Alex Lo – Wootton Working Mens Club, Northampton
2026 UK PUB POKER CHAMPION
The Location
Redtooth Poker’s VEGAS100 continued it’s 3-year residency at the luxurious MGM Grand in true style, as the biggest hotel in the whole of the USA welcomed over 250 people in what was the largest and most prestigious VEGAS100 festival to date. The MGM Grand is located in a real hotspot on the Las Vegas strip, offering our guests a short walk to attractions such as the Bellagio fountains & the Linq High Roller, which stands a whopping 107ft taller than the London Eye. VEGAS100 truly is now an unrivalled brand on the UK poker scene with this deal taking it into statospheric levels, and we have no intention to ever come back down.
What is VEGAS100?
In 2012, Redtooth Poker revolutionised pub poker in the UK by introducing VEGAS100, a concept taking the UK’s top 100 poker players, which are found via regional, national and online qualifiers, to the poker capital of the world, Las Vegas, to join the VEGAS100 experience and compete for the title of UK Pub Poker Champion. 100 players would travel across the pond but only 1 would return as the champion. Portsmouth’s Matt Saville emerged victorious last time out in 2025, but would he hold onto his crown and be the first player to defend his title? Or would a new star emerge from the desert of Las Vegas?
If you’re not a winner, you cannot come in!
Shuffle up n Deal
At 11:30am Las Vegas time, it was time to announce the famous words of ‘Shuffle up n Deal’ which was said by the MGM Poker Manager Steve Pique. Lets get the cards in the air!
Champ Watch
Matt Saville was back in Vegas to try and defend his title, and one thing is for sure, he came with confidence. Matt’s year as our champion was nothing short of excellent, especially having big shoes to fill by following Tony Hannon. Matt ended the year cashing just short of £5,000, which puts him 2nd in winnings behind Tony, with a high of £2,810 from a G200 event in Portsmouth. He returned extremely confident and was really believing he could be the first ever back-to-back champion. Day 1 was progressing nicely for Matt as the eliminations were ticked off one-by-one, while never really amassing a huge stack. We hit the final 50 players and Matt was still moving along nicely, that was until we went down to the final 40 runners and that is where the dream ended for our champion.
What a great effort though! Matt will still go down as one of our best champions ever after the year he has had. With 39 players remaining, we now know we are going to be crowing a brand new UK Pub Poker Champion the following day.
Cash Prize Winners
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David Nevins – Embankment, Nottingham ($150)
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Alex Phipps – St Joseph’s Social Club, Cwmbran ($150)
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David Herman – Rhodrons Club, Chessington ($175)
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Andy Kay – Trigger Pond, Warrington ($175)
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Richard Claringbull – Royal British Legion, Dagenham ($200)
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Karl Kusta – College Farm, Swindon ($200)
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Craig Rogerson – George, Morecambe ($250)
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David McDonald – Claregate, Wolverhampton ($250)
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Michael Barnes – Rushden Windmill Club, Rushden ($300)
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Andrew Weir – The Con Clubs, Birmingham ($300)
VEGAS100 2026 Final Table
Once the final table had been reached the remaining chips were bagged up and stored away over night with the final table re-commencing the following day in what was an extra-ordinary set-up. The MGM Grand poker team went all-out to give our final 10 players an experience of poker in Las Vegas that they will never forget.
