker League (UKPL) is currently in the seaside town of Blackpool, where the first event wrapped up on May 8. The £250 No-Limit Hold’em Opening Voyager is that tournament, and Paul Newman is its worthy champion.

A field of 224 entries contested a £50,000 prize pool. That is quite an impressive attendance considering that only Day 1a attracted 10 entrants. The top 29 finishers won a slice of the pie. Among the in-the-money finishers were Helder Casaca-Sena, Robert Douras, 888poker ambassador Ian Simpson, and Yucel “Mad Turk” Eminoglu.

£250 UKPL Blackpool Opening Voyager Final Table Results

Stephen Lee may not play as many live tournaments as his peers, but when he does cash, he has a remarkable record. Prior to this tournament, Lee had 16 results on his Hendon Mob profile, 13 of which were final-table appearances and 7 of which were victories. He can add a ninth-place finish worth £1,000 from this event to his impressive CV.

Local player Jamie Wilkinson crashed out in eighth before Chrissy Taylor bowed out in seventh. In November 2023, Taylor won a £250 Mini Main Event during the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour (GUKPT) Blackpool leg at this same casino for a career-best £37,000.

Edward Burke bowed out in sixth for a career-high £1,750 and was joined on the rail by casino regular Lilian Welch, the latter scooping £2,370 for her efforts.

Fourth-place and £3,410 went to Chun Ho, who is sometimes called Harry Law, before the elimination of Bryan Taylor in third sent the tournament into the heads-up stage. Taylor has been in incredible form since switching from cash games to tournaments, nd has quickly become one of the most-feared players on the UK poker scene.

Heads-up pitted Grosvenor Poker ambassador Katie Swift against Paul Newman. The final hand of the one-on-one battle saw Swift all-in with ten-nine, which lost to the dominating queen-nine of Newman. Swift banked £7,600 for her runner-up finish, her largest score of 2026, while Newman collected £11,280, the second five-figure prize of his career.

Attention Turns to the High Roller and Main Event

With the Opening Voyager out of the way, the focus switches to the £1,100 High Roller. Forty-two players bought in on Day 1, with 14 progressing. Late registration remained open until the start of Day 2 on May 8, resulting in another 10 players entering late and joining the fray with 16 big blinds.

Helder Casaca-Sena was the chip leader at the start of play with 800,000 chips (133 big blinds). Bryan Taylor (596,000) and Stephen McCabe (540,000) rounded out the podium places.

Day 1a of the £560 buy-in, £150,000 guaranteed UKPL Blackpool Main Event saw only 27 players turn up, and just two punched their Day 2 tickets. Frankie Mok (659,000) and Louis Shields (644,000) were the two surviving players.

The second of five flights shuffled up and dealt at 12:00 p.m. BST on May 8. Twenty-two players have bought in so far.

Please note that if you play in the UKPL Blackpool Main Event and progress to Day 2, the start time has changed. Play now resumes at 2:00 p.m. BST, not 12:00 p.m. BST as previously advertised. This is due to the promenade being closed for the Blackpool Fun Run.

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.