Grosvenor Goliath has celebrated its tenth anniversary by hosting the largest live poker tournament ever held outside of Las Vegas. The £150 buy-in Goliath X Main Event at Coventry Building Society Arena attracted a staggering field of 10,584 entries to create a £1,219,270 prize pool.
The event was won by North Lincolnshire native Kyle Jeffrey for a “life-altering” £200,000. Jeffrey, who travelled down from Scunthorpe with a bunch of friends, was competing at his third Goliath event. He said: “The money is life-altering! I can do so much with it. I can’t wait. But I’m going to be doing a lot more poker, that’s what I’m looking to do going forward.” His previous best live cash was £1,695 at a tournament in Sheffield six years ago and his total live cashes amounted to less than £11,000. A total of 800 players got paid with a min-cash worth £320.
The GUKPT Main Event was won by rising star Jack Hardcastle for £125,450. Hardcastle, who won GUKPT Leeds last September before finishing third in the GUKPT Grand Final in December, has now amassed live tournament winnings of more than $1.2 million. He defeated a 549-entry field in the £1,000 buy-in tournament.
Grosvenor Ambassador Katie Swift hosted the £110 buy-in Women’s Championship which was a two-day event for the first time. Talented Twitch streamer Emily Glancy, who finished 12th in the 2019 Women’s Championship, beat a record field in this year’s tournament to win a record live cash of £5,865 plus a seat in the Main Event.
Katie said: “It was a privilege to host the Women’s Championship event at the start of the week and massive congrats to our new champion Emily Glancy. Well done also to all the other ladies that cashed in this prestigious event and thank you to all those that played and supported it. We smashed the record with 160 unique players and a total field of 219 entries.
“Women-only events are about enjoying the experience and creating an opportunity to network, engage and easily interact with other women. You simply cannot mirror this in an open event. Many of the entrants this year stayed on to battle in the Main Event and various side events, which was brilliant to see. Goliath is amazing - it should be on every poker player’s annual schedule as one not to miss!”
Irish player Ciaran Duffy won the £1,500 Goliath X High Roller for £61,750 while Guy Taylor won Goliath’s first ever Mystery Bounty tournament for £39,440 after defeating a 814-entry field in the £440 buy-in event. He won a further £11,950 in bounties but the top £20,000 bounty prize was won by Natalie Wood-Stoddard – the prize dwarfed the additional £3,900 she bagged for her sixth-place finish.
Grosvenor Ambassador Andy Hills said: “The Goliath is always huge - bumper fields and immense fun. This year has had record-breaking attendance across all events and as good an atmosphere as I can remember. Every player I've spoken to was having a whale of a time – win or lose!”
Fellow Ambassador Jamie Nixon added: “Surprisingly, this was my first full Goliath festival and it definitely didn’t disappoint. The numbers were insane and the prize pools even more so. But the overriding memory I have is the buzz around the casino. It really is a festival atmosphere – it’s as if 10,000 poker players have all gone on holiday together. I can’t wait for next year already!”
Grosvenor has already announced dates for next year’s Goliath which will be taking place slightly earlier in the Summer from July 27 to August 6. Bag your room a year early on MainEventTravel.com.
Photo Credits: Grosvenor Poker, PokerNews