GUKPT Resumes for 4th Year
The Grosvenor UK Poker Tour embarks on its fourth year today, Monday 18th January when the 1st leg of the 2010 season gets underway at the G casino in Bolton. 2010 will see several changes and additions to the UK’s largest series of poker festivals.
New Sponsor
This year the tour will be run in association with gcasino.com (www.gcasino.com). For the first three years, the tour was run in conjunction with Blue Square Poker (www.bluesqpoker.com) and although the online partner is changing this year, online super satellites will continue to be hosted on Blue Square. The online poker room of gcasino.com will be launched in February and will also host online super satellites and other online GUKPT events.
£300,000 in Added Value
This year Grosvenor/G Casinos and their online partner gcasino.com are adding £300,000 to the GUKPT. £150,000 if this will form the prize pool for the end-of-year Champion of Champions tournament, which will be taking place at the G Casino, Coventry. The GUKPT rankings will carry £50,000 in prizes, with £20,000 awarded to the overall winner and a further £30,000 distributed to the top 20 players on the leader board. The GUKPT National Leagues will also carry £100,000 in prizes.
Increased Starting Stacks
Starting stacks in the main events this year will be increased to 15,000. Side events will also have bigger starting stacks with £100-£200 events now awarding 7,500 chips while £250-£500 events kick off with 10,000 chips per player. The Grand Final will have a 25,000 starting stack.
The Main Tour
There will be eight legs and the Grand Final on the Main Tour in 2010, each featuring at least a week of side events and a three/four day main event. Most of the main events cost £1,000 to play, with the exception of leg 3, which costs £1,500 and the Grand Final, which is £2,500. The winners of all tournaments on the Main Tour will be invited to play in the £150,000 Champion of Champions tournament.
Extended Summer Series
The Summer Series, which debuted in 2009 has been extended this year to include ten mini-festivals. Each festival lasts between four to seven days and features main events with buy-ins ranging from £300 - £750. New venues taking part in the Summer Series this year include the recently opened G casinos in Dundee and Sheffield. The winners of all tournaments on the Summer Series will be invited to play in the £150,000 Champion of Champions tournament.
New for 2010 - The GUKPT Club Championships
The Club Championships brings the GUKPT experience to all 23 poker rooms in the Grosvenor/G casino estate. From Aberdeen to Plymouth, these £200 NL Hold’em one-day events will extend the reach of the GUKPT further than ever before. The winners of all Club Championship tournaments will be invited to play in the £150,000 Champion of Champions tournament.
The Online 10% Series
Throughout the year, a series of one-off tournaments will be hosted on the online poker room of gcasino.com (www.gcasino.com). They take place the day after each main event on the Main Tour and the Summer Series concludes and the buy-in will be 10% of the event which has just finished. The first of these will take place on Blue Square Poker (www.bluesqpoker.com) on January 25th and will have a buy-in of £100. The winners of all Online 10% Series tournaments will be invited to play in the £150,000 Champion of Champions tournament.
10-Seat-Guaranteed Super Satellites
New for 2010, every host venue on the Main Tour and the Summer Series will stage a 10-seat guaranteed super satellite, which will take place the week before their festival starts. The first of these took place in Bolton, where 14 seats were generated.
Live Streaming & Reporting
Live streaming of main events will continue in 2010 with Phil ‘the Tower’ Heald hosting the show on www.thenutz.tv. Live reporting will also be available on www.gukpt.com during every main event. Leg 1 will be covered by Adam 'Snoopy' Goulding.
The Main Tour Schedule
Festival - Venue - Dates
Leg 1 - G Casino, Bolton - 18th-24th January
Leg 2 - Grosvenor Walsall 20th - 28th February
Leg 3 - Grosvenor Victoria, London - 18th - 28th March
Leg 4 - G Casino, Bury New Rd, Manchester - 17th - 25th April
Leg 5 - G Casino, Coventry - 17th - 23rd May
Leg 6 - G Casino, Luton - 7th - 15th August
Leg 7 - G Casino, Brighton - 11th - 19th September
Leg 8 - G Casino, Blackpool - 6th - 14th November
Grand Final - Grosvenor Victoria, London - 18th - 28th November
The Summer Series Schedule
Venue - Dates - Main Event Buy In
1a - G Casino, Blackpool - 26th-31st May - £500 + £50
1b - G Casino, Thanet - 28th - 31st May - £300 + £30
2a - G Casino, Luton - 9th - 13th June - £500 + £50
2b - G Casino, Aberdeen - 10th - 13th June - £300 + £30
3a - Grosvenor Walsall - 22nd - 27th June - £500 + £50
3b - Grosvenor Newcastle - 24th - 27th June - £300 + £30
4a - G Casino, Sheffield - 21st -25th July - £500 + £50
4b - G Casino, Dundee - 22nd - 25th July - £300 + £30
5a - Grosvenor Victoria, London - 23rd - 30th August - £750 + £60
5b - G Casino, Bury New Rd, Manchester - 26th - 30th August - £500 + £50
The Club Championships Schedule
Date - Venues
13th February - Blackpool, Coventry, Leeds, Swansea & Thanet
10th April - Bolton, Dundee, Southampton & Stoke
10th July - Cardiff, London Victoria, Newcastle, Salford & Sheffield
16th October - Aberdeen, Gt Yarmouth, Luton, Manchester & Portsmouth
23rd October - Brighton, Huddersfield, Plymouth & Walsall
Club Championships tournaments start at 2pm. They are all £200 NL Hold’em Freezeouts and players start with 10,000 chips.