Gang Wang Wins £1,250 Buy-in 888poker LIVE London Main Event for £86,600!

On 4 September 2025, the 888poker LIVE London Festival headed to the new and improved Grosvenor Vitoria Casino – The Vic for an amazing 11 days of incredible poker action!

The series was poised to deliver massive prize pools, with a multi-flight Mystery Bounty Main Event capping off the action. And, with NO RAKE being part of the deal, we were set to end our live poker season with a bang!

The Grosvenor Victoria (VIC) is one of the most popular and respected casinos in the UK. Following a recent refurbishment of the poker room, it has become the place for serious poker action on the live circuit.

The Main Event was the crown jewel of the series, attracting 367 entries with a top prize of £86,600 and a minimum cash prize of £2,800.

As the last player standing, Chinese national Gang Wang secured the trophy and has upped his lifetime earnings by about 50% with this win.

“Because I won this trophy, my wife will allow me to go play poker all the time,” he said via a translator. “God kissed my hand. Very lucky.”

Main Event – Day 1A

A total of 105 players entered the first of three starting flights on Day 1A, taking full advantage of the enhanced hospitality of the revamped VIC poker room. However, only 22 secured a spot in Day 2 in this venue, now decked out like something out of a Hollywood movie.

Ali Abdulzahra ran away with the chip lead at the end of the day, knocking out Antoine Labat, a 2018 WSOP Main Event finalist, along the way.

Team888 ambassadors also had a miserable day of it with Lucia Navarro, Nick Eastwood, Aaron Barone, Ian Simpson, Ricardo Mateus, and Jack “JaackMaate” Dean all sent to the rail.

Main Event – Days 1B & 1C Turbo

It could have been one for the history books as Chris Da-Silva, the 2024 888poker LIVE Coventry Main Event winner, sat in pole position at the end of Day 1B. In the history of the 888poker LIVE series, no player has ever won two Main Event titles.

Day 1B saw 159 entries throwing their caps into the ring on Day 1B, bringing the total field up to 264. Just 60 from both flights secured their spots to Day 2.

A further 96 entries played the Day 1C flight, with late registration open until the start of Day 2.

Vivi Wins Big Shot

Meanwhile, although 888poker ambassadors were having less luck in the Main Event, Vivia Saliba had a deep run in a side event. She won the title, trophy and tidy payday in taking down the 888poker LIVE London Big Shot for £12,135.

888poker LIVE Main Event – Day 2

Day 2 saw an additional 11 players join the 85 survivors from the Day 1s, creating a total field of 367 entries and generating a prize pool of £383,500.

The top 44 players would finish in the money and earn at least a min-cash of £2,800, with £86,600 going to the champion.

Unfortunately, no 888poker ambassadors survived the fray on Day 2, as we played down to a final table of 9 over the course of 12 hours.

However, 888poker friend of the family Sonny (Santino) Dean was the last player standing from the team of friends, finishing in 24th Place (£3,250)

888poker LIVE Main Event – Day 3 - Final Table

Nine players were guaranteed £7,100 for making the final table. The champion would walk away with £86,600 and the 888poker LIVE trophy!

The action at the final table picked up with 27 minutes remaining in Level 26 and blinds at 20,000/40,000 with a 40,000 big blind ante.

For the final day of action, levels were extended to 60 minutes.

All nine finalists battled for 3 hours before the first player found themselves on the rail:

9. Geoffrey Mooney was eliminated in 9th place for £7,100 when he moved all-in with Ako. His opponent, Akshat Bansal, held ATo and spiked a Ten on the flop and another Ten on the river sealed Mooney’s fate.

8. Next up was Jamie Dwan who fell foul to Paul Vas Nunes, pocket Nines. When Jamie’s KQo whiffed the board, he finished in 8^th place for £8,250.

7. Short-stacked with pocket eights, Mario Trattou moved all-in for his remaining 215,000. He ran into Akshat Bansal’s A9o, and a nine on the flop was Jamie’s nail in his coffin. He finished in 7^th place for £9,950.

6. Ravi Sheth woke up with pocket Sevens and called Michael Rosaman’s re-shove on the button with AJs. Michael paired his Jack on the flop, sending Sheth to the rail in 6^th place for £12,850.

5. After the first break, Akshat Bansal got his walking papers, eliminated in 5th Place for £17,650. Gang Wang’s AA held, sending Bansal’s K9s to the rail.

4. Paul Vas Nunes was next to be eliminated in 4th place, bagging £25,500 for his efforts. He raised more than half his stack with the walking sticks, which were no match for Wang’s pocket Queens.

3. Out in third went Michael Rosaman, whose K4o was no match for Calogero Morreale’s Q9o. Calogero smashed the flop and the turn, making two pair and ending Rosaman’s run.

888poker LIVE Main Event – Winner!

Heads-up started with China’s Gang Wang holding a massive 4:1 chip lead over the UK’s Calogero Morreale’s Q9o.

However, Calogero clawed back to almost 1.5:1 before Gang Wang pulled away again. After approximately 90 minutes of heads-up action, Gang called Morreale’s all-in with 98o.

Wang’s J8o had Calogero dominated. The Eight on the flop and Jack on the already had Calogero drawing dead.

Morreale busted in second place for £57,200.

Wang took first for £86,600, the title and the trophy.

Good game to all the runners! See you next year on the felt!