We kicked off our second 888poker LIVE stop 2026 at Grosvenor's Merchant City Casino in Glasgow, a UNESCO city of Music – and a staple on the tournament poker circuit!
The 888poker LIVE Glasgow series ran from 14 – 22 March and was a huge success. The Main Event alone racked up a prize pool topping £264,480, made up of 348 entries.
The top cash was £61,320, and the action was fast and furious as many famous faces and returnees battled for the top spot.
The title went to a relatively unknown player, Martin Lechner from Austria, who has quietly racked up $220,00 in live earnings:
"It’s amazing. It’s my first 888 Live tournament, and I came here for the trophy. The trophy means a bit more than the money for me, so it’s really special to win the heads-up,” Lechner said.
It took all of 45 minutes of heads-up play for Martin to beat out Brit, Richard Kellett, for the title, after a deal was secured.
Lechner walked away with £57,515, and Kellett banked £44,745 (after heads-up deal).
Days 1 and 2 of the High Roller, along with Days 1B through 3 of the Main Event featured tables, were live-streamed on our 888pokerTV Twitch channel.
High Roller: 888pokerLIVE Glasgow Main Event
Dean Hutchison, a Glasgow native, has built a poker resume that includes more than $3 million in live earnings. He sits comfortably in fourth place all-time on the Scottish leaderboard.
However, he hadn’t won a tournament since 2023, so he had something to prove in Glasgow on home turf with home-field advantage!
He was locked in for most of the High Roller, fending off challenges from his opponents, including 888poker ambassador Ian Simpson.
He ended up running away from the field to secure the 888poker LIVE Glasgow £1,650 High Roller, taking home the £31,060 top cash and beating out the 65-player field.
After holding the lead on Day 2, Team888#’s Ian Simpson got in his last 720,000 with ace-queen versus Hutchison’s pocket fours. Hutchison spiked a set on the turn, leaving Simpson drawing dead going to the river.
He settled for third place and a £13,770 payday. Teammates Vivi Saliba and Lucia Navarro, who finished 12th and 21st, respectively, fell short of the money.
Day 1A Action: 888pokerLIVE Glasgow Main Event
The Day 1s’ starting stack was set at 30,000 each, and the opening flight attracted 75 entries, with 16 players bagging and tagging for Day 2.
Gaoyang Yang, who had already won the Mini Main Event earlier in the series week, secured the Day 1A chip lead of 319,000.
888poker Team Ambassadors and Streamers, Vivian Saliba (150,500), Darius Wajda (51,000) and Nick Eastwood (44,000) ticked the box for a Day 2 showing.
Day 1BCD Action: 888pokerLIVE Glasgow Main Event
Day 1B attracted another 158 entries in the 888pokerLIVE Glasgow Main Event, bringing the field up to 233 through the first two starting flights.
Of the 158 entries, 33 players advanced to Day 2, including 888poker friend, Jesus “el_chur” Ramos (217,500).
Other notable names to bag and tag were the following players:
- Sinead Davenport (106,500)
- High Roller champion Dean Hutchison (85,500)
- Jack Hardcastle (68,000)
The first three starting flights built a field of 277 entries, with Day 1D to go, and late registration remained open until the start of Day 2
At the end of the final flights, Day 1d attracted 62 entries, with 19 players advancing.
Day 2: Numbers Are In with £264,480 in Prize Pool!
On Day 2, nine new arrivals joined the 79 survivors from the four starting flights to create a total field of 348 players.
Only the top 44 would make the money and vie for a slice of the £264,480 prize pool, earning a min-cash of £1,930, while the champion was on track to earn £61,320.
It took all of 5 hours to make it down to the bubble, with Stephen McCabe getting that unlucky honour.
BUBBLE BURST ❌ £888 Main Event @888Poker LIVE Glasgow, 44 people remain and ARE IN THE MONEY 💸
They will now battle it out for a 1st place prize of £61,320! pic.twitter.com/GKLK6cvS3f— PokerNews (@PokerNews) March 21, 2026
888poker LIVE Glasgow Main Event Payout Schedule
| Place | Prize | Place | Prize |
| 1 | £61,320 | 11 | £3,360 |
| 2 | £40,940 | 12-13 | £2,960 |
| 3 | £26,950 | 14-15 | £2,670 |
| 4 | £17,800 | 16-18 | £2,460 |
| 5 | £12,110 | 19-22 | £2,300 |
| 6 | £8,790 | 23-27 | £2,170 |
| 7 | £6,790 | 28-32 | £2,060 |
| 8 | £5,500 | 33-38 | £1,980 |
| 9 | £4,580 | 39-44 | £1,930 |
| 10 | £3,890 |
Unfortunately, six of the seven Team888 players fell short of the money. 888poker friend, Jesus “el_chur” Ramos was the last team player standing, finishing in 17th place for a very respectable £2,460.
- 51st --- Ian Simpson
- 53rd --- Darius Wajda
- 58th --- Vivian Saliba
- 83rd --- Nick Eastwood
- 86th --- Lucia Navarro
- 87th --- Josh Manley
Josh Manley’s bustout was particularly cruel when his pocket sevens were outdrawn by two opponents holding ace-king.
