Aspernauts Retain UK Team Championship Crown
Huge congrats to The Aspernauts being only the second team ever to defend and retain their UK TEAM CHAMPIONS CROWN at DTD, Nottingham over the weekend of Friday 6th Feb 2026, following in the footsteps of Gambling Network Forum who were crowned Champions back in Season 5 AND Season 6.
Again led by Team Captain Paul Moyce, at the end of Day 1 with 97/360 players remaining, Aspernauts sat in a healthy 8th position, with 4 team members having made Day 2 – but with 3 teams having 5 members and a further 4 teams having 4 members, it looked set to be a close call for the title.
The first break of Day 2 saw the field reduce to 45/97 players with all change on the leaderboard as The Aspernauts move into pole position still with 3 players left competing, along with former Champions Talk Club close behind and Yeovil Poker Club sitting in 3rd, but with Aspernauts being the only team of those 3 with banked points at this stage – and with only 11 further teams have 2 players left competing.
THE ACTION IS FIERCE AND TENSE WITH 27 PLAYERS REMAINING AND 5 TEAMS STILL IN CONTENTION TO BE CROWNED CHAMPIONS
TOP 15 INDIVIDUALS ARE IN THE MONEY – AS ARE THE TOP 5 TEAMS – WITH COVETED CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM GOLD, SILVER & BRONZE MEDALS FOR THE TOP 3 TEAMS
Phil Mousdale from St Helens Poker Club was the first individual player to cash, earning himself £197 for his 15th place finish.
With the field reduced t0 12 players, Team Aspernauts secured 1st place finish with a possible minimum score of 262 points, with their nearest rivals Peterborough Donkeys, JoeBeevers.com and Yeovil Poker Club having a maximum score of 258, 257 and 248 respectively and all fighting it out for Championship Silver & Bronze Medal positions.
After a tense battle between both competing teams and competing individuals, Peterborough Donkeys took the Silver medal with JoeBeevers taking Bronze as we crowned the UK TEAM CHAMPIONS – THE ASPERNAUTS – for the second year in a row. Individual honours went to Peterborough’s Keith Hoggett who took the Gold after a close final table, ahead of KrackedKings’ Martin Dean with Silver and Talk Club’s John Patten with Bronze.
TEAM WINNERS
| 1st | Paul Moyce | The Aspernauts | £1,250 | Gold Medal |
| 1st | Clare Jordan | The Aspernauts | £1,250 | Gold Medal |
| 1st | Tony Poulengeris | The Aspernauts | £1,250 | Gold Medal |
| 1st | Sam Acheampong | The Aspernauts | £1,250 | Gold Medal |
| 1st | Jordan Caplan | The Aspernauts | £1,250 | Gold Medal |
| 1st | Vadims Veskins | The Aspernauts | £1,250 | Gold Medal |
| 1st | Dillan Patel | The Aspernauts | £1,250 | Gold Medal |
| 1st | Mitchell Kingsland | The Aspernauts | £1,250 | Gold Medal |
| 2nd | Stephen Docherty | Peterborough Donkeys | £950 | Silver Medal |
| 2nd | Gareth Clingo | Peterborough Donkeys | £950 | Silver Medal |
| 2nd | Keith Hoggett | Peterborough Donkeys | £950 | Silver Medal |
| 2nd | Patrick Donohue | Peterborough Donkeys | £950 | Silver Medal |
| 2nd | Raivis Zimelis | Peterborough Donkeys | £950 | Silver Medal |
| 2nd | William Gilbert | Peterborough Donkeys | £950 | Silver Medal |
| 2nd | Matthew Bonham | Peterborough Donkeys | £950 | Silver Medal |
| 2nd | Andrew Stewart | Peterborough Donkeys | £950 | Silver Medal |
| 3rd | Gary Peniket | JoeBeevers.com | £700 | Bronze Medal |
| 3rd | Tony Moores | JoeBeevers.com | £700 | Bronze Medal |
| 3rd | Richard Lathan | JoeBeevers.com | £700 | Bronze Medal |
| 3rd | Darren O'Neill | JoeBeevers.com | £700 | Bronze Medal |
| 3rd | Neil Sheehan | JoeBeevers.com | £700 | Bronze Medal |
| 3rd | Jason Kemp | JoeBeevers.com | £700 | Bronze Medal |
| 3rd | Leon Blackwell | JoeBeevers.com | £700 | Bronze Medal |
| 3rd | Dominic Naylor | JoeBeevers.com | £700 | Bronze Medal |
| 4th | Steve Thomas | Yeovil Poker Club | £500 | |
| 4th | Jason Edwards | Yeovil Poker Club | £500 | |
| 4th | John Cross | Yeovil Poker Club | £500 | |
| 4th | Chris Rowswell | Yeovil Poker Club | £500 | |
| 4th | Rob Scott | Yeovil Poker Club | £500 | |
| 4th | Stephen Shore | Yeovil Poker Club | £500 | |
| 4th | Shane Herbert | Yeovil Poker Club | £500 | |
| 4th | Martyn Higgs | Yeovil Poker Club | £500 | |
| 5th | Stacey Midcalf | Komodo Dragons | £350 | |
| 5th | Gavin Johnson | Komodo Dragons | £350 | |
| 5th | Mark Foster | Komodo Dragons | £350 | |
| 5th | Trevor Buck | Komodo Dragons | £350 | |
| 5th | Jordan Gowling | Komodo Dragons | £350 | |
| 5th | Jeff Watson | Komodo Dragons | £350 | |
| 5th | Gillian Chambers | Komodo Dragons | £350 | |
| 5th | Mike Holmes | Komodo Dragons | £350 |
INDIVIDUAL WINNERS
| 1st | Keith Hoggett | Peterborough Donkeys | £2,500 | Gold Medal |
| 2nd | Martin Dean | KrackedKings | £1,600 | Silver Medal |
| 3rd | John Patten | Talk Club | £1,200 | Bronze Medal |
| 4th | Terry Dadds | HitSquad | £900 | |
| 5th | William Gilbert | Peterborough Donkeys | £700 | |
| 6th | Martyn Higgs | Yeovil Poker Club | £500 | |
| 7th | Dillan Patel | The Aspernauts | £400 | |
| 8th | Dominique Gerber | K9 Poker Club | £350 | |
| 9th | Jordan Caplan | The Aspernauts | £300 | |
| 10th | Anthony Swain | Malvern Poker Club | £250 | |
| 11th | Ashleigh Williams | Edgworth CC | £250 | |
| 12th | Gary Peniket | JoeBeevers.com | £200 | |
| 13th | Steve Thomas | Yeovil Poker Club | £200 | |
| 14th | Vadims Veskins | The Aspernauts | £197 | |
| 15th | Phil Mousdale | St Helens Poker Club | £197 |
