2022 set for stellar start at GUKPT London in January!
The GUKPT always gets the new poker year off to a cracking start with their traditional “Leg 1” festival at the Poker Room at the Victoria Casino in London. The 2022 season will be the GUKPT’s 15th annual series and feature a total of 12 events across the country including Coventry, Manchester, Reading, Edinburgh, Luton, Leeds, Blackpool and London.
The first London festival kicks off on 26th January with a host of great tourneys including the £560 Midi Main, £2,200 High Roller and £1,250 Main Event. Following December’s hugely successful GUKPT Grand Final – which featured a gargantuan Main Event prize pool of £1,092,600 – staff at the iconic Poker Room venue are braced for a big turnout for the January event.
As it happens, Grosvenor players have had a lot to celebrate lately. The huge end-of-season festival at the Poker Room ended 2021 on a massive high – with massive fields, record prize pools and mouth-watering first prizes. Four cashes – including the final table of the Omaha 4/5/6 tourney – took Team Grosvenor Ambassador Katie Swift to the #1 spot in the GPI rankings as the UK’s top female live poker player. She said: “I’m very proud to have made it as I think that’s my first time at the top. It’s a great way to go into 2022 and I’m really looking forward to getting back to the tables after a break over the festive season.”
At the GUKPT Grand Final, Londoner Andy Moc won £265,350 after beating a 607-entry field in the £2k buy-in Main Event. It was by far Moc’s biggest payday in live poker and the £1,092,600 prize pool was the largest in GUKPT history. A total of 59 players cashed in that including Grosvenor Ambassador Katie Swift who finished 56th for £4,400.
In the GUKPT London Main Event, Jiaze Li took home £62,500 after defeating a 471-entry field. Katie Swift cashed in that one too – for £2,790 – while Hendon Mobster Ram Vaswani made the final table, finishing 8thfor £10.660. Philippe Souki took down the Mini Main for £54,7690 and Vaidas Siriunas snagged a £68,680 victory in the £560 Midi Main.
But it wasn’t only London where Grosvenor players have been hitting the headlines. In Sunderland, Mickey Wharton Sr. scooped £114,000 just before Christmas after winning the Grosvenor Poker ‘National Bad Beat Jackpot’. The jackpot had reached £380,000 when Wharton started playing in a No Limit Hold‘em cash game only to see his four tens beaten by Adam Smith’s straight flush. Smith got a nice £57,000 pay-out as the bad beat “winner” and 383 players who were playing NLHE cash at the same time – in Grosvenor casinos all over the country – were each given a £545 bonus. It just shows that it’s definitely worth hitting the cash game tables if you bust a live tourney!
Among those who will be competing at GUKPT London in January will be Team Grosvenor stalwarts Katie Swift, Richard Trigg and Jamie Nixon, along with newest team pro Euan McNicholas. McNicholas performed valiantly in an epic battle in 2021 to top the Grosvenor National Poker League and snag a £20,000 sponsorship deal with Grosvenor. McNicholas, who took down GUKPT London in July for £165,800, said: “With 2021 being my first year playing the GUKPT tour, I can’t wait to get back in the mix in 2022, starting off in London. If the prize pools are anything like 2021 it’s going to be an epic year.”
The new National League already looks set to be another toughie though: 2021 GUKPT Leeds champion Jack Hardcastle, currently the UK’s #1 live poker player, has already taken an early lead for Player of the Year and a coveted sponsorship deal with Grosvenor worth £40,000!
Team Grosvenor pro Jamie Nixon added: “Off the back of the success of the 2021 GUKPT, I can’t wait to get started with the 2022 edition. The numbers have been insane, records keep being broken and I can’t see that changing! Despite the huge success, some changes have come in with the reappearance of a Coventry leg and a Reading Leg, which I personally can’t wait for. GUKPT 2022 is going to be amazing and that’s without even mentioning Goliath in August!”
MainEventTravel can take care of all your travel and accommodation needs during GUKPT London.
For example, if you fancy a 4-star hotel less than 5 minutes walk away for the Midi Main or the Main Event, the Hilton London Metropole .22miles away starts at £215.32 for 2 adults in a Queen bed, room only Friday and Saturday night 28-30th January or 4th-6th February.
There are budget options nearby as well starting at £90.92 for a Twin room including breakfast, some with rooms available that are sold out with other providers.
The GUKPT is Grosvenor Poker’s flagship tour and – despite the COVID-19 hiatus – is also the longest-running poker tour in the UK. 2022 will mark the GUKPT’s 15th season. For all GUKPT updates, do check the Grosvenor facebook page where you can also watch GUKPT live streams hosted by Phil “The Tower” Heald!
***Room rates and availability are correct as we go to print. Room rates may fluctuate with availability.
£ GBP
$ USD
€ EUR
