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Daniel Smith wins Main Event after qualifying for free, earning £22,500.
Ben Skinner recovers from five big blinds to take Mini Main and a career-best £14,300.
Vitor Teixeira wins the Faded Spade side event, defeating Dara O'Kearney.

Two of the biggest titles at partypoker Tour London went to players who appeared to be running out of chips and time.

Daniel Smith turned a free entry into a £22,500 Main Event victory, while Ben Skinner recovered from just five big blinds to win the Mini Main after a marathon heads-up battle.

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Smith Denies Yong in Main Event Finale

Smith entered the £500 Main Event through a free satellite ticket and began the final day as the chip leader, holding 2,455,000. Chris Yong was close behind on 2,070,000, while Barry Donovan was the only other finalist above the one-million mark.

With 190 entries, the tournament produced a £100,000 prize pool. Twenty-eight players finished in the money, with the final nine returning to decide the title.

Vikrum Mehta was the first finalist eliminated, followed by James Marshall. Ivan Meister and James Korek then departed in seventh and sixth respectively, while Matt Horn collected £6,250 for fifth place.

Former PartyPoker Tour Main Event champion Deniz Orhan was searching for another tour title but saw his run end in fourth. His £7,750 result left Smith, Yong and Donovan competing for the three five-figure prizes.

Donovan exited in third for £10,000, sending Smith into heads-up play against Yong. At that stage, however, the balance of power had shifted dramatically.

Yong began the duel with 6,890,000 chips against Smith’s 2,605,000. The numerical advantage made Yong the clear favourite, but Smith stayed patient and found his way back into contention.

The central turning point arrived when Smith doubled with pocket nines against Yong’s pocket sixes. He followed that breakthrough by winning another important pot with pocket kings, taking control of a contest that had initially appeared to be slipping away.

The last hand came with the blinds at 50,000/100,000. Yong moved all-in for approximately 20 big blinds with king-seven of diamonds, and Smith called with king-jack of clubs.

A ten-four-two flop containing three clubs gave Smith a completed flush and left Yong unable to recover. Smith secured the trophy and the £22,500 top prize, while Yong received £15,000 as runner-up.

The victory surpassed Smith’s previous largest live result, an £18,000 score from a Mystery Bounty tournament at The Festival in Bratislava in 2023. This time, he had turned a free entry into a career-best payday.

Main Event Final Results

Placement	Player	Winnings
1	Daniel Smith	£22,500
2	Chris Yong	£15,000
3	Barry Donovan	£10,000
4	Deniz Orhan	£7,750
5	Matt Horn	£6,250
6	James Korek	£5,000
7	Ivan Meister	£4,000
8	James Marshall	£3,250
9	Vikrum Mehta	£2,500

Skinner Refuses to Stay Short-Stacked

The £150 Mini Main Event attracted 697 entries across six starting flights, taking its prize pool to £87,125 and comfortably exceeding the original £50,000 guarantee.

Fourteen players made the final day, led by PartyPoker Tour team member Sam Acheampong. Jaime Staples, Ayush Gandhi and Timothy Scott were also among the leading contenders.

partypoker Tour London: Mini Main Event Final Table

Skinner’s position was considerably less comfortable. The local player reached the final table with only five big blinds, leaving little room for error.

Pocket kings delivered his first important double-up. He then found an even bigger opportunity in a three-way all-in involving Staples and Acheampong.

Skinner held ace-jack of clubs against Staples’ king-queen and Acheampong’s pocket eights. Skinner won the main pot to triple his stack, while Acheampong took the side pot and eliminated Staples in seventh place.

Skinner continued climbing as Mohamed Kader and Gandhi were eliminated. Acheampong, who had entered the day as chip leader, ultimately fell in fourth against Carlos Estivill.

Michael Stanley was the next to leave. His ace-five began ahead of Skinner’s queen-jack, but a jack on the turn moved Skinner in front and reduced the field to two.

Skinner and Estivill agreed a heads-up deal, with Estivill securing £11,950 and Skinner locking up £11,800. They left £2,500 and the trophy in play.

Estivill established a 24,000,000-to-4,500,000 advantage, once again placing Skinner close to elimination. Skinner nevertheless survived, doubled and gradually erased the deficit during a duel that lasted almost two hours.

The result completed two separate recoveries for Skinner: one from five big blinds at the final table and another from a major heads-up disadvantage. His final £14,300 payout became the largest live score of his career.

Mini Main Final Standings

Placement	Player	Winnings
1	Ben Skinner	£14,300*
2	Carlos Estivill	£11,950*
3	Michael Stanley	£7,250
4	Sam Acheampong	£5,250
5	Ayush Gandhi	£3,615
6	Mohamed Kader	£2,600
7	Jaime Staples	£2,000
8	Timothy Scott	£1,450
9	Dimitar Dimitrov	£1,100

*Final totals followed a heads-up agreement.

Teixeira Beats O’Kearney in Faded Spade Event

Vitor Teixeira collected another of the festival’s notable trophies in the £200 Faded Spade No-Limit Hold’em event.

The tournament attracted 30 entries and generated a £5,100 prize pool. Teixeira defeated Dara O’Kearney heads-up to claim £2,050, with O’Kearney taking £1,300. Barry Carter completed a recognisable podium, finishing third for £800. James Smith and Tsz Wong collected the remaining payouts.

The result brought another title into the books before Smith’s Main Event victory officially closed the London stop.