Marc ‘dean23price’ Wright has brought the curtain down on the latest season of the Grosvenor United Kingdom Poker Tour by winning the Grand Final at The Vic for £132,380.
Marc Wright joins the likes of Paul Foltyn, Fabian Quoss, Sam Grafton, Kevin Allen, Charlie Carrel, Ben Winsor and former professional footballer, Tony Cascarino as the winner of the Grosvenor United Kingdom Poker Tour (GUKPT) Grand Final after picking up the 2016 title at The Vic, London.
The title of Grand Final Champ came down to a single hand after Marc Wright, and his heads-up opponent Will Davies agreed to chop the remaining prize money after Tamer Kamel exited in third (Kamel became the first player to make the final table of the Grand Final on three separate occasions).
The £2,125 buy-in Main Event is always reg heavy and this one was no different. 276 players entered – the fourth largest since the event began in 2007 – and the likes of Jake Cody (23), Matt Perrins (11) and former champ Kevin Allen (18) were all in the mix until the bitter end.
Wright – who has won close to $4m playing online as dean23price – agreed to take £127,000 with Davies banking £120,000. After 90-minutes of stalemate action, the pair were sufficiently bored enough to split the final £10k down the middle and play the final hand for the trophy that now rests with Wright.
It was the third time Wright had made the final table of a GUKPT Main Event. In 2010, he finished fifth in Bolton, and three years later he exited in the same place in London.
The 2016 GUKPT schedule contained eight legs, followed by the Grand Final. 50% of the Main Events carried a £550 buy-in with the other half the meatier looking £1,100.
Amongst the highlights were Ryan Spittles defeating 240 entrants to win the £31,100 first prize in Reading. Tom Middleton beat 251 opponents to win the £56,255 first prize in Blackpool. The largest prize went to Martin Hogarty for beating 394 entrants in the opening event in the nation’s capital. Hogarty picked up £66,538 for that win.
GUKPT Final Table Results
1. Marc Wright – £132,380
2. Will Davies – £125,380
3. Tamer Kamel – £63,480
4. Naoufel Smires – £40,850
5. Bandar Alireza – £28,150
6. Paul Scipioni – £20,980
7. Kiat Le – £16,560
8. Nikola Minkov – £13,240
9. Lucas Blanco – £11,040