Leg 5 of the 2019 GUKPT has gone down in history as the biggest £500 GUKPT Main Event ever held. There were an incredible 488 entries for the tournament which took place in The Poker Room at Grosvenor’s iconic Victoria Casino in London. The huge number of entries generated a £244,000 prize pool.
The countdown is now on for record-breaking Goliath festival which returns to Coventry from July 25. Anyone wishing to play the £100,000 guaranteed Main Event is strongly encouraged to plan ahead by booking their accommodation with MainEventTravel, the Goliath Official Travel Partner.
London always pulls in the crème de la crème of poker and this time was no exception, with names such as Martin Bader, Kevin Allen, Andy Hills and Irish Open champion Ryan Mandara all in attendance.
Three days of gruelling poker action concluded late on Sunday with 24-year-old Cheuk Lee taking the title and a cash prize of £40,554 back to his home city of Hong Kong.
Cheuk, who is relatively new to poker, won his £500 + £60 seat in a live satellite at The Poker Room early on in the festival. Cheuk was delighted to take part in the event and at the very least saw it as a way to learn and work on his game. Little did he know he would be the last man standing, triumphing in the biggest ever £500 GUKPT Main Event ever held. The prize more than doubled his lifetime winnings to date.
Cheuk wasn’t the only big winner of the night as the final four players agreed to make a near-even split of the remaining prize money, meaning the 2nd, 3rd and 4th placed players all took home over £34,000. Chinese student Zhen Shao was runner up with Romania’s Caicus Cristescu finishing third and 29-year-old Stewart Kirby from Brighton in fourth place.
Ridah Khan took down the £10,000 guarantee Mini Main for £7,218 after beating tour regular Justin Kyriakides heads-up. The last eight cut a deal before embarking on their final table battle. There were 641 entries creating a £62,818 prize pool.
It’s now time for the phenomenal record-breaking Goliath which returns to Coventry from July 25. This year the £100+25 Buy-in Goliath Main Event returns with a £100,000 Guaranteed first prize. Anyone wishing to play the Main Event is strongly encouraged to plan ahead by booking their accommodation with MainEventTravel, the Goliath Official Travel Partner.