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The Final Countdown: London’s GUKPT Grand Final Festival

The final series in the year-long tour which has seen the GUKPT visit every G and Grosvenor Casino in a non-stop sequence of Main Events, Summer Series and Club Championships brings the last games of 2010 back to London’s Victoria Casino this week.  Along with the World Heads Up Championship (19th-22nd), the full festival runs until Sunday 28th November and provides a last chance to take down a packed-field poker tournament and secure a place in December’s Champion of Champions £150,000 freeroll (for more information please see http://www.grosvenorukpokertour.com/champion.shtml).  In 2009 the Grand Final was won by Tony Cascarino, beating a field of 183 for a prize of £168,800, and with a bigger buy-in next week’s Main Event will see a new champion crowned.

For the players at the top of the GUKPT Leaderboard, headed by Blackpool’s champion David Johnson, these tournaments represent the final challenge which will determine who will be crowned this year’s Player of the Year and take down the £20,000 top prize.  Judging by the turnout at last year’s Grand Final events, there will be enough ranking points floating around to give players like Alli Mallu and Neil Channing a genuine eleventh-hour shot at the title, and this should make for an especially exciting week of poker, hosted in the excellent atmosphere of the Vic’s 24 hour poker room.

The full schedule:

Thursday 18th November: £300 + £30 NL Hold'em Freezeout 7.30pm (2 days)
Friday 19th November: £500 + £50 PL Omaha Double Chance Freezeout 7.30pm (2 days)
Saturday 20th November: £500 + £50 NL Hold'em Freezeout 5pm (2 days)
Sunday 21st November: £200 + £20 NL Hold'em Freezeout 5pm (1 day)
Monday 22nd November: £300 + £30 1 Rebuy or Add On 7.30pm (2 days)
Tuesday 23rd November: £200 + £20 NL Hold'em Rebuy 7.30pm (2 days)
Wednesday 24th November: £350 + £35 NLHE F/O Super Satellite to Main Event 7.30pm (1 day)
Thursday 25th November:  £2,500 + £125 NL Hold'em Main Event Day 1a 2pm (3 days)
Friday 26th November:  £2,500 + £125 NL Hold'em Main Event Day 1b 2pm (3 days)
Sunday 28th November: £150 + £15 NL Hold'em Bounty Tournament 5pm (1 day)

The £2,500 Grand Final Main Event has a starting stack of 25,000 with an hour clock, making it one of the best-structured events in the UK; there are several satellites this week at the Victoria Casino – £100 NL rebuy events on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at 2pm – to give everyone a chance to qualify for a fraction of the buy-in.  There’s also still time to qualify online: a £250 freezeout is running on http://GCasino.com/poker on 21st November at 8pm with two seats guaranteed.