👀 @JoshManleyPoker finds himself AT RISK but he's in a GREAT POSTION to find himself a triple up in the @888Poker LIVE Glasgow Main Event!
Can he find a way to scoop the POT or is it 🚿🚿🚿 and back to the booth for him... pic.twitter.com/jvREwbCJKi— PokerNews (@PokerNews) March 21, 2026
At the end of Day 2, after 13 hours of gruelling poker, in some instances, we were down to a final table of nine.
Zexuan Huang led the way (49BB) after picking up two big pairs on back-to-back hands to seize the chip lead, with Martin Lecher sitting right behind him on 44BB.
888poker LIVE Glasgow: Day 3 Final Table Action!
Day 2 started with a relatively tightly-packed top five. Sitting in seventh in chips, Dean Hutchinson was looking to bag a second trophy in the series.
Gaoyang Yang had already secured the Mini Main Event, but with only 11 blinds, his chances were much slimmer.
888poker LIVE Glasgow Main Event Final Nine
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
| 1 | Zexuan Huang | China | 1,960,000 | 49 |
| 2 | Martin Lechner | Austria | 1,755,000 | 44 |
| 3 | Danny Hawkes | United Kingdom | 1,480,000 | 37 |
| 4 | John Clements | United Kingdom | 1,335,000 | 33 |
| 5 | Richard Kellett | United Kingdom | 1,265,000 | 32 |
| 6 | Bryan Taylor | United Kingdom | 895,000 | 22 |
| 7 | Dean Hutchison | United Kingdom | 740,000 | 19 |
| 8 | Ernst Soederkvist | Sweden | 565,000 | 14 |
| 9 | Gaoyang Yang | United Kingdom | 455,000 | 11 |
It was slow going at the start, and more than an hour passed before we had the first bustout. Bryan Taylor was the man and pushed with his KTo versus Richard Kellett’s AQc.
The board turned a king, which gave Kellett the club flush draw, and the river 6c sealed the deal, sending Bryan to the rail in 9th Place (£4,580)
Next up to get their marching orders was Ernst Soederkvist. He had entered Day 3 severely short-stacked on 14BB. Pocket jacks were unlucky once more as Danny Hawkes’ pocket tens spiked a ten on the turn, which held. Ernst banked £5,500 for his efforts.
With all the back-and-forth action, Zexuan Huang managed to cement his lead further, while Gaoyang Yang climbed up to 5th place out of the remaining 7 players.
However, it was Dean Hutchinson who next found himself heading the showers. He went out in 7th place for £6,790. His AQo was no match for Zexhuan’s T9o, with a 9 on the river taking out the High Roller champ.
Five minutes later, it was Danny Hawkes’ turn to take a walk. Martin Lecher woke up with AKo in the cutoff and 3bet Danny’s raise with AJo in the hijack. The chips went all-in preflop, and the ace on the flop was no help for Danny as he was outkicked. He banked £8,790 for a strong sixth-place finish.
The players were busting fast and furious now, with Gaoyang Yang eliminated in 5th place (£12,110) just ten minutes later. Yang ran pocket nines into Lechner’s aces, and it wasn’t a fair fight. Although Yang turned a gutshot, which fell short on the river Jh.
It wasn’t until after the next break that we chalked up another bustout. That unfortunate player was the final table chip leader, Zexuan Huang. He ran ATh into Kellett’s pocket kings. The clean runout sent him to the rail in 4th place for £17,800.
John Clements was our third-place finisher for £26,950. His QJo fell victim to Lechner’s AQo. Another clean board sent him to real and set up heads-up play.
888poker LIVE Glasgow: Heads-up Action!
At the start of heads-up action, Richard Kellett and Martin Lechner agreed to a deal.
Lechner would cash £47,215, while Kellett was guaranteed £44,745. That left a sizeable £10,300 and the trophy left to play for.
| Player | Chips |
| Martin Lecher (AUT) | 6,155,000 |
| Richard Kellett (UK) | 4,295,000 |
At one point, early in heads-up, Kellett flipped the ranking and took the lead momentarily, until Lechner came roaring back. He picked off a bluff, winning three hands in a row to bag the extra cash, trophy and title in under an hour.
“This year, I started to play a bit more professionally. For the last 18 years, it was just a hobby, a profitable hobby, but I want to focus a bit more and more on the technical part,” Lechner said after the win.
“I’m really happy and, yeah, looking forward to the next 888 stop. Maybe I can join in Barcelona in May.”
Well played to all!
888poker LIVE Glasgow Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
| 1 | Martin Lechner | Austria | £57,515* |
| 2 | Richard Kellett | United Kingdom | £44,745* |
| 3 | John Clements | United Kingdom | £26,950 |
| 4 | Zexuan Huang | China | £17,800 |
| 5 | Gaoyang Yang | United Kingdom | £12,110 |
| 6 | Danny Hawkes | United Kingdom | £8,790 |
| 7 | Dean Hutchison | United Kingdom | £6,790 |
| 8 | Ernst Soederkvist | Sweden | £5,500 |
| 9 | Bryan Taylor | United Kingdom | £4,580 |
*denotes heads-up deal
