Weixiao Liao (pictured) has won the GUKPT London Main Event for £75,501 after cutting a four-way deal with runner-up Longmao Fan, third-placed Tom Middleton and Jiaze Le who finished fourth (pictured on Final Table). There were 405 entries creating a £439,284 prize pool. A total of 44 players were paid with a min-cash worth £2,320.
Middleton, who won GUKPT Blackpool back in 2016, snagged £54,966 for his third-place finish, adding to the £39,790 he won earlier in the week as runner-up in the High Roller.
Other notable cashes included Carlo Citrone who finished sixth for £13,490, Artan Dedusha (7th, £9,690), Wendy Watson MBE, Sotiris Georgiou, Rob Cowen, Grosvenor Player of the Year Matt Davenport, Ludovic Geilich, Grosvenor Ambassador Katie Swift, Yucel Eminoglu and Cal Morreale who is currently leading the Grosvenor National Poker League.
Sheth scores GUKPT London double with victory in Midi Main AND Mini Main
Playing in his local cardroom, Londoner Ravi Sheth (pictured below) scored an incredible double at the Vic winning both the GUKPT London Midi Main AND the Mini Main. In the Midi, he beat a 369-entry field – and Arian Kashani heads-up – for a £48,550 payday. He beat a 536-entry field in the Mini Main to win a further £39,258. Sheth is having a stellar month – he also finished fourth in the recent WSOP Circuit event in London for a six-figure payday and cashed in two events at Goliath.
Sheils makes four finals in a row, wins £2k High Roller
Brandon Sheils (pictured below) enjoyed a sensational run at GUKPT London, making four final tables in a row before going on to win the £2k High Roller for £61,070 after beating Tom Middleton heads-up. Earlier in the festival he was sixth in the £500 buy-in Midi Main for £6,020 and sixth again in the Mini Main for £4,820 and the PLO 4 card where he was fifth for £7,400. “I don’t think I’ve even made two final tables in a row in live poker so making four is absurd. I’m probably not going to make another final table for three years now! I thought I’d messed up in the Midi so I’ve redeemed myself now.” Sheils beat a 114-entry field in the High Roller to win the trophy, title and cash prize. The star-studded final table also included Keith Johnson, Harry Lodge and WSOP 2016 Main Event finalist Kenny Hallaert. Sheils’s live tournament winnings now total over $1.2 million; his biggest Grosvenor cash prior to London was winning the Mystery Bounty at February’s UK Poker Open in Coventry for £21,260.
In other results, Sakis Palekythritis won the PLO 4/5/6 High Roller for £18,246 after beating the 64-entry field.
Grosvenor gives away free seats for 888pokerLIVE festival at Grosvenor Casino Coventry
During GUKPT London, Grosvenor also gave away 11 entries into October’s £500k guaranteed 888poker LIVE event in Coventry. Among those who scored 888poker LIVE seats were Main Event champion Weixiao Liao, Ravi Sheth who won the Mini Main and Ludovic Geilich, who led Day 1b at GUKPT London. Free seats worth £888 went to all the Day 1 chip leaders in the Main Event and Mini Main plus three extra seats drawn at random from Main Event players. Grosvenor also announced that points will be awarded during the 888Poker Live Festival for the National Poker League – the league winner becomes the Grosvenor Player of the Year and wins a Grosvenor sponsorship package worth £40k.
Next up: GUKPT Luton
The next big event on the Grosvenor calendar is the GUKPT’s second visit to Luton. The festival gets underway at the Grosvenor Casino on September 14 with a packed schedule of tournaments planned. As well as the flagship £1,250 GUKPT Main Event and £340 Mini Main tournament, other highlights for Leg 7 of the 2023 tour include the £560 Midi Main tournament, a £2k High Roller, a £3k Super High Roller and the £550 GUKPT Cup. GUKPT Luton runs from September 14 to September 24. In addition to the 10 live tournaments, the final “The Closer” tournament will take place online at Grosvenor Poker at the end of the festival.
This is the Season 17 of the GUKPT, the UK’s longest-running tour. MainEventTravel.com is Grosvenor Poker’s Official Travel Partner making it incredibly easy to find accommodation for all the legs of the 2023 tour.