Leg 9 of 2024 GUKPT season wrapped up in Blackpool, England on Sunday and crowned a new Main Event champion after Ravi Sheth topped the 299-entry field. The Grosvenor Poker live event generated a £314,250 prize pool that paid out returns to the top 38 players.
Sheth entered the final table as the chip leader and never took his foot off the gas. He last defeated Zhicheng Mao to win the title, trophy, and £68,580 winner's prize. 2024 EPT Barcelona runner-up Andrew Hulme rounded out the podium finishes, banking £35,100.
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ravi Sheth | United Kingdom | £68,580 |
| 2 | Zhicheng Mao | United Kingdom | £50,970 |
| 3 | Andrew Hulme | United Kingdom | £35,100 |
| 4 | Daniel Myers | United Kingdom | £23,260 |
| 5 | Trevor Reardon | United Kingdom | £16,020 |
| 6 | Sinead Davenport | United Kingdom | £11,630 |
| 7 | Jack Sharpe-Maguire | United Kingdom | £9,110 |
| 8 | Liam Jones | United Kingdom | £8,020 |
| 9 | Tuan Le | United Kingdom | £6,910 |
Eleven players returned for the finale, but the final table was quickly set after Neville Betty ran his ace-queen into kings before David Hudson's six big blind shove with ace-deuce couldn't hold against Sheth's jack-ten.
Tuan Le was the first player to depart on the final table, with his ace-nine falling to Jack Sharpe-Maguire's king-ten. Sheth and Liam Jones got into a preflop-raising war that resulted in Sheth five-bet jamming pocket nines. Jones called off with Big Slick but saw Sheth flop a set, who stretched his lead further at the top of the counts.
Sharpe-Maguire picked up £9,110 for his seventh-place finish after GUKPT Blackpool High Roller fourth-place finisher Trevor Reardon turned a king to leapfrog the at-risk player's ace-ten.
Sinead Davenport was looking to become the first female GUKPT Main Event champion and needed to win a coin flip to keep her hopes alive. However, her pocket jacks were beaten on the river by runner-up Mao's ace-queen. Davenport collected £11,630 and then saw her husband, Matthew Davenport, take down the £500 GUKPT Cup for £16,740, capping off a fine weekend for the British poker power couple.
Reardon's pocket tens were flushed out by Sheth, who remained in control. His grip on the winner's spoils tightened after he made a set of deuces against Daniel Myers, who exited in fourth place. Sheth's sun-run continued with the elimination of Andrew Hulme. Sheth rivered a jack-high straight, and Hulme couldn't find the fold with his jacks and eights after the eventual champion moved all in.
Mao had an uphill battle in heads-up, coming into the final showdown with 11 big blinds. Sheth had 109 and was the clear favorite. Mao took the first few pots and found a double-up on the first all-in and call, but Sheth still held more than a 4:1 chip lead.
A few more pots were exchanged until the cards went on their backs for the final time. Sheth shoved with ace-jack, and Mao called off with ace-seven. Mao failed to find his three-outer, and Sheth was confirmed as the GUKPT Blackpool Main Event champion.
| Event | Entries | Prize Pool | Winner | Prize | Deal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £175 NLH Opener | 234 | £39,310 | Craig Humphreys | £6,960 | Three-way deal |
| NLH Kav Cup | 250 | £18,520 | Karen Tomczak | £3,630 | Heads-up deal |
| £220 NLH Mini Main Event | 553 | £116,800 | Abdul Ahmed | £24,530 | - |
| £175 PLO | 112 | £18,820 | Lin Chen | £3,178 | Four-way deal |
| £1,500 High Roller | 70 | £100,800 | Jamie Dale | £33,260 | - |
| £180 NLH Turbo | 119 | £20,560 | Thomas Davenport | £3,235 | Five-way deal |
| £1,100 GUKPT Main Event | 299 | £314,250 | Ravi Sheth | £68,589 | |
| £500 GUKPT Cup | 151 | £72,480 | Matthew Davenport | £16,740 | |
| £130 Seniors | 82 | £10,450 | Kevin Bloor | £2,010 | Three-way deal |
| £300 PLO 4/5/6 Bounty | 69 | £19,870 | John Miller | £2,510 | |
| £180 Closer | 79 | £13,650 | Nick Slade | £3,250 | Heads-up deal |
