The 2024 PokerStars United Kingdom & Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT) London festival kicks off on August 2, with the £1,100 Main Event’s first flight shuffling up and dealing on August 4. Eight players have become UKIPT London Main Event champions since the tournament’s inaugural running in 2010, and some of those champions have become household names following their victories.
PokerNews‘ live reporting team is on the ground throughout the 2024 UKIPT London Main Event, and we hope one of our readers follows in the footsteps of these eight heroes and returns home as a poker champion.
Past PokerStars UKIPT London Champions
| Date | Buy-in | Entrants | Prize Pool | Champion | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 2010 | £5,250 | 848 | £4,112,800 | David Vamplew | £900,000 |
| Oct 2011 | £5,250 | 691 | £3,351,350 | Benny Spindler | £750,000 |
| Mar 2013 | £770 | 1,099 | £746,221 | Sergio Aido | £144,555 |
| Oct 2014 | £770 | 1,089 | £739,431 | Brett Angell | £115,083 |
| Jan 2015 | £770 | 742 | £503,818 | Rapinder Cheema | £78,825 |
| Apr 2016 | £770 | 649 | £454,300 | Usman Siddique | £84,100 |
| Apr 2022 | £1,100 | 645 | £619,200 | James Rann | £86,569 |
| Sep 2023 | £1,100 | 374 | £359,040 | Dylan Bradley | £71,650 |
Scotland’s David Vamplew won the inaugural UKIPT London Main Event in 2020, which served as the Grand Final of the fledgling tour, doubling up as the European Poker Tour (EPT) London Main Event. The £5,250 buy-in tournament drew in 848 entrants, who created a £4,112,800 prize pool. Vamplew defeated John Juanda heads-up to claim the £900,000 top prize.
Vamplew became a regular on the live circuit following his win, enjoying much success. However, his last recorded live cash came in February 2018, as he’s stepped away from the game. Vamplew is now married, and graduated with a Masters (with distinction) in Financial Modelling and Optimisation.
The 2011 edition of the UKIPT London Main Event mirrored the one in 2020 in that it acted as the UKIPT Grand Final and EPT London Main Event. German superstar Benny Spindler outlasted 690 opponents on his way to banking £750,000.
Spindler racked up over $4.5 million in live scores before vanishing from the scene; PokerNews last caught Spindler in a live event at the 2018 EPT Barcelona Main Event.
Spanish superstar Sergio Aido won the 2013 UKIPT London Main Event, which had changed to a £770 buy-in by this times. Aido had burst onto the live poker circuit with a victory in the €1,650 WPT National Barcelona Main Event in October 2012, finished 17th in the EPT Prague Main Event in December 2012, then won the 2013 UKIPT London Main Event for £144,555.
Aido has since bagged 30 scores weighing in at six figures, and five seven-figure scores, including a $2,026,506 haul he enjoyed after winning the $50,000 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller at the recent 2024 World Series of Poker (WSOP).
In 2014, Brett Angell powered through 1,088 opponents to capture the UKIPT London title and its £115,083 top prize. Three years earlier, Angell finished as the runner-up in the 2011 UKIPT Nottingham Main Event for £80,000.
Angell’s live poker volume has waned in recent years as he focuses more on family life. However, he still occasionally appears in UK-based events and won the 2019 Grosvenor UK Poker Tour (GUKPT) Leeds Main Event in 2019, and recently cashed in a Grosvenor 25/50 event in Newcastle in January 2024.
Rapinder Cheema won the 2015 UKIPT London Main Event for £78,825 after a heads-up deal with Spain’s Fernando Marin. The aforementioned Angell was at Cheema’s final table, finishing seventh a year after taking down the event.
Cheema cashed in five live tournaments in the 12 months after his UKIPT victory, but his last Hendon Mob entry was in November 2015, so he’s either playing anonymously or has called time on his live poker career.
Walsall’s Usman Siddique first appeared in the British live circuit in 2015, racking up more than a dozen cashes in his first year. Having cashed in the £1,100 Sky Poker UK Poker Championships in February 2016, Siddique headed to the £770 UKIPT London Main Event in April. Siddique left a trail of talented pros in his wake in London, including Jack Hardcastle, David Docherty, and Jack Salter, before claiming the £84,100 first-place prize for himself.
Over the next six years, Siddique cashed in events around the world, but his last in-the-money finish was in December 2022.
UKIPT London went on a hiatus for a while before returning in April 2022 with a new £1,100 buy-in. Some 645 players bought into the 2022 Main Event, and James Rann outlasted them all, raking in £86,569.
Rann was an accomplished live and online poker tournament grinder before his London win, boasting hundreds of thousands of dollars in live earnings, and over $1.9 million from the online arena. Rann will likely be in London for the 2024 edition of this popular tournament.
Last but not least is Dylan Bradley, the reigning UKIPT London champion. The 22-year-old’s first recorded live result was victory in the 2023 UKIPT London Main Event worth £71,650, some way to get off the mark.
Full 2024 UKIPT London Schedule
Expand the table below to see the full 2024 UKIPT London schedule. Remember that PokerNews is reporting on the £1,100 Main Event from Day 1a through to the ninth champion lifting the trophy aloft.
Power Passes and More to be Won in the Ambassador Meet-Up
The Main Event aside, the one tournament you must try to make it to is the £220 No-Limit Hold’em Bounty Ambassador Meet-Up at 8:00 p.m. on August 6. You can win £100 cash for each opponent you send to the rail, but special prizes await anyone who eliminates a PokerStars Ambassador.
The likes of Lex Veldhuis, Sam Grafton, Barny Boatman, Joe “Stapes” Stapleton, James Hartigan, Adam McKola, Rory Jennings, Georgina “GJ Reggie” James, Nick Walsh, and Kerryjane Craigie are expected to feature, and do so with an additional bounty on their head.
Two ambassadors will have a $2,500 Silver Pass on their head with the others having a $109 Power Path Bronze Path as their bounty. Oh, and the eventual winner of this event receives a UKIPT Nottingham Main Event seat on top of any cash or other bounties they collect along the way!
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