Luton will not be the UK’s most glamorous location, however it’s a proverbial poker hotbed. The Grosvenor UK Poker Tour (GUKPT) has been on the G On line casino in Luton since September 12, with the £1,250 buy-in Principal Occasion kicking off yesterday, September 19.
Day 1a of the GUKPT Luton Principal Occasion attracted 82 gamers, who have been lowered to solely 17 by the point the curtain got here down on proceedings. An entire host of stars have been among the many starters, and lots punched their Day 2 tickets on the first time of asking.
Paul vas Nunes, the 2023 GUKPT Grand Remaining champion, bagged up one of many shorter stacks, his 40,000 chips inserting him sixteenth from the 17 surviving gamers. Thomas Clack (64,500) additionally progressed after ending seventh within the £1,650 Excessive Curler for £6,500.
Tamer Kamel (64,600) is one other top-tier participant safely by to Day 2 on September 21. The favored professional has a number of prime three finishes in GUKPT occasions however an outright victory nonetheless eludes him.
£1,250 GUKPT Luton Principal Occasion Day 1A High 10 Chip Counts
Joseph Daring has set the early tempo with a tournament-leading 288,000 stack. Daring went deep within the 2024 World Sequence of Poker (WSOP) Principal Occasion, falling in 134th place for $85,000. The Londoner appears to be like set for one more deep run in a prestigious event.
Second place presently belongs to Van Pham (183,000) though Indian famous person Ankit Ahuja (181,000) is inside touching distance. Ahuja ranks fourth on India’s all time cash checklist, with $2,885,193 in dwell event earnings. Final day trip, Ahuja received the £2,200 No-Restrict Maintain’em 7-Max Excessive Curler on the WPT Prime UK pageant and banked £33,500. It appears he has carried his type over into this occasion.
Others within the in a single day prime ten embrace the 2018 WSOP Europe Principal Occasion champion Jack Sinclair (92,700), serial crusher Kully Sidhu (88,000), and all-round good man Keith Johnson (70,400). You could recall Johnson completed fifth in one other GUKPT Luton Principal Occasion earlier this yr.
Day 1B shuffles up and offers at 12:00 p.m. native time on September 20, with a turbo-structured Day 1C beginning at 9:00 p.m. native time on the identical day. Surviving gamers progressed to Day 2 on September 21, with the GUKPT Luton Principal Occasion crowning its champion a while on September 22.
Sheth Among the many GUKPT Luton Aspect Occasion Winners
The most important prize awarded on the GUKPT Luton pageant up to now belongs to Ravi Sheth, courtesy of him taking down the £1,650 Excessive Curler for £31,770. Sixty-three gamers purchased in on Day 1, however solely 20 navigated their means by the shark-infested waters. Nevertheless, one other 20 grinders took benefit of late registration remaining open till Day 2, bringing the whole attendance to 83 and the prize pool to £119,520.
The highest ten finishers received a slice of that pot, with start-of-the-day chip chief Yonghao Zhou busting in tenth and claiming £4,500. Zhou’s elimination set the nine-handed closing desk, which just like the Principal Occasion’s first flight, was full of expertise.
Mukhtar Ahmed (£5,000) was the primary casualty of the ultimate desk. Chen Cheng (£5,750) joined the checklist of busted gamers. Cheng loves life in Luton, having received the £200 Opener for £29,445.
Thomas Clack (£6,500) fell in seventh, Keith Johnson (£7,500) in sixth, and Abdul Ahmed (£8,500) seeing his run finish in fifth place. Ahmed lately received the £1,100 Excessive Curler on the 888poker UKPL Leeds pageant for £13,540 and completed fourth within the £1,000 GUKPT Leeds Principal Occasion for £12,630.
Matthew Davenport lately broke by $2 million in dwell earnings and added £11,500 to his whole after falling in fourth. The 2023 Goliath champion Alex Todd noticed his participation finish in a third-place end (£16,00), leaving Ali Abdulzahra to combat one-on-one with Sheth.
The heads-up duo clashed for 2 hours earlier than Sheth got here out on prime and claimed the £31,770 prime prize. Abdulzahra needed to make do with a £22,500 comfort prize.
£1,650 GUKPT Luton Excessive Curler Day 2 High 10
Different GUKPT Luton Outcomes
As talked about, Chen Cheng triumphed within the £200 No-Restrict Maintain’em opener for £29,445. Different accomplished facet occasions embrace the £250 Mini Principal Occasion, which Neil Benardout received for £25,160. Lorenc Boci turned his £200 funding right into a £3,408 rating within the £200 Pot-Restrict Omaha occasion.
