Matthew Ashton wins the 2013 Poker Players Championship

It was a big day for UK poker fans as Matthew Ashton (who was already having an incredible 2013 World Series of Poker) captured the second most coveted bracelet handed out every year, the $50k buy-in Poker Players Championship. The 25 year-old British poker pro has come a long way in the three short years he has been competing at the WSOP, and has put together one of the most impressive starts to a WSOP career in poker history.

With his run in the Poker players Championship Ashton was appearing at his fourth final table of the 2013 WSOP, and already had a 2^nd and a 3^rd place finish to his credit (along with a 7^th place showing) before winning the Poker Players Championship on Thursday night. Overall, Ashton has seven Top 10 finishes over the last three years at the WSOP.

The victory also propelled Ashton to the top of the WSOP Player of the Year race, jumping over Daniel Negreanu and David “Bakes” Baker, and over the magical 500-point threshold needed to win the award (the Main Event winner receives 500 points):

1. Matthew Ashton — 649.75
2. Daniel Negreanu — 475.84
3. David (Bakes) Baker — 475.35
4. Donald Nguyen — 466.13
5. Marco Johnson — 439.38
6. Tom Schneider — 438.51
7. Chris Klodnicki — 400.80
8. Jared Hamby — 395.73
9. Anthony Gregg — 390.00
10. Steve Sung — 369.50

*Leader-board powered by BLUFF Magazine

Ashton also became the youngest winner of the Poker Players Championship at 25, and was the first non-US player to win the tournament. Ashton now joins the following list of players to have won the tournament, and since 2008 hoist the Chip Reese Memorial Trophy:

• 2012: Mike Mizrachi
• 2011: Brian Rast
• 2010: Mike Mizrachi
• 2009: David Bach
• 2008: Scotty Nguyen
• 2007: David “Chip” Reese

The Poker Players Championship saw a bit of resurgence this year, as the tournament attracted the biggest field since 2008 (which was the largest in the seven year history of the tournament), pulling in 132 entries, a huge jump from last year’s 108, and just 16 off the all-time mark of 148.

• 2013: 132 players
• 2012: 108 players
• 2011: 128 players
• 2010: 116 players
• 2009: 95 players
• 2008: 148 players
• 2007: 143 players

Here is a look at the final table payouts from the tournament:

1. Matthew Ashton – $1,774,089
2. Don Nguyen – $1,096,254
3. John Hennigan – $686,568
4. David Benyamine – $497,122
5. George Danzer – $388,523
6. Minh Ly – $309,830
7. Mike Wattel – $251,602
8. Jonathan Duhamel – $207,630

*Resources: www.wsop.com, www.thehendonmob.com, www.wikipedia.org