Cal Morreale (pictured) has been officially announced as the 2023 Grosvenor Player of the Year after a sensational year in which he dominated the National Poker League leaderboard right from the outset.
Morreale has now won himself a Grosvenor Poker sponsorship package worth £40,000 after cashing for over £350,000 at eligible Grosvenor events during the year. He kickstarted his campaign back in January 2023 with a stand-out performance at Leg 1 in London where he finished second in the Main Event for £65,950 and second in the Mystery Bounty for a further £14,650.
There was no let-up as the year progressed with Morreale putting his 2022 £20k Diamond Package to very good use. Morreale cashed at every single GUKPT held in 2023 and made 15 final tables in eligible NPL events – including winning the GUKPT Manchester Main Event for £106,700 and Mini UK Open for £58,480 in February. He was also third in the GUKPT Blackpool High Roller for £19,830 and won the 888 Poker Live Coventry Mystery Bounty for a further £15,865. Finishing 10th in the GUKPT Grand Final Main Event and winning the GUKPT Grand Final £500 4-card PLO event secured his place at the top of the leaderboard.
Even though Morreale had the Player of the Year title pretty much locked up for several months before the Grand Final, he said “it still feels surreal to have won it.” He added: “There were a lot of really good players from the start. I felt pretty confident after I won GUKPT Manchester but then Robbie Bull got 80 points in a couple of months – that was a little bit worrying!”
Morreale aims to play as many Grosvenor events as possible next year although he will take a few months off in April when he and his girlfriend Jennifer are expecting their first child. He said: “I’ll have to miss a couple of tournaments when the baby comes as I really want to be around for the new-born phase.”
The 37-year-old from Dunstable in Bedfordshire combines playing poker with helping to run his family’s property rental business. He said: “I have been playing on and off since I was 21. I watched my dad and cousins playing and got the bug from that. I played a little bit online and live, but really recreationally most of the time, just for fun.”
The turnaround for Morreale came last year when he realised he was doing well on the Grosvenor circuit and had a chance to reach the top three in the National Poker League. He started taking the game more seriously and finished third in the 2022 NPL to snag a £20k Diamond Package. His goal now is to “represent Grosvenor and bring lots of positivity to the game.”
Grosvenor Ambassador Katie Swift was among dozens of players who congratulated Morreale online. She wrote” Huge congratulations Cal! What an incredible year for you. Welcome to #TeamGrosvenor mate!”
Strong competition
Morreale faced strong competition for this year’s Player of the Year title and had to fight hard to stay ahead of the likes of Robbie Bull, GUKPT Blackpool winner Lin Chen, Arian Kashani and Brandon Sheils. The 2023 Player of the Year Matt Davenport was also in the mix after winning the GUKPT Main Event at July’s Goliath and a string of cashes later in the year.
The eventual runner-up in the league was Robbie Bull who wins a £20k Diamond Package. Bull cashed a whopping 40 times – more than any other player – including second in the GUKPT Luton High Roller for £23,040. GUKPT Blackpool winner Lin Chen was third and also wins a £20k Diamond Package. He took down the GUKPT Blackpool Main Event for £65,310, was third in Edinburgh for £34,130 and runner-up in the GUKPT London Mini Main for £22,370.
Other contenders for this year’s Player of the Year were Rob Douras, who finished fourth and Arian Kashani who finished fifth. Both win a £15k Diamond Package. Brandon Sheils, who finished sixth and wins a £10k package, cashed 26 times overall winning more than £235,000. His achievements included 14 final tables and four tournament victories. James Williams, Min Ji, John Bousfield and Chris Johnson all made the top ten while dozens of other players win £5k packages including the 2023 Player of the Year Matt Davenport, Tim Chung and Jonathan McCann.
Exciting Grosvenor calendar for 2024
MainEventTravel.com is Grosvenor’s Official Travel Partner and wishes all those who won packages in this year’s National Poker League good luck for 2024. All the players will be able to put their packages to good use from in the very first week of next year with GUKPT London starting on January 4.
A huge number of tournaments are involved in Grosvenor’s National Poker League – and the Player of the Year prize has been bumped up to £75,000 for next year. Eligible events in 2024 include the UK Poker Open event starting February 22 in Coventry and the flagship Goliath in July plus all ten GUKPT stops, 888poker LIVE London and Coventry along with a whole load of 25/50 tournaments held right across the country. You can start your planning right now on MainEventTravel.com!
Photo Credit - Grosvenor Poker
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