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Bryan Taylor Wins 888poker LIVE London High Roller as Main Event Gets Underway

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Samantha Doyle 8 minutes ago

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Bryan Taylor won the £2,000 High Roller at 888poker LIVE London, taking home £42,410 from a field of 80 entries.
Hector Berry leads the 18 survivors after Day 1A of the £1,250 Main Event, with action set to continue.
Richard Broda outlasted 402 players to win the £340 Mini Main, earning £26,220.

Bryan Taylor came to 888poker LIVE London already having put together one of the busiest years on the UK circuit. Aftet this week, he can say add another trophy to it.

Taylor won the £2,000 High Roller at Grosvenor Victoria Casino on Thursday, defeating Andrew Hulme heads-up for £42,410. His victory arrived while the opening flight of the £1,250 Main Event was just picking up, where Hector Berry ended Day 1A as chip leader.

With the festival running through Sunday, October 18, attention now moves to the Main Event and its £250,000 guarantee.

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Taylor Converts Fourth-Place Stack Into High Roller Win

Taylor began the final day well behind overnight leader Ben Philipps. He had just 528,000 chips after Day 1, compared to Philipps' 1.01 million, while Martin Kopernicky and Alexios Zervos also started ahead of him. A

ndrew Hulme and John Duthie were among the other names still involved.

By the end of Day 2, Taylor and Hulme were the last two players standing.

Taylor won the final hand with ace-five against Hulme's ace-four after a five landed on the flop. Hulme received £28,320 as runner-up, with Slovakia's Kopernicky taking £18,460 in third. Duthie added another deep run to his week with fourth place and £13,000.

Place	Player	Prize
1	Bryan Taylor	£42,410
2	Andrew Hulme	£28,320
3	Martin Kopernicky	£18,460
4	John Duthie	£13,000
5	Arthur Conan	£9,580

The High Roller finished with 80 entries and a £136,800 prize pool.

For Taylor, London adds to a year that already included a GUKPT High Roller victory at The Vic in April. He had made 22 final tables during 2026 before this latest result and sits first on Grosvenor's National Poker League leaderboard.

Hector Berry Leads the Main Event's First 18 Survivors

While the High Roller played down to a winner, the first Main Event flight brought another 106 entries into the casino, of which only 18 survived.

Hector Berry leads them with 384,000, followed by Julien Sitbon with 345,000 and Chris Balmforth with 311,000. Longmao Fan also crossed 300,000, finishing on 308,500.

Rank	Player	Chips
1	Hector Berry	384,000
2	Julien Sitbon	345,000
3	Chris Balmforth	311,000
4	Longmao Fan	308,500
5	Simon Burns	231,500

Ian Simpson was among the 888poker players making it through, bagging 192,500. Lucia Navarro has 123,000 and Ricardo Mateus 122,000.

The Main Event remains a long way from having its final field. Day 1B starts at noon on October 16 before the Day 1C Turbo at 8 p.m. Day 2 follows on Saturday, with the final day scheduled for Sunday.

Broda Beats 402 Entries in the Mini Main

Richard Broda already has one of the festival's largest fields behind him.

The Hungarian won the £340 Mini Main after navigating 402 entries, earning £26,220 from the £114,560 prize pool. Guang Yang finished second for £17,520 and Pranav Agarwal took £11,490 in third.

Richard Broda Wins 888poker Live London £340 Mini Main — Richard Broda Wins the £340 Mini Main

Broda's result came after he entered the final table third in chips. Several established UK tournament players also made the money, including Adam Wilkinson, Yucel Eminoglu and Vikram Mehta.

The 402-entry figure is worth keeping in mind as the Main Event numbers begin to develop. It is already comfortably ahead of the 279 entries recorded in the £500 Crazy 8 opener.