Simon Jones crowned 'Greatest Poker Player in the Universe'

The 2017 edition of the MPN's Universal Championship of Poker has come to a close. A total of €750,000 was guaranteed across 59 events in September, a €250,000 increase on the previous year's guarantees. In total, over €810,000 in prize pools were generated, making it the biggest UCOP to date.

A €10,000 leader board tracked player progress throughout the series to determine the Greatest Poker Player in the Universe. Professional poker player/sports psychology lecturer Simon Jones took the crown with a €5,000 cash bonus and trophy to prove it.

"I hadn't actually planned on playing the whole UCOP series, but I'd been doing really well on the MPN the previous couple of months. Plus, the size of the fields in the network tournaments mean you have a realistic chance of getting close to the money a decent chunk of the time, so I decided to see how the first few days went before committing myself. I had a couple of third place finishes and other deep runs to put me in the top five. Then a €5.4K win in Event #32 catapulted me to the top spot. I really wanted that trophy, and I'm chuffed to actually win," said Simon Jones, Greatest Poker Player in the Universe 2017.