The WPT National took place at Aspers Casino in Newcastle from 30 April to 3 May, with Kevin Simpson becoming the talk of the Toon after topping a 390-runner field to claim the title and £24,000.

Simpson worked his way through an impressive field that included WSOP bracelet winner Surinder Sunar, former Irish Open winner Ian Simpson and former England footballer Rob Lee.

Despite starting out as the short stack on the final table, Simpson steered his way to a heads-up confrontation with Stephen Fung and his 5:1 chip lead proved too much for Fung to recover from, with Simpson sealing his biggest live win when his pocket queens held up against Fung's pocket sixes.

WPT Newcastle National
1st Kevin Simpson £24,000
2nd Stephen Fung £16,500
3rd Tin Sung Tang £10,500
4th Gary Miller £7,800
5th Brett Andrews £5,900
6th Ben Jenkins £4,900
7th David Knight £4,000
8th Syed Meah £3,150
9th Marc Foggin £2,400