Jerome L'Hostis Crowned 2018 GUKPT Grand Final Champion ($180,530)

November 26, 2018

Frenchman Jerome L'Hostis secured his second six-figure score of 2018 and the largest live poker tournament cash of his career when he topped a field of 325 entrants in the £400,000 ($514,225) guaranteed Grosvenor UK Poker Tour (GUKPT) Grand Final Main Event.

2018 GUKPT Grand Final Main Event Final Table Results

Place	Player	Prize in £	Prize in $
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 Sanchez Diaz	£18,200	$23,395
8	Matas Cimbolas	£15,000	$19,282
9	Tarjei Forus	£12,300	$15,811

^{*reflects a three-handed deal}

Some 115 players navigated their way through the two starting flights to take their seats on Day 2. Only 20 of those 115 returning players had chips in front of them when the curtain came down on the Day 2 proceedings.

Bubble Bursts

The top 30 finishers received prize money for their effort and he bubble burst almost exactly at midnight on Day 2. David Clarkson committed his last four big blinds with ace-nine and Julien Sitbon looked him up with queen-jack. Sitbon spiked a queen to bust Clarkson in 31st place, bursting the money bubble; Sitbon went on to finish fourth.

Former GUKPT Grand Final Main Event champion Kevin Allen was one of the first players to collect some prize money, banking £4,600 for his 26th place finish. Others who reached the money including Grosvenor Poker sponsored pro Katie Swift, last year’s runner-up Jamie O’Connor, GUKPT Blackpool champion Yiannis Liperis, Alli Mallu, Andrew “Stato_1” Hulme, Tom MacDonald, and Ben “Jenbizzle” Jones.

Final Table Set

The nine-handed final table got underway with Sitbon as the chip leader and Tarjei Forus being the short stack with only 14 big blinds to his name. Those chips went into the middle of the felt with Sitbon holding K♣Q♣. Ludovic Geilich called with the dominating A♦K♦ and when the board ran out J♣6♣5♥2♥6♥ it was game over for Sitbon.

A huge hand saw the dangerous Matas Cimbolas bust in eighth-place. With blinds at 12,000/24,000/3,000a, L'Hostis opened to 50,000 on the button, Cimbolas called from the small blind only to see Ben Morrison squeeze to 240,000 from the big blind. L'Hostis folded, Cimbolas tanked for three minutes before moving all-in for 1,300,000 only to be snap-called by Morrison. Cimbolas showed 8♠8♣ and was in a whole world of trouble against the A♠A♦ of Morrison. No eight appeared on the community cards, Cimbolas busted and Morrison clawed in the massive pot.

Seventh-place when to Carlos Sanchez Diaz after a clash with L'Hostis didn’t go to plan. Diaz open-shoved for nine big blinds with 10♠8♠ and Lhostis called with 9♣9♥. No help arrived for Diaz and the final table lost another player.

The final six became five with the elimination of partypoker sponsored pro Ludovic Geilich. After losing a big coinflip with pocket sevens against the ace-king of Tamer Kamel, Geilich was forced to move all-in with 8♦4♠ for three big blinds. Geilich’ hand lost to the K♦10♦ of L'Hostis to bust.

Geilich was joined on the sidelines, and perhaps the bar, by Paul Barnes whose A♠8♥ proved no match for Kamel’s A♦K♦ before Sitbon pushed his last five big blinds into the middle with A♠8♦ only to lose to the A♣6♦ of Morrison courtesy of a six on the turn.

Deal Struck

The final three players went on a 45-minute dinner break and came back with full bellies having struck a deal for the remaining prize pool. Kamel claimed £110,000, L'Hostis £120,445 and Morrison £123,155; the deal left the trophy and an additional £20,000 for the eventual champion.

Making a deal turned out to be a good business decision for Morrison because he busted in third-place shortly after the restart. Morrison first lost a five million chip pot to Lhostis to be left with a shade over eight big blinds. These went into the middle holding J♠9♠ and Kamel called with K♠10♦. The 10♠7♦9♣ flop was joined by the J♥ on the turn to gift Morrison two pair. The Q♣ on the river, however, improved Kamel to a straight and sent the tournament into the ads-up stage.

Kamel trailed L'Hostis by 6,200,000 to 2,000,000 chips going into heads-up and it proved a gap too far to bridge. Kamel was down to 800,000 chips and moved all-in with K♦8♦. L'Hostis called with A♠4♦. The flop fell Q♠10♥Q♦ followed by the 9♥ turn and the 3♦ river, meaning L'Hostis’ ace-kicker came into play, winning him the pot and the 2018 GUKPT Grand Final Main Event title.