November 6-9,2026
Britton's career-best cash for second in the 2024 WSOP Gladiators of Poker.
- 1STSimon Britton$208,295
- 2NDChan Pelton$138,800
- 3RDAlain Raad$96,010
- 4THChristopher Staats$67,640
- 5THRussell Hobson$48,540
- 6THWilliam Hesser$35,500
- 7THYoung Choi$26,460
- 8THDylan Murrell$20,120
- 9THMason Bodnar$15,610
When it comes to earning a WSOP title, Simon Britton has been knocking on the door for a while.
Two years ago he found himself heads-up in a field of more than 20,000 entries, competing for a WSOP bracelet in the $300 Gladiators of Poker event. He finished runner-up that day, earning a career-best score but just missing out on his first piece of WSOP hardware.
Over the next two years Britton continued knocking on the door, recording six more runner-up finishes across 17 final tables on the WSOP Circuit, narrowly missing out on victory time and time again.
Today, Britton emphatically ended that streak of runner-up finishes, earning his first WSOP Circuit Ring in the biggest event of the series at Choctaw Casino & Resort. Britton prevailed over a 793-entry field in the $1,700 Main Event, defeating Chan Pelton heads-up to claim the title and the $208,295 top prize.
Simon Britton finally gets his hands on a WSOP Circuit ring.'Every time I play I come to win'
“I can’t believe it,” an emotional Britton said following the win. “I’ve worked really, really hard and I’m very, very happy. I’ve gotten six second places for Circuit Rings and a second place for a bracelet, so this one feels so good.”
“I’ve wanted a ring for a really long time. To win a Circuit Main for my first ring just makes it feel extra special.”
Despite so many close calls, Britton explained how he wasn’t feeling too much pressure to close it out heading into the final table.
“I just wanted to come in and play my A-game as best as I could. Obviously when I got heads-up, the idea of coming second creeps up in your mind after getting so many second places. But I closed it out in three hands. I felt pretty confident, when we got it all-in I felt like I was gonna win.”
Britton began the final table in the middle of the pack before quickly establishing the chip lead in the early stages, getting a five-bet shove through against then-chip leader Mason Bodnar. Britton confirmed that winning was more important to him than laddering going into the final table.
“Yeah, I mean, the tournament was pretty top heavy and I just want to win. I didn’t come here to get ninth, I didn’t come here to get eighth, I came here to win. Every time I play I come to win. I was just playing as fearless as I could and just trying to play the best that I possibly could.”
Simon Britton beat Chan Pelton heads-up for his very first WSOP Circuit ring.
A champions' rail
Throughout the final two days, Britton was backed by the largest and loudest rail of any player at the final table. The support of his friends and peers was clearly meaningful to Britton as he reached the biggest moment of his career.
“I mean it’s amazing. We have such a large friend group and everybody’s so supportive. Whether it’s all these guys in person, or all the boys wishing me luck on social media and texting me. Our friend group’s amazing. We have some of the best young players out there. To have them sitting here, watching and supporting me and cheering me on means the world. It means a lot”
Britton was quick to compliment his heads-up opponent, Chan Pelton, who kept the final table lively throughout the day with his talkative personality and constant quips.
“The guy was hilarious. I played with him like half of Day 2 and obviously all day today. He’s really good. It’s nice to be able to beat somebody that I think is really good at poker. He was a blast to play against and he’s definitely a difficult opponent. It feels like I earned it.”
When asked what was next on the agenda, the newly crowned champ made it clear that celebrations were in order after the emotional victory.
“Oh we’re going out tonight. We’re driving back to Dallas and we’re going to be drinking and having a good time for sure.”