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Tim Biggs – Crown & Crooked Billet, Woodford Bridge ($350)
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Daniel Howie – Flying Scotsman, Newcastle ($400)
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Kian Jacquin – Apple Tree, Carlisle ($500)
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Ashley Hayhoe – Mill Bar & Grill, Stowmarket ($600)
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Esther Birch – Wings Bar, Exmouth ($1,000)
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Nick Clifton – Mosborough Miners Welfare, Sheffield ($1,500)
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Paul Boggett – Eaton Farm, Long Eaton ($2,000)
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Luis Osorio – Bellemoor Tavern, Southampton ($2,500)
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Anand Paltanwala – Ahir Lorenzos, London ($5,000)
The 4-hour final table kicked off on an amazing stage, the best we have ever had for a Redtooth Poker final table event. The tone was set very early on with Alex winning the first 3 hands of the day. Alex also went on to eliminate Tim Biggs in 10th position with KJ>99 which gave him all the momentum, as once Tim was out, the other players were falling one by one at the hands of Alex Lo. Once Luis Osorio was eliminated in 3rd place, Alex had accounted for 7 of the 8 knockouts and he was left with a monster stack against the short stack of Anand Paltanwala. The heads-up match didn’t last long as an aggressive Alex was all-in with 8-6 to be called by 7-4. The flop was a dream for Anand as we saw 4-7-J, leaving Alex drawing to a gutshot. But as we see so often in this game, it’s never over until it’s over, the dealer peeled off the 5 on the river to give Alex the straight and the title! Congratulations Alex Lo.
Alex takes away $10,000 and a £5,000 sponsorship package which includes: Return trip for VEGAS100 2027, custom branded clothing, entry into all of the RPT legs and many many other tournaments around the UK poker scene.
VEGAS100 Finishing Positions
01 – Alex Lo – Wootton Working Men’s Club, Northampton ($10,000 & £5,000 sponsorship)
02 – Anand Paltanwala – Ahir Lorenzos, London ($5,000)
03 – Luis Osorio – Bellemoor Tavern, Southampton ($2,500)
04 – Paul Boggett – Eaton Farm, Long Eaton ($2,000)
05 – Nick Clifton – Mosborough Miners Welfare, Sheffield ($1,500)
06 – Esther Birch – Wings Bar, Exmouth ($1,000)
07 – Ashley Hayhoe – Mill Bar & Grill, Stowmarket ($600)
08 – Kian Jacquin – Apple Tree, Carlisle ($500)
09 – Daniel Howie – Flying Scotsman, Newcastle ($400)
10 – Tim Biggs – Crown & Crooked Billet, Woodford Bridge ($350)
11 – Andrew Weir – The Con Clubs, Birmingham ($300)
12 – Michael Barnes – Rushden Windmill Club, Rushden ($300)
13 – David McDonald – Claregate, Wolverhampton ($250)
14 – Craig Rogerson – George, Morecambe ($250)
15 – Karl Kusta – College Farm, Swindon ($200)
16 – Richard Claringbull – Royal British Legion, Dagenham ($200)
17 – Andy Kay – Trigger Pond, Warrington ($175)
18 – David Herman – Rhodrons Club, Chessington ($175)
19 – Alex Phipps – St Joseph’s Social Club, Cwmbran ($150)
20 – David Nevins – Embankment, Nottingham ($150)
21 – Dean Connolly – Wellington, Liverpool
22 – James Lynch – Kings Highway, Derby
23 – Cameron Dey – Northern Bar, Aberdeen
24 – Edwin Atkinson – Devon Hotel, Leeds
25 – Graham Bryson – Wellington, Billingham
26 – Malcolm Richardson – St Joseph’s Social Club, Cwmbran
27 – Hayley Lundberg – High Orchard, Gloucester
28 – Mark Roberts – Linford WMC, Linford
