A trio of live tournament results including a victory for Vamshi Vandanpau in the record-breaking Goliath, Van Tran winning the World Poker Tour National in Rozvadov, and Francesco Elefante winning the Italian Poker Tour in Saint Vincent.
The Grosvenor United Kingdom Poker Tour (GUKPT) has broken the record for the largest live poker tournament held outside of Las Vegas after the 2016 Goliath racked up 5,232 entrants in Coventry.
The eight-day event smashed the previous record of 4,210 (3,168 unique; 2,064 re-entries) set during the 2015 Goliath. As you would expect with such a huge field, and a £120 buy-in, the final table was comprised of amateur players.
The £62,750 first prize now resides in the bank account of Vamshi Vandanpau who beat Robbie Richmond in heads-up action. Unlike his final table counterparts, he was accustomed to wading through large fields. His previous best cash was for £18,000 after coming runner up in the 2015 United Kingdom & Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT) Mini in Dusk till Dawn (DTD) where 1,689 players entered. Vandanpau was the most experienced player at this final table. He has now earned $151,010 in live tournament earnings.
The 2016 Goliath is one of many huge live events this year. The World Series of Poker (WSOP) saw 21,613 entrants compete in The Colossus II, 7,190 in the Millionaire Maker, 6,927 in the MONSTER Stack, and 6,761 in the Crazy Eights event.
The world record for a live tournament remains the 22,374 that entered The 2015 Colossus at the WSOP.
Final Table Results
1. Vamshi Vandanpau £62,750*
2. Robbie Richmond – £50,000*
3. Cristian Popescu – £50,000*
4. Will Campbell – £27,000
5. Tom Powell – £18,850
6. Graeme Evans – £13,400
7. Luke Winsley – £10,450
8. Craig Dew – £8,600
9. Jonathan Mellor – £7,400
*Denotes a three-way deal
Van Tran Wins the WPT National in Rozvadov
Germany’s Van Tran has defeated 339 entrants to win the €1,100 buy-in World Poker Tour National (WPTN) event in the King’s Casino, Rozvadov, Czech Republic.
The field comprised of 296 unique entries and 43 re-entries accumulating in a €330,101 prize pool, easily surpassing the €200,000 guarantee.
Tran picked up €68,081 for his win after turning a 3:2 chip lead into the win against Harmjan Poel of the Netherlands. The pair settled on a heads-up deal securing €58,081 for Poel. Tran was one of four Germans who made the final table. It was the first cash of his career.
Other notables who cashed included the high stakes cash star Martin Kabrhel (19th) and WSOP November Niner Vojtech Ruzicka (36th).
Final Table Results
1. Van Tran – €68,081*
2. Harmjan Poel – €58,081*
3. Jan Streicher – €31,954
4. Daniel Schumacher – €23,767
5. Italy Bernshtein – €17,924
6. Markus Hofer – €14,623
7. Patrick Beuter – €12,148
8. Shay Vodka – €9,573
9. Vitezslav Pesta – €7,295
*Denotes a heads-up deal
Francesco Elefante Wins the Italian Poker Tour Main Event in Saint Vincent
Francesco Elefante has defeated 370 entrants to take the €40,000 first prize in the Italian Poker Tour (IPT) Main Event in Saint Vincent. The event was a knockout re-entry with half of the €179,450 prize money separated for bounty payments.
Elefante had agreed a heads-up deal with Nicolaj D’Antoni before the pair clashed with the mighty 84o beating 63o for the title. It was Elefante’s largest tournament victory by some margin. His previous best was a 5th place finish in a €400 buy-in event in Malta where he earned €5,220. He also cashed in the 2015 IPT Malta event for €1,720. Runner-up D’Antoni recently took 4th in the €990 WPTN Main Event in San Remo for €33,000.
Final Table Results
1. Francesco Elefante – €40,000
2. Nicolaj D’Antonij – €22,000
3. Jean Poingt – €16,500
4. Codrin Macovei – €13,900
5. Thomas Storer – €11,000
6. Francesco Crisafulli – €8,200
7. Andrea Cortellazzi – €6,010
8. Mauro Cordiso – €4,400
9. Francesco Cordua – €3,600
