Alex Todd (pictured above with final tablists) has won the biggest Goliath ever held after beating an 11,493-entry field at the Coventry Building Society Arena on Sunday night. Todd, who is based in Southend, won £176,860. He told The Tower he just “ran like God” and added: “Tournaments are a lot of variance but when it’s your day, you’ve got to make the most of it. I’ve been waiting a long time to have a big score.”
Todd was very short-stacked on Day 2 before the super-swift bubble – 21 all-ins in just two hands – put 1,000 players in the money. By the end of the day, he had a massive lead. Todd was part of a six-way deal leaving just £44k and the trophy to play for. At the time of the deal, he had nearly double the chips of his nearest rival and locked up £133,200.
Goliath runner-up Richard Birchall, who won £80,000, plays in the same cash game league at Grosvenor’s Birmingham Hill Casino as Scott Meredith who was runner-up in the GUKPT Main Event at Goliath. He told the Tower that both he and Meredith had won seats for Goliath events in the league. Nigel Brampton, who finished seventh for £22,510, was freerolling the whole tournament after winning his seat in a giveaway on the live stream.
The dates for the 2024 Goliath festival have been set. MainEventTravel is the Official Travel Partner for Grosvenor and Goliath and your go-to resource for accommodation next year!
This year’s event broke numerous records including the biggest ever Goliath Day 1 with 1,814 entries on Day 1f, and also the biggest number of unique players – 5,707. The total prize pool was £1,379,160.
Kelly Saxby, MET Retail Sales & Marketing Consultant said MainEventTravel was thrilled to have been part of this year’s record-breaking event: “Reaching nearly 11,500 entries is absolutely incredible. Congratulations to everyone who made the money and especially the new Goliath champion Alex Todd. We love working with the Goliath team as the Official Travel Partner, helping players find accommodation and travel for this ever-growing event.”
From its very earliest days, the Goliath Main Event was always conceived as a super-affordable tournament designed to attract giant fields and create simply massive prize pools. It’s a formula that has certainly paid off with Grosvenor Poker’s remarkable event breaking records every year. The 2023 edition featured 22 tournaments from July 27 to August 6 at the Coventry Building Society Arena.
2023 WSOP finalist Dean Hutchison wins first major Grosvenor title in £2k Goliath High Roller
Dean Hutchison, (pictured below) who came back from Vegas as a newly-minted millionaire after finishing sixth in the WSOP Main Event, won his first major Grosvenor title after taking down the £2k Goliath High Roller. The Scottish pro beat satellite-winner James Ivall heads-up to win his first trophy and £55,200 first prize.
Mitchell Speck, who won his High Roller seat via a cashout satellite, finished third for £23,500. His score follows a deep run at GUKPT Manchester in February where he finished 16th in the Main Event. Others who cashed included rising star Dan Laidlaw from Chester and Brighton-based Leo Worthington-Leese who has now earned over $1 million in live poker winnings. Grosvenor Player of the Year Matt Davenport, who won the GUKPT Main Event earlier in the week, finished seventh for £6,600. The High Roller attracted a total of 103 entrants, with the top 11 getting a share of the £185,400 prize pool.
Hutchison, who won $1,850,000 for his sixth-place finish in the World Series Main Event, has come close to a GUKPT High Roller title before when he was runner-up in the GUKPT Edinburgh High Roller for £28,500.
Goliath Ladies Event
The two-day £110 buy-in Ladies Event was a huge success attracting 194 entries and creating a £18,430 prize pool. A total of 18 players made it back for Day 2 with Kent-based Irina Maluhina chip leader for much of the day. Irina eventually had to settle for third place however as Lisa Peplow (pictured below) took it down for £2,990. The players cut a deal five-handed which awarded £2,500 to 5th to 2nd and £2,990 for the winner – plus the title and trophy.
Grosvenor Pro and Ladies Event host Katie Swift was among the 21 players who cashed.
Goliath Mystery Bounty
Adam Neighbour (pictured below) won the Goliath Mystery Bounty tournament for a first prize of £42,820. Neighbour, who also won a £10k bounty, chopped the 1,105-entry event with runner-up Dawid Chmiel. Chmiel got £40,080 for his efforts, some eight times his previous total live poker winnings. Luke Abbott won the biggest bounty – a monster prize of £25,000. Prior to Goliath, Abbott’s biggest live cash was just £250. Other big bounty winners included Robert Duncan (£15k) and Michael Howard (£10k). Grosvenor Pro Katie Swift was also delighted to draw a £1k bounty in the £200 + £200 + £40 buy-in tournament. Among those who made the money cashed were Robbie Bull and Jessica Pilkington who finished fifth for £7,850 (and also finished eighth in the High Roller for £5,500.)
Jokers Wild sees 11-way chop
Andrew Penn (pictured below) won the Jokers Wild tournament for £3,795 after the tourney finally ended at 5am in the morning. Hosted by The Tower – in fetching spangly jacket and multi-coloured joker’s hat – the massively popular £100 turbo tournament is many people’s favourite event of the Goliath festival. Sing-alongs, music requests and lots of beer are all part of the fun. Describing the tournament, which ended with an 11-way chop, Penn said: “I don't think anyone thought it was going to go on for that long but at 5am, people wanted to wrap it up and the 11 players were happy. Well done to all involved - it was a laugh!! And a huge amount was raised for charity.” This year’s event raised £4,910 for the Carers Trust and donations also poured in via a charity bucket with one generous player paying £50 to hear the Scottish National Anthem. Overall, the tournament attracted 491 entries, generating a £36,825 prize pool with 47 players paid.
Goliath Cup
Sebastian Darby (pictured below) won the £550 buy-in Goliath Cup for £47,670 after besting a 616-entry field. A total of 60 players got a share of the £307,000 prize pool. Darby’s previous best cash was in May last year when he won a Grosvenor 25/25 in Portsmouth for £16,450. Others who cashed included John Bousfield, Robbie Bull, Mystery Bounty champion Adam Neighbour, Brandon Sheils and Wadey Ashraf.
APAT Open Championship
Patrick Hudson (pictured below) won the £120 buy-in Amateur Poker Association and Tour Open Championship at Goliath after beating a 460-entry field. Hudson won £7,500 plus the Championship Gold Medal. It was his first APAT cash in ten years. Robert Grey was runner-up for £4,500 and Glen Davage third for £2,850. A total of 68 players got a share of the £46,000 prize pool.
GUKPT Main Event
As previously published on the MainEventTravel news pages, Grosvenor Ambassador Matt Davenport (pictured below) won the GUKPT for £116,200. Click here for full story.
Next up! GUKPT London
Grosvenor Poker fans don’t have long to wait until the next event: GUKPT London kicks off at the Poker Room at the iconic Grosvenor Victoria Casino on August 17. MainEventTravel is offering all players an incredible chance to win a prize package for the Main Event worth £1,750. All you have to do to enter is book any accommodation in the UK – or UK-bound flights – via MainEventTravel between now and midnight on August 16 (the day before the festival starts) and you’ll be automatically entered into a free draw.
The £1,750 prize package includes your £1,250 buy-in for the GUKPT London Main Event plus an online MainEventTravel.com travel credit valued at £500. The winner will also be able to choose which GUKPT London Main Event starting day they play: either Day 1a on August 24 or Day 1b on August 25.
Photo credit: Grosvenor Poker
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