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Wantao Tang captured his biggest live tournament title to date by winning the 2025 GUKPT London Main Event, topping a 429-player field for £83,400.
He defeated Bobby Nur heads-up, after Nur navigated from final table short stack to second-place. Nur would have to settle for £61,550 as runner-up.
Tang's previous biggest cash came earlier this year, final-tabling the Grosvenor UK Poker Open in Coventry, where he finished eighth for £22,440.
Place | Player | Country | Payout (GBP) |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Wantao Tang | United Kingdom | £83,400 |
2 | Bobby Nur | United Kingdom | £61,550 |
3 | Gary Fisher | United Kingdom | £45,400 |
4 | Ben Marshall | United Kingdom | £33,520 |
5 | Jiaze Li | China | £24,790 |
6 | Harry Barlow | United Kingdom | £18,340 |
7 | Arshia Rezai | United Kingdom | £13,630 |
8 | Chris Yong | United Kingdom | £10,260 |
9 | Thomas Clack | United Kingdom | £7,940 |
"I think I won all the flips today, so that's the biggest thing," Tang told Philip "Tower" Heald after his victory. "Everyone played so well and I really enjoyed the final table."
Tang was supproted by a boisterous rail, which he was quick to think in the post-tournament interview.
"They're all my backers and my friends, so they should be rooting for me! I'm just so happy; it's unbelievable."
https://twitter.com/GrosvenorPoker/status/1947042820264440119
Tang has enjoyed somewhat of a breakout 2025. He started the year finishing runner-up in the Aspers Winter Festival for £16,971, before finishing fourth in the PokerStars at The Hippodrome Winter Series Main Event for £11,283 — all in the space of a week.
After cashes at the British Poker Series in February, Tang headed to the Grosvenor UK Poker Open where, along with his final table in the Main Event, he cashed three other times including tenth in the High Roller.
Success didn't stop there, with the first victory of his career coming in Glasgow, taking down the 888poker LIVE £330 Mystery Bounty for £4,900. Now with another win under his belt, and five months left in the year, Tang will be looking for a strong finish to 2025.
https://twitter.com/GrosvenorPoker/status/1946968457813074027
After a five-hour stretch that saw eight players eliminated, Tang entered the final table second in chips behind leader Harry Barlow. He quickly closed the gap, extending his lead with the elimination of Thomas Clack in ninth place.
Bobby Nur had started the final table as the short stack but clawed his way back into contention. One of the key hands saw him four-bet shove with ace-jack suited, forcing Tang to fold ace-queen.
Nur continued to climb, eventually sending Chris Yong to the rail in eighth. Still, Tang remained firmly in control, further padding his stack with the elimination of Arshia Rezai.
Gary Fisher then eliminated Barlow with pocket eights holding up, briefly closing in on Tang’s chip lead. But Tang responded in kind, knocking out Jiaze Li with pocket kings against pocket sixes.
The field quickly thinned to three after Nur’s ace-king cracked Ben Marshall’s pocket tens courtesy of an ace on the river. Fisher then exited in third, falling to Tang and setting up a heads-up battle with Tang holding a commanding 3:1 chip lead over Nur.
Heads-up play lasted just over 30 minutes, with stacks remaining relatively steady until the final hand.
Nur opened with A♠J♠and faced a three-bet from Tang, who held K♠K♦. Nur moved all in and Tang snap-called. The board ran out 8♦6♦3♣5♠2♠, securing Tang the victory, the title, and £83,400 in prize money.