888poker LIVE Manchester 2024: Stephen Barnes Captures £58K Top Cash and Trophy!

888poker hosted its penultimate live stop of 2024 at the Grosvenor Casino in Manchester, UK! 888poker LIVE Manchester was a massive success, with the Main Event attracting a total of 279 entries.

The series kicked off on 14 August, culminating with the Main Event from 21 through 25 August. The tournament’s 279 entries created a massive prize pool, with £58,000 going to the winner, Stephen Barnes, after a heads-up deal.

At the start of the final day of action, Barnes was sitting in third place with a healthy stack. He turned that into a winning run and claimed the lion’s share of the prize money.

Most of the live event was streamed on our 888pokerTV Twitch channel, capturing the true essence of this massively successful event!

888poker LIVE Manchester Main Event - Day 1A

Day 1A of the Main Event attracted a total of 23 entries. Several big names played in the High Roller event, including 888poker Ambassadors Ian Simpson, Vivian Saliba, and Lucia Navarro.

Jonathan Roberts had a day on the felt that most poker players only dream of having.

He bagged a whopping 376,500 in chips, giving him a massive chip lead heading into Day 2.

888poker LIVE Manchester Main Event - Day 1B

Day 1B saw several 888poker ambassadors take to the felt with various degrees of success.

888poker Ambassador Ian Simpson doubled up with KK versus the QQ of Mark McDade and finished with 112,000. He was joined by fellow teammate Vivian Saliba (76,500).

Team 888poker members Nick Eastwood, Lucia Navarro and Josh Manley all fell short. Other notables to bust on Day 1B were Dean Hutchinson, UFC veteran Terence Etim and Sinead Priestley.

Nineteen players managed to find a bag in the second starting flight for Day 2.

888poker LIVE Manchester Main Event - Days 1C &1D

Day 1C attracted 125 entries, more than the first two starting flights combined.

At the end of Day 1, the Main Event had attracted 279 entries. Sixty-three players, including Team888's Andrei Cosmin (63,500) and Lucia Navarro (33,500), were ready to take on Day 2 action.

Other notables to punch their ticket to Day 2 were Steven Warburton (266,000), Stephen Cherry (231,000), Tom Middleton (227,500), Jamie Walden (170,500), Matthew Davenport (132,000), and Gary Blackwood (82,500).

888poker LIVE Manchester Main Event - Day 2

As we entered Day 2 of action, we tallied 279 entries, with 33 players making the money! 

Sixty-three players were in the hunt at the start of Day 2 for the £60,000 up top with a minimum cash of £2,250.

888poker LIVE Manchester Main Event Payout Schedule

The money bubble came quickly with an insane hand involving Day 1C chip leader, Neville Betty and David Gee.

The Day 1C chip leader was all-in for 450,000 with pocket aces, up against Gee’s pocket fives. Betty was set to double up on the final table bubble. But the flop had other ideas.

Gee spiked quads on the flop to bust Betty in 10th place and end an action-filled Day 2.

🤷‍♂️ AA vs. 55 on the FT Bubble, what could go wrong?

🚨 The final table is set after David Gee flops quad 55 against Neville Betty’s AA to take the chip lead! #quads #manchester #pokerlife pic.twitter.com/tK79vrYrd7

— 888poker (@888poker) August 24, 2024

888poker ambassador Ian Simpson finished a few spots off the money, and Vivian Saliba was eliminated on the money bubble after running pocket eights into Keith Johnson’s Jacks.

Ian Simpson Finishes Runner-Up in The Dragon

In other tournament series action, 888poker Ambassador Ian Simpson came close to capturing a title, finishing runner-up in the £550 The Dragon for £8,880.

Gary Holding took the top spot for £11,660 after surviving the 101-player field.

Main Event Day 3 and Final Table Action!

Sitting in second place in the field on Day 3 of final table action was Jamie Walden (1,475,000).

He made a name for himself, winning the Poker Hall of Fame bounty event in his very first WSOP for a bracelet and $313,370 top cash.

In the top spot sat David Gee with a healthy 84 blinds stack of 1,680,000 chips.

888poker LIVE Manchester Main Event Final Nine

The action began with short-stack Qasim Zia first to bust in 9th Place (£6,100). He ran his ace-jack into Man Li’s ace-queen.

Next to find the door was Mark McDade. He moved all-in for 570,000 with pocket nines. Walden had the pocket rockets and eliminated McDade in 8th Place (£7,020)

Man Li folded on the river to a shove by Ramadan and was left severely short-stacked. He then shoved for his remaining 215,000 on the button with ace-four, and Ramadan called with queen-ten. Ramadan hit top pair on the flop, and Li was eliminated in 7th Place (£8,150).

Robert Boon had got down to 175,000, good for just three big blinds when he shoved with queen-four. Walden was priced in from the big blind and answered the call nine-deuce. He caught trip deuces to bust Boon in sixth place (£10,200).

Ramadan held ace-king when he bet 110,000 on an ace-high flop. Barnes raised to 275,000, and Ramadan re-raised to 750,000. Barnes moved all-in, and Ramadan called for 1,825,000. Barnes had flopped a set of sixes bust Ramadan in fifth for (£13,900).

Gee found himself down to 830,000 and moved all-in with ace-deuce. Barnes called with ace-six, and his six-kicker played, sending Gee to the rail in fourth (£20,000).

Shortly after, Walden moved all-in for 1,410,000, and Miao called with ace-eight. Walden found himself dominated with his nine-eight. Miao hit an ace on the flop, and that was all she wrote, busting Walden in third place (£30,000).

Main Event Day Heads-Up Action!

A heads-up deal guaranteed Barnes £48,000 and Miao £44,000, leaving the trophy and £10,000 on the table.

Stephen Barnes dominated the heads-up action, as he had at the final table. He knocked Miao down to seven big blinds after rivering two pair.

Miao managed to double up once but was soon all-in again with king-seven for 780,000. Barnes was dominated with queen-seven, but a queen fell on the turn, securing him the title and the trophy he so desired.

🚨 THE WINNING HAND!

🏆 Stephen Barnes hits the queen to become the 888poker LIVE Manchester Main Event Champion!

👏 Congratulations Stephen!#poker #pokerlife #manchester pic.twitter.com/QxYyYBJ68e

— 888poker (@888poker) August 25, 2024

Stephen Barnes had to say this about his final table strategy and how he binked the win:

“I’m quite inexperienced when it comes to final tables anyway, but having a monster chip lead, I’m quite inexperienced at putting pressure on players. I had a very good player in Jamie to my left. He’s played a lot and can counteract that,” Barnes said.

 “But, my strategy was just thinning my range down a bit more, opening more hands, three-betting more hands, putting pressure on stacks that were second and third because they didn’t want to bust next. So, it was just about applying more pressure.”

Well played, all!

We'll see you at the next and final 888poker LIVE stop—in COVENTRY!

888poker LIVE Main Event Final Table Results

*after heads-up deal