29 – Matthew Bunce – George, Morecambe
30 – Anthony Hannon – Tempest, Prescot
31 – Peter Alsop – Grantham Railway Sports & Social Club, Grantham
32 – Kirstie Thompson – Hayride, Beverley
33 – William Eadon – Digby Hotel, Birmingham
34 – Lewis Kemp – Queens Head, Chislehurst
35 – Murray Laing – Plough Inn, Macduff
36 – Lucas Heiser – Millers Arms, Lincoln
37 – Christian Cardwell – West End, Cleckheaton
38 – Jay Evans – Railway Bell, Essex
39 – Matt Field – Woodman, Banstead
40 – Matt Saville – Robin Hood, Havant
41 – Greg Ford – Old House at Home, Walsall
42 – Anthony Smith – Old Lane, Chippenham
43 – Nathan Mar-Gerrison – Bradmore Arms, Wolverhampton
44 – John Gleave – Wheatsheaf, Daventry
45 – Katie Evans – High Orchard, Gloucester
46 – Josh Oliver – Black Lion, Swadlincote
47 – Gary Tyler – Timberdine, Worcester
48 – Elvira Buldakova – Grosvenor Casino, Aberdeen
49 – Solomon Olaleye – South Norwood & Woodside Social Club, London
50 – David Hein – High Orchard, Gloucester
51 – Seb Marriott – Western Inn, St Austell
52 – Ben McManus – Stepfield Snooker Club, Stepfield
53 – Sean Douglas – Challow Royal British Legion Club, Wantage
54 – Colin Gordon – Rothie Inn, Inveruie
55 – Stephen McGrath – Cross House Inn, Formby
56 – Clive Knowles – Locomotive Inn, Ashford
57 – Jason Rowe – Railway Inn, Studley
58 – Graham Gorton – Bournville Social Club, Birmingham
59 – Stephen Tompkins – Hideout, Taunton
60 – Matt Elener – West End, Cleckheaton
61 – Ashley McKay – Broadheath Central FC, Altrincham
62 – Algirdas Tamasas – Freeman Arms, Ashford
63 – Paul Tolfree – Old Lane, Chippenham
64 – Iain Bowers – Pennington Social Club, Lymington
65 – Altaz Jiwa – Leather Bottle, Wimbledon
66 – Laura Waters – Dunkirk Social Club, Salisbury
67 – Richard Swan – Clock Tower, Milton Keynes
68 – Paul Musson – Grantham Railway Club, Grantham
69 – Connor Armit – Bellemoor Tavern, Southampton
70 – Howard Dawber – Strawberry Gardens, Stockport
71 – Lee McGuinness – Digby Hotel, Birmingham
72 – Gary Brookes – Millers Arms, Lincoln
73 – John Hudson – Phoenix Railway Social Club, Dover
74 – Peter Bullen – Red Lion, Wigan
75 – Arrif Shugafi – Handsworth Inn, Sheffield
76 – Stephen Smithdorf – Boscombe Down Rec Club, Amesbury
77 – Marc Griffiths – Prince of Wales, Jarrow
78 – Stuart Dandy – Durham Ox, Northallerton
79 – Adam Jedrysiak – Prince of Wales, Oxford
80 – Alexander Bradbury – Cue Club, Leicester
81 – Chad Pearson – Red Lion, Sedgley
82 – Arun Bhandari – Plough on the Green, Newbury
83 – Fraser Doig – Bank, Glasgow
84 – Sam Dean – Railway Inn, Meols
85 – Paul Dadswell – Black Bull, Rothwell
86 – Adam Balazs – Fountain Bar, Aberfeldy
87 – Zach Archibald – Bradford Arms, Bradford
88 – Alan Lamb – McNamaras, Ormskirk
89 – Paul Markham – Red Herring, Coppull
90 – Mark Swale – Sloop Inn, Beverley
91 – Michael Berry – Trallwn Working Men’s Club, Pontypridd
92 – Alan Giles – Lanivet Inn, Bodmin
93 – Christian Stephenson – Village Inn, Cardiff
94 – Daniel Pavitt – Badshot Lea Working Men’s Club, Badshot Lea
95 – Daniel Lunn – Ravenfield Arms, Rotherham
96 – Luke Dunstan – Yates, Doncaster
97 – Finlay Chadwick – Pagham Beach Club, Pagham
98 – Arturas Raila – Punch Bowl, Spalding
99 – Peter Strachan – Montrose Playhouse, Montrose
100 – Paul Lang – Hamworthy Labour Club, Poole
101 – Ajay Spolia – Bagster House Club, Shepperton
102 – Mark Pengilley – Post Office Inn, Plymouth
103 – Chris Blamey – Wings Bar, Exmouth
104 – Patrick Kirkby – Railway Inn, Meols
105 – Marie France – King James, Perth
106 – Andrew Findlay – Star & Garter, Portsmouth
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