Julian Thew may be more accustomed to ordering doubles at the bar, but now his mantelpiece can boast two shiny GUKPT titles, his latest victory in Brighton coming just four months after his Plymouth triumph and making him the Tour’s first double winner.The Grosvenor Casino in Brighton played host to the usual crew of regulars, Dave Colclough, Ryan Fronda, Ian Cox, Dan Carter and co all gracing us with their presence, with a few local sharks such as Paul Parker, Glenn Martin and Ronnie Debeaulox thrown into the melting pot for good measure.
As Day One sorted the men out from the boys, it was the likes of Niall Charlton, Mick Fletcher and Jason Powell who took the bull by the horns with Robert Cowans leading the pack with 107,975. But as the early pace-setters began to falter, it was the more familiar faces who began to take control, Rob Garfield, Julian Thew and John Eames all accumulating chips at an unsettling pace, but none with quite as much velocity as Joe Grech who quickly amassed a 430 thousand stack to make him the clear chip leader.
A crucial hand near the end of Day Two saw messieurs Jen Mason and Julian Thew cross swords. Raising Julian all-in with Pocket Tens on a 9-8-7 Flop, Jen forced Julian into making a brave call for all his chips with 9-8, which ultimately stood up to leave his foe with just 100k in chips. Julian, meanwhile, had won a monster pot which comfortably led him onto the final table fourth in chips:
Jim Reid -- 678,000
Karim Louis -- 574,500
Josef Grech -- 454000
Julian Thew -- 400500
Micheal Bolger -- 180500
Nik Persaud -- 173000
Marcus Bebb-Jones -- 158500
Fabio Esposito -- 146000
Roberts Cowen – 136500
After a hard fought-out final table battle in which the most unfortunate exit was that of Fabio Esposito whose J-T on a J-J-3 board ran into the Pocket Threes of Karim Louis, we were left with our final three, any one of Louis, Thew and Reid looking capable of taking top honours.However, that big title that he so vastly deserves would once again evade Jim Reid (right), his 6d-4d on a 9c-2d-7d Flop requiring more than a miracle against Karim’s dominating Qd-9d. No divine intervention took place though, and Jim was gone in third.
Heads up, and a deal was agreed, then chip leader Karim Louis securing himself £66,000, meaning Julian Thew was guaranteed £56,000 and the opportunity to win the remaining £10,000 (plus the Grand Final seat) that remained in the prizepool.
After a gruelling see-saw battle, I don’t believe anyone was surprised when Julian eventually took GUKPT gold, his Pocket Fives surviving a race against Karim’s A-Q to give Golden Yoyo Balls his second victory to date.
Londoner Karim was clearly elated with his achievements, his only GUKPT appearance prior to this event being in Brighton the first time round when he finished a respectable 18th. The day, however, belonged to Julian, his record-breaking triumph providing yet another notch on the poker bedpost and surely guaranteeing him many weeks of under-the-sheets delight with his other and better half.
Before Season Two kicked off, there were a number of concerns regarding the lack of TV coverage and its potential effect on the popularity of the Tour. However, apart from final table looking like it had been plucked from a boozy home game, the boys at BlueSquare did us proud, subsequently managing to lure in a 280 thick field.blonde poker live updater, Chris Hall, later commented: “Last year Brighton had 313 to this year's 280. I don't really see that as a huge drop really given we were there in late Spring last year with better weather and with the Tour in full swing. Remember that the very first event held in Bolton last January only had 197 runners, so I'm sure BlueSquare/Jon Raab/Grosvenor will be very happy with the turnout.”
The next stop on the GUKPT calendar is Walsall, and with feedback on Season Two’s opening event being so positive, Leg Two will undoubtedly be a roaring success.
1st Julian Thew -- £66,000 + Seat
2nd Karim Louis -- £66,000
3rd Jim Reid -- £30,800
4th Michael Bolger -- £22,400
5th Joe Grech -- £16,800
6th Nik Persaud -- £14,000
7th Marcus Bebb-Jones -- £11,200
8th Fabio Esposito -- £8,400
9th Robert Cowen -- £5,600