Paul McAulay's Maiden Live Victory Comes With £34,810 at GUKPT Edinburgh
Paul McAulay is the 2024 Grosvenor UK Poker Tour (GUKPT) Edinburgh Main Event champion. According to The Hendon Mob Database, the Scotsman's victory, the first of his career, came with £34,810 in prize money, the second-largest haul of his career.
Thirteen is considered an unlucky number, but the opposite is true in McAulay's case. McAulay had previously reached 12 final tables in the live poker realm, and come up short each time. This latest foray to a final table saw McAulay lock horns with Matthew Davenport, not the easiest heads-up opponent on the circuit, but he got the job done and walked away with £34,810, a prize only eclipsed by the £55,000 he collected for a fourth-place finish in the 2019 WSOPC UK Main Event.
2024 GUKPT Edinburgh Main Event Final Table Results
| Rank | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paul McAulay | £34,810 |
| 2 | Matt Davenport | £26,180 |
| 3 | Andrew Hawksby | £18,480 |
| 4 | David Johnson | £12,320 |
| 5 | Kevin Frame | £8,770 |
| 6 | Greg Thomson | £6,620 |
| 7 | Edward Spencer-Small | £5,390 |
| 8 | Thomas Clack | £4,620 |
| 9 | Callum Gordon | £4,010 |
The total attendance over three starting flights was 184, which meant the top 22 finishers won a slice of the £153,980 prize pool. GUKPT crusher Calogero Morreale was one of the first Main Event players to cash. The likes of Robbie Bull, Sinead Priestley, Colin Gillon, and reigning champion Ludovic Geilich joined the sun-running Italian at the cashier's desk during Day 2.
The elimination of Yasong Tang in tenth brought the curtain down on the second day's play and set the official nine-handed final table.
Callum Gordon was the shortest stack at the start of the final table action, and was the first finalist to be relieved of their chips. Gordon got the last of his 11 big blinds into the middle with pocket fours only to run into the pocket kings of David Johnson. No help arrived from the board, and Gordon bowed out in ninth, his fifth score of the GUKPT Edinburgh festival.
Thomas Clack's run ended at the hands of McAulay and in cruel circumstances. McAulay shoved from the small blind with ten-five, and Clack called off his ten big blinds with the dominating ace-five. Clack paired his ace on the river, but that ace put four diamonds in view, and McAulay held the five of diamonds for a flush.
Seventh place went to Edward Spencer-Small, who almost became the second double-barrelled surname player to triumph in this event after Garry Stevens-Smith in 2018. Spencer-Small eight big blind shove with ace-eight was called by Johnson and his ace-four, with the latter turning a straight.
The final six became five when Greg Thomson came unstuck. The winner of the Grosvenor 25/50 Edinburgh event in September 2023 got his last ten big blinds in good with ace-jack against McAulay's seven-six. A double-up looked the most likely result for Thomson until a six peeled off on the river to bust him from the Main Event.
Popular grinder Kevin Frame became the latest victim of McAulay's run good and fell in fifth. Frame was all-in for ten big blinds holding ace-seven, and McAulay looked him up with king-jack. McAulay flopped a jack, and Frame failed to find an ace. That hand further improved McAuly's chip lead; he was now on 108 big blinds with the next largest stack worth 34 big blinds.
The first five-figure score went to Johnson in what was turning out to be a common scenario. Johnson committed his last 13 big blinds with ace-queen, and McAulay called with jack-nine. Being behind preflop wasn't an issue for McAulay because he flopped a jack to reduce the player count to only three.
McAulay took a short break from eliminating foes to allow Davenport to send Andrew Hawksby to the sidelines. Hawksby's last 17 big blinds found their way into the middle of the felt with king-seven of spades, a respectable hand but one nowhere near the strength of the pocket aces in Davenport's hand. The aces held, Hawksby busted, and the GUKPT Edinburgh Main Event progressed to the heads-up stage.
The chip stacks of the heads-up players were almost even, so it was anyone's tournament to win. McAulay came out on top in the early encounters and began forging a lead, although Davenport refused to lay down.
The final hand took place during the 25/000/50,000 level and saw McAulay raise, Davenport three-bet all-in for 1.4 million, and McAulay called. Davenport showed pocket three which McAulay's pocket nines had crushed. The nines remined true, Davenport fell in second place, and McAulay captured his first live title.
2024 GUKPT Edinburgh Results
A shout-out to everyone else who became a poker champion at the GUKPT Edinburgh festival. PokerNews previously reported on Ankit Ahuja's victory in the £1,650 High Roller, but the likes of Craig Smith, Sinead Priestley, Michael Gielty, Matthew Cartwright, Paulo Santos, and Anthony Gray also returned home with a trophy on their person.
For Priestley, fiancée of the aforementioned Davenport, it was a second live victory in as many months. Priestly triumphed in the 888poker Opening Voyage at the UKPL Luton stop, and won £17,865. This time around, Priestly stopped Calogero Morreale heads-up in the £550 GUKPT Cup, banking another £10,280.
| Event | Entrants | Prize Pool | Champion | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £1,650 High Roller | 50 | £72,000 | Ankit Ahuja | £25,200 |
| £250 Mini Main | 344 | £67,650 | Craig Smith | £14,620 |
| £550 GUKPT Cup | 86 | £41,280 | Sinead Priestley | £10,280 |
| £200 Opener | 308 | £51,740 | Michael Gielty | £9,735 |
| £250 PLO | 80 | £17,270 | Matthew Cartright | £3,330 |
| £200 Turbo | 65 | £11,240 | Paulo Santos | £2,930 |
| £150 Seniors | 87 | £11,080 | Anthony Gray | £2,760 |
Luton is the next stop on the 2024 GUKPT, with GUKPT Luton running from April 25 through May 5. Stuart Rutter is the reigning GUKPT Luton Main Event champion, and he should be in the mix looking to not only defend his title but become a three-time GUKPT Main Event winner.
