The season-ending 888poker LIVE London festival is in the books, and adding up all the numbers and impressions, the event met the expectations of players and organizers alike.

Once more, 888poker managed to gather players from all over Europe and beyond, giving them an opportunity to enjoy a top-tier live poker event without paying huge amounts for the privilege. And, while London’s VIC was buzzing with action last week and saw many players walk away with trophies, it is Gang Wang who’ll be taking home the fondest memories from the UK capital.

Hailing from China, Wang has been playing poker for over a decade, and he’s had a few decent scores along the way. However, the triumph in the 888poker London Main Event, which brought him £86,600, is his biggest score to date, and he hopes this will give him much more freedom to pursue his poker dreams.

Main Event Turnout Smashes Guarantee

With it being the last live festival of the season, 888poker put a very generous guarantee of £250,000 on the £1,250 Main Event. As it turned out, this was a conservative number, as there was so much interest from the players that the original guarantee was well and truly smashed.

By the time the tournament registration officially ended, there were 367 total entries in the field, which translated into a prize pool of £383,500. There were 86 players who made it through to Day 2, plus a couple who used the option to max late register. About half of those made it into the money.

Day 2 played down to the final table of nine. These nine returned the next day to find the winner, and when all the dust settled, it was Gang Wang holding all the chips and the winner’s trophy. There were no deals to speak of, so the Chinese will be taking home the full first prize amount of £86,600.

The final table action was fast and furious, as it only took a few hours of play to get to the heads-up battle between Wang and Calogero Morreale. Wang started as a significant chip leader, and although Morreale put up quite a fight, he couldn’t close the deal.

It goes without saying that Gang Wang was over the moon about the win, especially since he was down to just a few big blinds at one point and managed to master an epic comeback to claim the trophy and the largest score of his poker career.

888poker Ambassadors Put on a Show in London

Although none of the 888poker ambassadors did particularly well in the Main Event, they more than made up for it in side tournaments.

Vivian Saliba outlasted the field of 107 players in the £550 Big Shot to pick up £12,135 and add another title to her professional resume.

Aaron Barone and Nick Eastwood both went on to wrap things up in style, making the final table of The Closer event. Barone ended up busting in fifth and picking up £1,090, but Eastwood kept his momentum going all the way to the victory.

With this, 888poker LIVE wraps things up for the 2025 season, but there is still at least one more festival to come if you’re eager to play. This October, the operator will be visiting the city of Alicante in Spain for Noche De Poker El Festival.

With very affordable buy-ins, this is a great opportunity to get a taste of live action, and there are also online satellites running at 888poker to give you a chance to get in the mix at a discount.