Cush Berlyn Stages Superb Comeback to Win GUKPT Leeds Main Event

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Oct 05, 2026 3 min read

The penultimate leg of this year's 2026 Grosvenor UK Poker Tour (GUKPT) has wrapped, with Leeds playing host to almost two weeks of top-class poker action that produced plenty of big winners and great stories.

The biggest gong of the lot goes to British grinder Cush Berlyn, who conquered the GUKPT Leeds Main Event to bank a career-best £43,490, defeating Renee Xie at the final table, who made another phenomenal run in her quest to go for back-to-back Main Event titles.

Elsewhere, there was GUKPT Leeds High Roller success for Chris Balmforth, who took down the festival's biggest buy-in for £31,060, as well as an unlikely winner of the Closer for a man who is on a heater of biblical proportions right now.

Berlyn Wins GUKPT Leeds Main Event After Three-Way Deal

Many congratulations to Cush Berlyn, who put on a comeback clinic to top a 250-entry field and be crowned GUKPT Leeds Main Event champion, securing £43,490 after a three-way deal with Niall Duffy and James Shaw.

Berlyn started the day eighth of the remaining nine players in chips and was a 12/1 underdog at the Grosvenor Leeds sportsbook, but defied the odds in style to take the title and the biggest score of his career to date, according to The Hendon Mob.

En route to victory, Berlyn outlasted recent GUKPT Luton Main Event champion Xie, who exited in ninth. It was Xie's remarkable 25th GUKPT Main Event cash, with the £4,250 score moving her up to fourth on Grosvenor's all-time leaderboard.

The field was whittled down until a deal was agreed between the final three, before Berlyn established a 2:1 heads-up advantage over Duffy by eliminating Shaw in third. From there, it was heads-up between the two entertaining players, with Berlyn ultimately emerging victorious to hold aloft the beautiful glass GUKPT Main Event trophy.

GUKPT Leeds Main Event 2026 Final Table Results

Balmforth Caps Dream Day With High Roller Win

High Roller honours went the way of Chris Balmforth, who added a career-best score to his impressive list of results by taking down the 50-entry £1,500 £100k GTD event for £31,060.

It proved to be something of a dream day for Balmforth, who, alongside lifting the trophy, was also selected by GGPoker in the Golden Draw, winning the top prize of a GUKPT Main Event seat. He would make the most of that opportunity too, going on to bag an impressive 86 big blinds ahead of Day 2.

Balmforth defeated a stacked final table that included 2023 Irish Open Main Event champion David Docherty, WSOP Europe Main Event final niner Brandon Sheils, and eventual GUKPT Main Event champion Berlyn, on his way to victory.

GUKPT Leeds High Roller 2026 Final Table Results

Rose-Black Adds Closer Title to Incredible Heater

You may have to forgive us a little self-indulgence as we celebrate victory for PokerNews' very own Liam Rose-Black, who is now being dubbed 'The Geordie Harvey Specter' after taking down the Closer for £3,360.

The win moves Rose-Black up from his previous position of 772,673rd (it's a surprise he was even that high) on Poker's All-Time Money List, according to The Hendon Mob, and marks just his second-ever live tournament victory after binking the media event title at EPT Barcelona a little over a month ago.

PokerNews refuses to interview Rose-Black (at least until Liverpool lose), on account of what will undoubtedly be insufferable levels of smugness. We don't need to ask him, however, to know that he would dedicate the victory to his wife Kylie, whom he married a little over a week ago on an achingly beautiful, sun-soaked day.

Truly, some heater.

GUKPT Leeds Closer 2026 Final Table Results

Eliot Thomas is an Editor at PokerNews, specializing in casino and poker coverage. He is on the ground in South Korea covering the Triton Super High Roller Series and has previously worked at the World Series of Poker and European Poker Tour.

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