The Grosvenor Behemoth Main Event crowned its champion on December 15 after an impressive turnout for the inaugural event. A field of 1,347 entrants created a £336,210 prize pool that the top 168 finishers shared. Cristinel Costin came out on top and reeled in a £43,700 prize after a three-way deal, the largest haul of his career.
Costin's previously best live poker tournament result came in December 2021 when he finished 30th in the €10,350 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event for €35,709. The prize money earned from taking down the Grosvenor Behemoth pushes Costin's lifetime earnings past $200,000.
| Rank | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cristinel Costin | £43,700* |
| 2 | Gary Nordigian | £42,260* |
| 3 | Dawid Chmiel | £48,450* |
| 4 | Tommy Bingham | £16,810 |
| 5 | Yucel Eminoglu | £10,090 |
| 6 | Yujia Hu | £7,390 |
| 7 | Aleks Golubevs | £5,380 |
| 8 | Andrew Cowley | £4,370 |
| 9 | Dan Silverman | £3,840 |
*reflects a three-handed deasl
The nine-handed final table lost its first player After Dan Silverman got his last 14 big blinds into the middle holding ace-king, and Dawid Chmiel called with queen-ten. A queen on the flop proved enough to relieve Silverman of his stack, and he bowed out in ninth for £3,840.
Andrew Cowley's deep run ended in an eighth-place finish worth £4,370. Cowley got his stack into the middle with king-jack on a jack-high board but ran into Costin's overpair.
Seventh place and £5,380 went to Aleks Golubevs, who, you may recall, was the 2023 WPT500 UK champion. Down to only eight big blinds, Golubevs jammed all-in with pocket eights, and Tommy Bingham looked him up with ace-six. Bingham caught a six on the flop and another on the turn to eliminate Golubevs.
Bingham then dispatched Yujia Hu in sixth. Hu check-called on the flop and turn before moving all-in on the river. Bingham called with top pair, and a busted flush draw was all Hu could muster. The £7,390 that Hu collected is the largest of his fledgling career.
The remaining players breathed a sigh of relief when Yucel "Mad Turk" Eminoglu bowed out in fifth. Eminoglu, recent winner of the GUKPT Grand Final Midi Main, committed his last ten big blinds with jack-nine but couldn't win the coinflip against Costin's pocket sixes. Eminoglu added £10,090 to his lifetime winnings.
Start of the final table chip leader Bingham was next to fall. Bingham flopped top two pair with his jack-ten and will have been pleased to get his chips into the middle. However, Chmiel had flopped a set, leaving Bingham high and dry, although the £16,000 payout will have helped to numb the pain somewhat.
Double Delight For Davenport, Winning the NPL and UKPL Player of the Year
The final three players decided to lessen the severity of the pay jumps and struck a deal. The deal left no money to play for, just the title and glory of triumphing in a live event.
Chmiel was eliminated in third when he moved all-in for 19 big blinds with a pair of red sixes on the button. Costin called from the small blind with pocket aces, and Gary Nordigian squeezed all-in with ace-five. Costin snap-called creating a three-way all-in. A king-high board eliminated Chmiel in third and gifted Costin a 25,700,000 to 8,000,000 chip advantage going into heads-up. Unsurprisingly, it didn't take long for Costin to bust his final opponent and become the first-ever Grosvenor Behemoth champion.
The first of 14 stops on the 2025 Grosvenor UK Poker Tour (GUKPT) is only a few weeks away, with GUKPT Coventry scheduled to start on January 9. The festival has over £600,000 in combined guarantees. Justin Tsui is the reigning GUKPT Coventry Main Event champion. Tsui outlasted 631 opponents on his way to collecting £100,000 of the £667,400 prize pool.
Win your way into the GUKPT Coventry Main Event online at Grosvenor Poker.
