Biggest Poker Tournament Outside Of WSOP Held In Coventry

Apart from the USA’s World Series of Poker (WSOP), very few poker tournaments attract fields exceeding 4,000 players. Having said that, the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour (GUKPT) holds a special annual tournament in the United Kingdom called The Goliath, which has grown exponentially over the past few year. In 2012, for instance, 1,954 players entered the event, followed by 2,570 players in 2013, and 3,394 players in 2014.
This year’s GUKPT Goliath further confirmed the growing popularity of the tournament, with a record-breaking 4,210 players turning up at the Grosvenor G Casino Coventry, representing the biggest live tournament ever held outside of the WSOP in Las Vegas. Providing extra incentive to participate in the £120 buy-in event was the £250,000 guaranteed prize pool offered by the organizer, but in the end that figure soared to £421,000.
Following seven starting days, on Sunday, August 16th, or Day 3 of the competition, the huge field was whittled down to a final table of nine, with eventual winner Miikka Toikka the chip leader on a 27,220,000 stack, while Katie Swift was one of the tables many short-stacks with just 6,060,000 chips.
Miikka Toikka then eliminated Grant Ferguson in 9th (£3,100), Sunil Moti in 4th (£20,200), and Ryan Meager in 3rd (£29,050) to usher in heads-up play against Katie Swift for the title.
By this stage, however, Toikka held a 95 million to 9.5 million chip advantage over his remaining opponent, and two hands is all it would then take before the deciding hand was played with Swift moving all-in holding K-J, only to be called by Toikka with A-4. The A-K-10-10-3 board sealed the deal, and so Katie Swift finished the runner-up for £46,300, while Miikka Toikka was crowned the champion.
GUKPT Goliath 2015 Result:
1. Miikka Toikka – £75,800
2. Katie Swift – £46,300
3. Ryan Meager – £29,050
4. Sunil Moti – £20,200
5. Philip Bain – £12,650
6. Andrew James – £8,400
7. Ben Boulden – £5,900
8. Andrew Mossop – £3,800
9. Grant Ferguson – £3,100