button in SafariTrain Driver No Longer the Butt of Friends' Jokes After GUKPT Glasgow Win
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The inaugural Grosvenor UK Poker Tour (GUKPT) Glasgow festival is over, and Bernie McGinlay is the £560 Main Event champion. McGinlay was the last player standing from a field of 348. He received a career-best £38,240 payout, but, perhaps more importantly, a GUKPT Main Event trophy.
McGinlay has played poker for many years and has live cashes dating back to November 2012 on his Hendon Mob profile. However, the freshly minted GUKPT Glasgow Main Event champion doesn't consider himself a poker player as such.
A train driver by day, McGinlay is in a group with several poker players who have continually joked about him not having a trophy. The joke is now on McGinlay's friends because he has the GUKPT Glasgow Main Event winner's trophy and £38,240 to show for his victory.
2026 GUKPT Glasgow Main Event Final Table Results
| Rank | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bernie McGinlay | £38,240 |
| 2 | Marius Varanavicius | £25,580 |
| 3 | Paul Green | £16,850 |
| 4 | Michael Kane | £11,120 |
| 5 | Andy Mackenzie | £7,570 |
| 6 | Dean Lyall | £5,490 |
| 7 | Mark Swift | £4,250 |
| 8 | Richard Kellett | £3,440 |
| 9 | Andreas Olympios | £2,860 |
The top 44 finishers helped themselves to a slice of the £165,290 prize pool. Andrew Hawksby, James Gray, Dale Wilson, and one of McGinlay's friends, James McAulay, were among those who reached the money places but fell short of the nine-handed final table.
Andreas Olympios' run came to an untimely halt when he jammed his eight big blinds with ace-jack straight into Dean Lyall's pocket aces. Lyall's aces remained the best hand, and Olympios, a World Poker Tour (WPT) champion, busted in ninth.
After reaching a pair of final tables during the recent PartyPoker Tour Glasgow festival, Richard Kellett navigated to the GUKPT Glasgow Main Event finale. He exited in eighth after shoving for seven big blinds with ace-king and losing to the suited jack-ten of Andy Mackenzie, courtesy of a jack on the turn.
Mark Swift, another of the eventual champion's poker-playing friends, crashed out in a similar way to Olympios. Swift committed his 15 big blind stack with pocket queens, only for Paul Green to wake up with aces. Again, the board ran out with little drama, and Swift bowed out.
You must win your coinflips if you want to win poker tournaments, but it appears Lyall didn't get the memo. Lyall, a player with $1.9 million in earnings, looked down at pocket fives and decided they were strong enough to push his last nine big blinds over the betting line. Michael Kane looked him up with queen-jack, which spiked a jack on the flop, and Lyall was sent to the cashier's desk to collect sixth-place money.
After eliminating Swift with a pair of aces in the hole, Green found another powerhouse hand to relinquish Mackenzie's stack. Mackenzie's last 10 big blinds went into the middle of the table, and Green called. Green showed pocket kings, which held against Mackenzie's ace-jack on a ten-high board.
McGinlay then scored his first elimination of the final table. The talented Kane open-shoved for 10 big blinds on the button, and McGinlay called. McGinlay turned over pocket kings, which were a substantial favorite over the at-risk player's ace-seven. The community cards didn't come to Kane's rescue, and he headed out of the tournament area having finished in fourth place.
Third place went to Green after he lost two key hands in quick succession, showing how cruel tournament poker can be. First, Green got his chips in with two pair against McGinlay, but the latter hit one of his many flush and straight outs on the river. He then lost his last remaining five big blinds with eight-seven against the ace-six of Marius Varanavicius.
McGinlay and Varanavicius' stacks were relatively even at the start of heads-up, but things started going McGinlay's way. At the time of the final hand, McGinlay had forged a better than five-to-one advantage.
The final hand saw Varanavicius look down at jack-nine and announce he was all-in. McGinlay had been dealt pocket jacks, and quickly called. A seven-high flop left Varanavicius needing running cards, and he was drawing dead on the turn.
Varanavicius fell in second place, a finish good for £25,580, while McGinlay got his hands on £38,240, the trophy, and the priceless bragging rights among his friends.
2026 GUKPT Glasgow Full Results
| Event | Entrants | Prize Pool | Champion | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £560 Main Event | 348 | £165,290 | Bernie McGinlay | £38,240 |
| £250 Mini Main | 411 | £100,000 | Nicholas Swann | £21,820 |
| £1,000 High Roller | 66 | £56,420 | Yasong Tang | £18,450 |
| £250 GUKPT Cup | 146 | £30,250 | Yuzhou Yin | £6,650 |
| £200 Last Chance | 81 | £15,000 | Abdul Mukit | £4,420 |
| £150 Deepstack | 123 | £15,190 | Gaoyang Yang | £3,470 |
| £150 PLO 4-Card | 93 | £11,490 | G.K. | £3,310 |
| £150 Closer | 65 | £10,000 | J.W. | £2,990 |
| £200 Turbo | 29 | £4,960 | Stephen Docherty | £1,980 |
No Rest for the Wicked
There's not long to wait before the next GUKPT stop of 2026 kicks off. GUKPT Luton is scheduled to run from August 30 to September 8. Among is busy schedule is a £560 buy-in GUKPT Luton Main Event carrying a £150,000 guarantee on its prize pool.
If you hurry, you'll find satellites online at Grosvenor Poker and GGPoker. Those qualifying for the GUKPT Luton Main Event or buying into it via their GGPoker account will be eligible for a 10% cash boost on their GUKPT Luton Main Event winnings thanks to the special partnership between GGPoker and Grosvenor.
