Growth of the GUKPT Goliath Suggests 2018 Edition Will Be Biggest Yet
The 2018 Grosvenor UK Poker Tour Goliath takes place at the Grosvenor Casino inside the Ricoh Arena, Coventry from July 28 through to Aug. 5 and if previous editions of this massive tournament are any indication, it is going to be huge.
Grosvenor Casinos have guaranteed that this year’s champion will turn their £125 investment into at least £100,000 and that means they will walk away with the biggest prize in Goliath’s history.
Aug. 2011 was the first time the Goliath opened its doors to the poker-loving public and it was an instant success. Some 1,765 players bought into the £120 Main Event to create a prize pool of £176,500. It was Lee Rawson who wrote his name into the history books, finishing in first-place for £32,705.
2012 saw the field size grow to 1,954 as word spread about how awesome the Goliath was. Leslie Fenton was crowned the 2012 Goliath champion, an accolade that came with a £35,800 cash prize.
More than 2,000 Entries
The following year saw yet another increase in the number of entries thanks to re-entries being allowed. A crowd of 1,822 players made 746 re-entries between them to create a massive £257,000 prize pool. A three-way chop between Daniel Cullen, Jiri Sladkovsky and champion Jake Skidmore saw that trio scoop £38,710, £31,535 and £29,690 respectively.
If Goliath players thought 2013 was big, nothing could have prepared them for 2014 when a total of 3,394 entries were processed, creating a £339,400 prize pool that obliterated the £250,000 guarantee. The champion in 2014 was Ryan Foster who secured a £62,320 payout, the largest from any Goliath at that time.
Word was now spreading of a tournament where you could win life-changing money for only £120, so 2015 was the biggest Goliath yet. Miikka Toikka defeated Katie Swift heads-up to bank a massive £70,800 after outlasting 4,210 entrants, one of the biggest live poker tournaments ever held outside of Las Vegas.
More than 5,000 entries
Things were starting to get silly in 2016 thanks to 3,168 players purchasing 2,064 re-entries between them, creating a £523,200 prize pool as they did so. The tournament ended in a three-way deal with second and third place banking £50,000 and Vamshi Vandanapu taking home a cool £62,750 for his victory.
That brings us up to the 2017 edition from 12 months ago. This instalment broke the records for a poker tournament outside of Las Vegas when the total entries topped 6,385! Elliott Marais was the last player standing and he added £85,760 to his bank account.
Qualify for the 2018 Goliath
Satellites for the 2018 Goliath are running now online at Grosvenor Poker starting from as little as £1. At least 750 seats have been guaranteed to be won, will you be getting your hands on one?
You can also guarantee your seat in this huge event by visiting any of the 55 Grosvenor Casinos in person and paying £125. Alternatively, you can buy into the various holdings tanks, for £125, online at Grosvenor Poker.
