James Mitchell Wins the Inaugural G500 Event at GUKPT London
Table Of Contents
The first Grosvenor UK Poker Tour (GUKPT) festival of 2026 is in full swing at the Grosvenor Victoria Casino in London. A brand new tournament, the £500 buy-in G500, kicked things off, offering a £100,000 guaranteed prize pool. However, after 513 players bought in (including re-entries), the inaugural G500 paid out £219,300, with £47,700 going to the eventual champion, James Mitchell.
Mitchell is not a high-volume live tournament grinder, but does tend to come out of the woodwork whenever a major event takes place in the English capital. His decision to enter the G500 proved to be a masterstroke, as the 2010 Irish Open champion came away with the largest share of the spoils.
Sixty-two players received a share of the prize pool. The likes of Arian Hassankashani, Albert Sapiano, Tamer Kamel, Richard Ashby, and Joe Hindry finished in the money places. When Seyed Sarkeshik bowed out in tenth, his suited king-deuce losing to the pocket eights of Aaron Khera, the final table was set.
£500 G500 Final Table Results
| Rank | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | James Mitchell | £47,700 |
| 2 | Aqeel Butt | £31,890 |
| 3 | Michael Harrison | £21,470 |
| 4 | Lorenc Boci | £14,670 |
| 5 | Goonjan Mall | £10,250 |
| 6 | Lewis Javens | £7,360 |
| 7 | Aaron Khera | £5,510 |
| 8 | Vadim Cojocaru | £4,280 |
| 9 | Qing Feng Zheng | £3,440 |
Qing Feng Zheng busted in ninth, with Vadim Cojocaru and Aaron Khera joining him at the cashier's desk, the latter losing with pocket kings after Michael Harrison's pocket queens flopped a set.
Lewis Javems fell at the hands of Mitchell in sixth for a career-best £7,360. Javems three-bet Mitchell's opening raise, bet the flop, then jammed the turn with ace-queen on an ace-high board with two hearts. Mitchell went into the tank and called with ace-jack. Just as it looked like Mitchell would be left with around four big blinds, the jack of spades landed on the river to bust Javems and catapult Mitchell to second place in the counts.
Fifth-place went to Goonjan Mall, a finish worth £10,250. Mall, who was the runner-up in the GUKPT Grand Final Mini Main last November, committed his last ten big blinds with king-jack, and lost a coin flip to the pocket nines of Harrison.
The dangerous Lorenc Boci was the next player to be relieved of their stack. Boci got 14 big blinds into the middle with king-queen against the pocket tens of Mitchell. Those tens held, Boci busted in fourth, and the surviving trio of players laddered further up the payouts.
The G500 progressed to the heads-up stage with the demise of Harrison. In a battle of the blinds, Mitchell moved all-in with five-four of diamonds from the small blind, and Harrison called off his last 10 big blinds with ace-four. Mitchell hit a straight on the river, and Harrison was gone.
Mitchell held a 74 big blind to 12 big blind advantage over Aqeel Butt going into heads-up, but Butt wasn't prepared to go down without a fight. Butt managed to reel Mitchell back in before Mitchell put some distance between the two players.
The final hand of the G500 saw Mitchell move all-in with ten-eight of clubs, and Butt called off his last seven big blinds with nine-seven. Neither player paired either of their hole cards, meaning Mitchell's ten-kicker played and won him the inaugural G500 title and £47,700.
Yucel Eminoglu Banks £23,000 Worth of Live Credit
Fans of Yucel Eminoglu will see plenty of their hero in GUKPT events throughout 2026 thanks to him securing £23,000 worth of live credit via the £100,000 Invitational event. The GUKPT ran this tournament for the top 18 finishers in the 2025 National Poker League (NPL). The prize pool comprised of live credit for Grosvenor-run events.
The man known affectionately as "Mad Turk" emerged victorious and received the £23,000 top prize. Two others, runner-up Calogero Morreale (£16,000) and Dale Wilson (£12,500) banked five-figure worth of live credit, with the other 15 grinders receiving between £2,000 and £9,000.
£100K invitational Results
Remaining 2026 GUKPT London Schedule
The 2026 GUKPT runs through to January 18 in a live sense before January 19-20 sees the £110 Online Closer take place at Grosvenor Poker. The £1,250 buy-in, £250,000 guaranteed GUKPT London Main Event shuffles up and deals for the first time on January 15.
Last year, Wantao Tang left 428 opponents in his wake as he became the Main Event champion, a result worth an impressive £83,400.
