Jerome L’Hostis Triumphs at 2018 GUKPT Grand Final

The 2018 GUKPT Grand Final took place at the The Poker Room in London from November 8-25. Among the ten events featured at the series was its £2,140 ($2,750) Main Event, which came with an impressive £400,000 guarantee. Four days of action later, and finishing atop the 325 player field was Frenchman Jerome L’Hostis, who defeated his final opponent, Englishman Tamer Kamel, to lift the title, as well as a first place prize of £140,445 ($180,530).

In August, L’Hostis recorded a 5th place finish at the €1,100 EPT National Barcelona for €155,000 ($176,308). Following his latest victory, L’Hostis now boasts $433,524 in career winning, all but $62,873 of which has been earned in 2018 alone.

GUKPT Grand Final

The GUKPT Grand Final proved a popular draw, with its £400,000 guaranteed prize pool eventually swelling to £650,000. Among the 30 players then seeing a return on their £2,140 buy-ins was the Republic of Cyprus number one Yiannis Liperis in 20th (£5,800), Ali Mallu in 18th (£5,800), Andrew Hulme in 14th (£7,200), Thomas Macdonald in 13th (£7,700), Ben Jones in 12th (£8,400), and last woman standing Janice Phillips in 11th (£9,200).

Final Table Recap

First to leave the final table was Tarjei Forus, who got his last 14bbs all in holding Kc-Qc against the Ad-Kd of partypoker sponsored pro Ludovic Geilich. The dealer subsequently laid out a Jc-6c-5h-2h-6h board to eliminate Forus from the competition in 9th.

Next, Ben Morrison (A-A) took care of Matas Cimbolas (8-8) in 8th, after which L’Hostis (9-9) did likewise to Carlos Diaz (10-8) in 7th. L’Hostis then knocked out a shortstacked Geilich in 6th, while Tamer Kamel (A-K) outgunned Paul Barnes (A-8) to see him off in 5th. Soon after, Morrison’s A-6 holding improved to a pair of sixes against Julien Sitbon (A-8) to send him to the rail in 4th.

At this point, the remaining three players agreed to a deal in which Morrison received £123,155, L’Hostis £120,445, and Kamel secured £110,000, with the trophy and an extra £20,000 still up for grabs.

Following their dinner-break, Kamel (K-10) called Ben Morrison’s (J-9) eight big blind preflop shove, and eliminated the latter in 3rd on a 10-7-9-J-Q board.

Heads-Up

Jerome L’Hostis entered the final phase holding a roughly 3-1 chip lead over Tamer Kamel. On the final hand, Kamel shoved preflop holding Kd-8d, and received a call from L’Hostis with As-4d. While the Qs-10h-Qd-9h-3d board missed both players, L’Hostis’ ace kicker played, and so Kamel had to settle for a runner-up finish worth £110,000. As a result, he now has $1,485,202 in live earnings to his credit.

Jerome L’Hostis, however, came away with top honors, and was crowned this year’s GUKPT Grand Final Main Event champion.

Final Table Result

1: Jerome L’Hostis £140,445 ($180,530)
2: Tamer Kamel £110,000 ($141,396)
3: Ben Morrison £123,155 ($158,306)
4: Julien Sitbon £46,800 ($60,159)
5: Paul Barnes £31,800 ($40,877)
6: Ludovic Geilich £23,400 ($30,079)
7: Carlos Diaz £18,200 ($23,395)
8: Matas Cimbolas £15,000 ($19,282)
9: Tarjei Forus £12,300 ($15,811)

Looking Ahead To 2019 GUKPT

The 2018 GUKPT Grand Final is now complete, and goes on a break until season 13 kicks-off in January 2019. Among its nine destinations next year are London, Manchester, Edinburgh, Leeds, Luton, and Blackpool.

In the meantime, the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour (GUKPT) has recruited former world boxing champion David Haye to represent the brand. The 37-year-old Brit has had very little experience playing poker in the past, and is being taught the intricacies of the game by a number of Grosvenor pros, including Joe Beevers, Jeff Kimber, and Katie Swift. As Hayes commented at a press conference:

“I’m genuinely relishing learning from experts. In boxing, if your first coach isn’t correct and doesn’t teach you the fundamentals, you can only go so far. But, if you’re taught sound strategy from the start and have the right mindset, you can progress a lot quicker.”

Hayes has gotten off to an inauspicious start, though. In his first live poker tournament, a £165 side event at the GUKPT Blackpool, the pugilist crashed out after just three hands.