Last Woman Standing: Hong Pham Wins UKPC Main Event (£101,000)
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The 2026 UK Poker Championships (UKPC) have wrapped up at Dusk Till Dawn in Nottingham, and it is Hong Pham who will forever be known as the 2026 UKPC Main Event champion. Pham, who played while being 35 weeks pregnant, battled her way through a 1,159-strong crowd to get her hands on £101,000 of the £556,320 prize pool.
Pham's impressive victory takes her lifetime earnings in live poker to more than $522,000, despite most of her buy-ins being between £200 and £500.
£560 NLHE UKPC Main Event Final Table Results
| Rank | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hong Pham | £101,000 |
| 2 | Haydn Dickinson | £63,000 |
| 3 | Paul Tait | £43,450 |
| 4 | Jacque Ramsden | £29,370 |
| 5 | Nicholas Rose | £20,250 |
| 6 | Stephen Blow | £14,250 |
| 7 | Jose Bazan | £10,250 |
| 8 | John Hall | £7,250 |
| 9 | Alistair Massie | £5,250 |
After several UKPC Main Event flights, the four-figure field was cut to a much more manageable 16 on Day 2. Such luminaries as Endrit Geci, Guy Taylor, Stephen Bean, Michael Rosaman, Jack Allen, Yucel Eminoglu, Adria Dalmau, and Simon Higgins cashed on Day 2 but failed to progress to the final day.
Amir Zaregairizi started the UKPC Main Event's final day with a sizeable chip lead, but he ultimately bowed out in tenth place and burst the final table bubble. On the other hand, Pham started at the bottom of the pack but sat down at the final table with the chip lead in tow.
Alistair Massie's time at the final table was short-lived. He busted after making an ill-timed shove, bluffing with queen-high, only to discover Haydn Dickinson held an overpair to the board. Dickinson called, won the hand, and Massie headed to the cashier's desk to collect a career-best £5,250.
Dickinson then found another pair at the perfect time to send John Hall home. Hall four-bet shoved 18 big blinds with pocket queens, only for Dickinson to snap-call with the superior pocket kings. Those kings flopped a set and swerved a heart flush draw to bust Hall.
Seventh place and £10,250 went to Jose Bazan, who endured a torrid time before being eliminated. He ran ace-nine into pocket aces in a battle of the shorter stacks, then lost with pocket nines against ace-five when the latter turned a wheel. His final action in the UKPC Main Event was to get his micro-stack into the middle with ace-jack and lose to the ace-five of Nicholas Rose.
Pham claimed her first final table scalp during the level after Bazan busted. She opened with ace-queen from under the gun, Dickinson called in the cutoff, and Stephen Blow jammed all-in for seven big blinds on the button with ace-ten. Pham called, Dickinson folded, and Pham's kicker played on a king-high runout.
Almost immediately after Pham sent Blow packing, she pruned Rose and sent him to the showers. Pham moved all-in from the small blind with queen-ten, and Rose called all-in for five big blinds with the dominated queen-nine in the big blind. Again, it was Pham's kicker that won her the pot and that sent her opponent to the cashier's desk.
Fourth-place and £29,370 went to Jacque Ramsden, the 2023 Asian Poker Tour Phu Quoc champion. Ramsden committed his last seven big blinds from the small blind with ace-seven of clubs, and Pham called with jack-eight. An eight on the river was enough to bust the dangerous Ramsden from this event.
Paul Tait three-bet with king-queen of hearts from the big blind after Pham had opened on the button with a pair of aces in the hole. Tait fired a continuation bet on the eight-high flop, which Pham called. Tait decided to rip it in on the turn after picking up a flush draw, and Pham instantly called. The river was red, but it was a diamond, not a heart, and Tait crashed out in third place for a career-best £43,450.
That hand gave Pham a 73 million to 43 million chip advantage going into heads-up. Although Dickinsom fought valiantly, Pham never relinquished the chip lead. Something finally gave during the 1,000,000/2,000,000 level. Dickinson moved all-in for 24.4 million, and Pham beat him into the pot with a snap-call. It was ace-five for Dickinson, pocket kings for Pham, and a drama-less jack-high board meant Pham was the 2026 UKPC Main Event champion and recipient of a £101,000 score, her first six-figure prize.
Pham is One to Watch
Pham played superbly throughout the UKPC Main Event and was deserving of her trophy and £101,000 payday. Since her first recorded live cash on The Hendon Mob Database in June 2021, Pham has racked up 10 five-figure scores and this six-figure haul, despite frequently playing in tournaments at the lower end of the buy-in scale.
Prior to this result, Pham's largest score weighed in at £64,500, her reward for a runner-up finish in the £1,100 WSOPC Main Event in March 2023. She also reached the final table of the €550 Colossus at the 2024 WSOP Europe for €24,750, and won a £250 Grosvenor 25/50 event in Reading for £19,656.
There's definitely an upward trend in Pham's live results. Remember the name.
