This time last year, few could have predicted the success and dominance the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour has enjoyed on the UK poker circuit. Staging affordable £1,000 freezeouts with a multitude of different satellites and armed with a near faultless marketing scheme, the boys at Blue Square stumbled on just the right formula to lure in the punters in their hordes. Visiting various Grosvenors from Newcastle all the way down to Plymouth, the Tour gave the nation ample opportunity to undertake this wonderful pastime, and partake they did, numbers often reaching record-breaking heights and continually creating top prizes of over £100,000.
Praz Bansi may have got the ball rolling in Bolton last February, but the season close has finished in the hands of Mike Ellis, the British pro having fended off a tough final table to lap up victory and the eye-watering £197,600 first prize.
At £3,000, the Grand Final was always going to suffer from diminished numbers, but when compared to the failure of other bigger buy-in events, 198 starters at the Grosvenor Victoria in London was a respectable figure.Of those 198, many of the usual suspects were present including Surinder Sunar, Mickey Wernick, Roberto Romanello, John Kabbaj, Jeff Kimber, Ash Hussain and heads up victor Kevin O’Leary, not to mention all previous winners such as poker titans Julian Thew, Dave Colclough and Jerome Bradpiece. The increased prize pool even attracted a few less regular, but equally lethal customers in Stuart Fox, Ben Grundy, Liam Flood, Ben Roberts and Hendon Mobber Ross Boatman.
However, with all this homegrown talent flocking to the capital’s poker nucleus, it would be an overseas player who would hold the chip lead going into the final, unpredictable American Mark Friedman (above) leading the way with just under a million in chips.
Mark Friedman -- 912,000
Sami Yusef -- 545,000
Simon Zach -- 346,000
Ben Vinson -- 293,000
Michael Ellis -- 245,000
Paul Moss -- 202,000
Dave Barnes -- 196,000
Carlos Barrera -- 137,000
Owen Lock -- 109,000
In what was to prove a long drawn out affair, 9th place went to Blackpool’s Simon Zach (left), the Dusk Till Dawn trader being left with just 37,000 after running Big Slick into Barrera’s Pocket Rockets before finally falling at the hands of Dave Barnes with J-8 vs. K-J.One of the fan favourites and a great character at any table, Paul Moss would be next to depart. His push for 100k with Q-J was called by Owen Lock and a blank board later it was all over for Fatmarra who took back £17,800 to his wife and two kids.
However, eliminating Moss wasn’t enough for Lock, as he would soon bite dust himself, an inevitable Queens versus Kings showdown with Sami Yusef seeing him joining the crowd in the stands.
Poker can often tease and tantalise as Dave Barnes found out when he left us in 6th. All-in with K-9 versus Ben Vinson’s A-7, the board came a dramatic 7-6-T-9-A to send the Londoner packing.
A far from famous five left, it would be heavily supported Carlos Barrera who would go home next. His K-9 echoed Barnes’ swansong, but up against Michael Ellis’ Queens, he was even more of an underdog. A raggy rainbow board later, and we were down to four.With Friedman and Yusef (right) riding high with a million a piece, it would be the shortstacked Vinson who would exit stage left, an 8-6 versus Ellis’ Deuces coinflip looking promising until a third Duck hit the Flop.
With just three poker Trojans remaining, the topic of deal-making cropped up, but Ellis was adamant in his refusal, and requested, on more than one occasion, that the prize structure remain unchanged.
A marathon three-way dance would keep the viewers entertained, but the bloggers frustrated, as the players took their foot off the gas. However, something had to give, and after dropping to under 300,000, Mark Friedman found himself all-in with J-T versus Yusef’s K-9, which held up on an ineffective board.
With the chip counts virtually neck and neck, it truly was anyone’s game. When Ellis missed an open ended straight draw against Yusef’s top pair, it looked as though it would be the former who would be forced to settle for second place. However, with his teeth grit like an ultimate fighter, Ellis battled back to regain the chip lead.
At about 11.30pm, that inevitable £100k hand occurred as the chips flew in pre-flop, Ellis’s A-K looking to pair up in order to topple Yusef’s Queens and snatch victory before midnight. A gasp-inducing T-8-Q-J-6 board later and it was all over, Mike Ellis becoming a well-deserved GUKPT Grand Final Champion.Quiet and reserved at the table, Ellis is well respected on the circuit and has quickly established himself as a formidable foe. Like the end of day chip leaders before him, Ellis earned himself a free seat in next year’s final to go with his near £200k first prize, but, judging by his reluctance to deal, it would seem as though the victory itself was of equal importance to him.
As alluded to in the opening paragraph, the GUKPT inaugural year has been a truly magical one. Many thanks to Blue Square and Grosvenor for their unbridled hospitality to blondepoker. We wish you all the best and hope that next season is just as successful.
1st Mike Ellis -- £197,600
2nd Sami Yusuf -- £106,900
3rd Mark Friedman -- £71,300
4th Ben Vinson -- £53,500
5th Carlos Barrera -- £41,600
6th Dave Barnes -- £32,700
7th Owen Lock -- £23,800
8th Paul Moss -- £17,800
9th Simon Zach -- £14,800
10th John Kabbaj -- £8,900
11th Ross Boatman -- £5,900
12th Dave Colclough -- £4,800
13th Paul Smallwood -- £4,800
14th Ken Wong -- £4,800
15th Keith Hawkins -- £4,800
16th Jim Moult – Entry to next year’s Grand Final