Tim Chung wins biggest GUKPT Main Event in history
The GUKPT always gets the new poker calendar off to a cracking start and GUKPT London – which ended on Sunday at the Poker Room at the Victoria Casino – certainly pulled out all the stops with the biggest ever GUKPT Main Event in the tour’s long history.
The first leg of the tour’s 15th season attracted a monster field of 702 entries creating a record-breaking £772,000 prize pool for the £1,250 buy-in Main Event. After an epic final day featuring a wealth of big names, it was Birmingham player Tim Chung who seized glory after beating D.A. (aka the man referred to as David Attenborough due to GDPR compliance) heads-up.
Chung is a GUKPT regular and no stranger to final tables; earlier achievements on the tour include his runner-up finish in the GUKPT Grand Final Mini Main in 2018 and final tables at GUKPT London in 2019 and GUKPT Walsall in 2017. Overall, he has racked up nearly $800,000 in live tournament winnings but Sunday’s giant £185,560 first prize was more than double his previous best.
Scottish superstar Ludovic Geilich, chip leader at the start of both Day 2 and the final day, finished fourth for £48,050. Geilich’s last three live cashes have all come on the Grosvenor tour – including a runner-up finish at GUKPT Edinburgh last September for £42,060.
Others who went deep in London included Harry Law (5th, £29,000), Greek pro Alexios Zervos, who won the GUKPT Midi Main earlier in the week for £77,910 and was the GUKPT London runner-up in 2015 (10th, £9,450), Lewis Spencer who finished 20th in WSOP Main Event in 2021 (11th, £8,700), 2019 Goliath Super High Roller champion Chris Da Silva who also finished 2nd in the GUKPT High Roller last week for £59,000, two-time WSOP bracelet winner Barny Boatman, EPT finalist Martins Adeniya and WSOP Main Event final tablists Antoine Saout, Antoine Labat and Nick Marchington. Overall, 75 players took a share of the prize pool with a min-cash worth £2,400.
Last year’s GUKPT Coventry champion Steve Jelinek was among those who enjoyed a deep run in London, finishing 17th for £4,900. He will be looking forward to defending his Coventry title in just a few weeks – GUKPT Coventry is next up on this year’s exciting schedule with a 12-tournament festival running February 24 to March 6 at the CBS Arena. Last year’s epic Coventry event was the largest in the tour’s history – that is, until London just now – so another huge field is expected.
This year heralds the GUKPT’s 15th annual series and will feature a total of 12 festivals across the country including Coventry, Manchester, Reading, Edinburgh, Luton (twice), Leeds and Blackpool
MainEventTravel can take care of all your travel and accommodation needs for the GUKPT – including the Novotel, DoubleTree and Royal Court for the forthcoming GUKPT Coventry festival.