McNicholas Reigns Supreme In First Grosvenor UK Poker Tour Main Event

There was a very welcome sight in the United Kingdom this week, as poker action made its long awaited return. There was certainly an excitement level surrounding the event, which saw nearly 600 entrants for the event. The event that was staged was part of the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour, and was called the GUKPT London Main Event.

Due to the number of entrants involved, the players in the top 57 places all shared the fund that was in the purse. However, the winner of the event was Euan McNicholas, who walked away with a prize of £165,800.

McNicholas Wins Event

It was an excellent event for McNicholas to win his first UKPT event, and he would have welcomed its introduction onto the UK poker scene. McNicholas is currently ranked at 522^nd on the all-time money list for players in England, as he has won returns of over £225,000 during his career to date. This was by far one of the biggest prize returns that he has achieved during his career, as he came out on top to win £165,800 in London.

It was a tense finish to the event for the British star, as he came up against Tadas Budzeika in the heads-up challenge. A deal wasn’t reached between the stars, which meant that the runner-up needed to settle for a return of £114,050 from the event. However, it would have still been an exciting event for all involved as poker made its long awaited return. 

Final Table Results

McNicholas and Budzeika were the two highest finishers in the event, but there were still a host of other star players involved on the final table. Danny Pyke finished back in third in the event, as he narrowly missed out on competing in the heads-up challenge. Pyke would have still been happy with his returns from the event, as he claimed £67,500. However, there would have certainly been disappointment that he wasn’t able to finish in the top two places.

There was a big gulf between the prize returns on the final table. Fourth place went the way of Chris Johnson, as he won £41,450, while Antoine Saout was knocked out just before his rival. Saout still claimed prize money of £26,100, making him the only other player in the London Main Event to win returns of over £25,000.

Sam Miller finished in sixth place in the event. Miller would have been appeased with his returns from the event, as he won £17,850. Only Two other players achieved returns of greater than £10,000 in the event. Jack Hardcastle finished in seventh, while Bradley Rawson was eighth. The latter of the stars won £10,850 in prize money. Meanwhile, the first player to be knocked out on the final table was Aleem Kanji. He picked up returns of £8,900 from the enjoyable event in London. Players that picked up decent returns despite finishing outside of the final table included Jamie Nixon, Laurence Houghton and Michael Zhang.