I'm back in the hotel now, tucked up in my nice warm bed, but before I crack on with the end-of-day
William Hill report, just a quick word on our eventual winner Brian Clarke. Although he ran well on the final table, he played a solid game throughout and perhaps deserved some of the luck that was embellished upon him in the end. More importantly, however, his win encapsulated some of the aspects of poker that make the game so attractive. As a single dad who works as a nightwatchman on the Blackpool pier, winning this event was probably just a distant pipe dream, but every time a player dropped out and he climbed another rung of the ladder, that dream gradually became more and more of a possibility.
As an amateur who is more accustomed to playing £10 comps down the local pub, the monies received from this victory will probably mean more to him than they did to any of the previous GUKPT winners. As he accepted his prize, it was clearly a proud moment for Brian as he fought in vain to stop the tears from flowing. In this sense, it was a joy to see someone so proud and overwhelmed take down the title. A big congratulations to him, at times in the comp he was a gent among table bangers, so let's hope we see him playing a few more of these GUKPTs come season three. But before that, he's got a Grand Final to win. Well done, Brian.
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