PartyPoker Tour London Main Event | Daniel Smith stages a comeback to claim the title, achieving his career-best £22,500.

The 2026 PartyPoker Tour London Main Event concluded with Welsh player Daniel Smith emerging victorious from a field of 190 players after three days of competition, taking home £22,500 and achieving his best live tournament result.

The main event had a buy-in of £500 and a total prize pool of £100,000, with 28 players making it into the money. Christopher Yong finished as runner-up and won £15,000, while Irish player Barry Donovan took third place and won £10,000.

Daniel Smith entered the final table with a lead.

When the nine-player final table was formed, Smith led with the most chips, followed closely by Christopher Yong and Barry Donovan. Ultimately, the top three chip leaders secured the top three positions, and the competition between these three continued until the very end of the tournament.

Vikrum Mehta became the first player eliminated from the final table. He faced off against Smith's pocket sevens with K♣J♣, and in this close pre-flop match, Smith held onto his lead, leaving Mehta in ninth place.

Then, James Marshall, holding A9, faced Yong's K♦T♦. Marshall, who was initially in the lead, failed to hold onto his advantage and ultimately left the game in eighth place. Ivan Meister, in a short-stacked situation, went all-in with pocket sixes, only to be met by Donovan's AK; after the board revealed a K, Meister finished in seventh place.

With pocket twos on the river, Smith completes a full house, eliminating James Korek.

In the six-player phase, James Korek went all-in with A♦Q♦, three times, after Smith min-raised from late position. Smith, holding pocket twos, called and eventually made a full house on the river, eliminating Korek.

Sixth place and the £5,000 prize became Korek's best result at the time. After this all-in victory, Smith continued to consolidate his chip lead and gradually advanced towards the heads-up championship.

Christopher Yong eliminated his opponents in succession to advance to the one-on-one match.

Matthew Horn, holding A4 in the five-handed stage, went all-in on a flop of AJT with three clubs. Yong called with QT, and Yong completed a straight on the turn with a K, sending Horn to fifth place.

In the four-player stage, former PartyPoker Tour Manchester Main Event champion Deniz Orhan went all-in with K8, approximately nine big blinds. Yong called with A6, and the community cards didn't allow either player to hit a pair. Yong ultimately won with Ace-high, and Orhan finished in fourth place.

Barry Donovan's elimination brought the tournament to heads-up play. The board ran out 9-8-7-J on the turn, with two diamonds. Donovan led with K♦6♦ and called Yong's all-in. Although Yong had outs for a flush and a straight, he had already completed the nut straight with QT. The river card did not change the outcome, and Donovan finished in third place.

Pocket 9 completes the comeback, Smith reverses the one-on-one situation

Heads-up play began with Christopher Yong holding 6,890,000 chips, while Daniel Smith had 2,605,000, giving Yong a lead of over 2.5 to 1.

However, Smith quickly had a chance to counterattack. He held pocket nines against Yong's pocket sixes and successfully defended his larger pocket pair advantage. This all-in duel reversed the chip standings, giving Smith the heads-up initiative.

K♣J♣ completed a flush on the flop, securing the championship.

About an hour later, the decisive moment for the championship was revealed. The blinds were 50,000/100,000. Smith raised to 250,000 with K♣J♣, and Yong went all-in with K♦7♦ with approximately 2,000,000 chips. Smith called.

The flop came in clubs, giving Smith a King-high flush, leaving Yong with no chance to recover. After the turn and river, Daniel Smith officially won the PartyPoker Tour London Main Event, while Yong finished as runner-up, taking home £15,000.

PartyPoker Tour London Main Event Final Table Results

Final table rankings and prize money are compiled based on results published by PokerNews.

Match data compilation

Other winners at the London Grand Prix

The PartyPoker Tour London also saw several peripheral events produce champions. Ben Skinner defeated a field of 697 players in the £150 Mini Main Event to take home £14,300; Matthew Harniman won the £1,000 NLHE High Roller and £8,000; and Boyuan Xue won the £250 PLO Masters to earn £5,850.

PartyPoker Tour's next stop: Glasgow

The next stop of the PartyPoker Tour 2026 season will be Glasgow, Scotland, with the event scheduled to take place from August 3rd to 9th in Alea Glasgow. The Main Event buy-in remains at £500, and the total prize pool is guaranteed at £100,000.

Daniel Smith started as the chip leader at the final table and made several eliminations in the middle of the game. Although he was clearly behind at the start of heads-up play, he eventually doubled up with pocket nines and finished the game with a flush with K♣J♣.

This £22,500 victory not only broke Smith's personal best record but also made him the most important champion at the 2026 PartyPoker Tour London.

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