Miikka Toikka Tops 4,000+ Players in GUKPT Goliath Event

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Miikka Toikka

Outside the annual World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vegas, poker tournaments usually don't have fields in the thousands. That said, once per year, the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour (GUKPT) holds a huge tournament in the United Kingdom called The Goliath, and this year's version proved to massive.

This year's Goliath, which featured a £120 buy-in, was gargantuan as 4,120 entries (2,764 unique players participate) were taken over the course of seven starting days, which smashed the £250,000 guarantee by creating a £421,000 prize pool. Of that, £75,800 was reserved for the winner.

On Sunday, August 16, the final day's action took place at the Ricoh Arena, Coventry. The field had been reduced to two eight-handed tables, and it was Leeds' Shane "AJKMoscow" Mossop who was the man to catch, having ended Day 2 with a colossal 12,980,000 stack.

Play restarted at 12 p.m. and over the next three hours "Mr G", Tom Runnacles, Charlie Godwin, Adam Clarke, Adam Wilson, Matt Harris and Sunny Mistri all hit the rail to establish the final table of nine.

2015 GUKPT Goliath Final Table

SeatPlayerChips
1Grant Ferguson3,975,000
2Sunil Moti19,380,000
3Ben Boulden11,440,000
4Ryan Meager4,315,000
5Phil Bain14,645,000
6Shane Mossop4,070,000
7Miikka Toikka27,220,000
8Katie Swift6,060,000
9Andrew James13,830,000

Within minutes of the final table action commencing, Miikka Toikka opened the betting with a min-raise to 800,000 and Grant Ferguson three-bet all in for 2.7 million. Ben Boulden cold-called from the big blind and Toikka called. A flop reading KK7 saw Boulden check, Toikka bet a million and Boulden call. Both players then checked the 8 turn before Boulden fired a 2-million bet on the J river, a bet that Toikka snap-called.

Ferguson showed the A6 for ace-high, Boulden AA for a pair of aces, and Toikka the K10 for trip kings. Ferguson busted in ninth place while Toikka soared to more than 30 million chips.

Amazingly, the start-of-the-day chip leader was eliminated just 10 minutes later.

It happened when Mossop open-shoved for 2.8 million from the button with the QQ and found himself facing the AJ of Katie Swift, who had reshoved from the small blind. The queens remained the best hand on the K39 flop as well as the 5 turn. The Q river improved Mossop to a set of queens, but it also gifted Swift a flush!

Ben Boulden's tournament then came crashing down in two short hands. The first saw him lose all but four big blinds when his JJ couldn't get there against Ryan Meager's QQ, and then the rest of Boulden's stack went into the middle with the AK versus the KK of Meager. A final board reading 210457 was enough to send Boulden to the rail in seventh place.

The sixth-place finisher was Andrew James whose exit hand started with him completing his small blind and Sunil Moti checking his option. James then led for 2 million on the J85 flop and Moti called. Both players tapped the table and checked the Q turn before James bet all in for 3.4 million on the 9 river. Moti instantly called and turned over A10 for a straight, crushing the K5 of James.

James's seat hadn't even gone cold when Phil Bain exited in fifth place. Bain pushed all in for slightly less than 10 big blinds with the KQ and found a caller in the shape of Meager, who held the 88. James' hand failed to melt his opponent's snowmen as the five community cards fell A26J6.

The final four players paused the tournament and discussed a potential deal, which was eventually reached. They decided to take £5,000 from first place and add it to fourth, meaning the least anyone was taking home was £25,200.

That sum is now in the bank account of Moti, who called an all-in bet with the 107 on the turn of the 237Xx board only to be shown 33 by Toikka. Moti was drawing dead and when the A completed the board he made a beeline for the exit.

Meager's tournament ended with a third-place finish and £29,050 in a cooler hand. Toikka raised to 2.5 million and then instantly called when Meager three-bet all in for 20 million. Meager showed the AQ and was trailing the KK of Toikka. Those kings held as the dealer spread the J7826 community cards to send the tournament into the heads-up stage.

Heads-up play was short and sweet thanks to it being a real "David and Goliath" affair, quite fitting considering the tournament's name. Toikka went into heads-up with 95 million chips compared to the 9.5 million of Swift.

On the second hand of heads-up play, Swift moved all in with the KJ and Toikka called with A4. Both players improved to a pair on the AK10 flop, but it was Toikka who had one hand on the trophy. The 10 turn was no help to Swift, and neither was the 3 river, which sent her to the rail and left Toikka, who works as an IT Professional, as the 2015 Goliath champion.

2015 GUKPT Goliath Final Table Results

Miikka Toikka Tops 4,000+ Players in GUKPT Goliath Event 101
Miikka Toikka
PlacePlayerPrize
1Miikka Toikka£70,800
2Katie Swift£46,300
3Ryan Meager£29,050
4Sunil Moti£25,200
5Philip Bain£12,650
6Andrew James£8,400
7Ben Boulden£5,900
8Shane Mossop£3,800
9Grand Ferguson£3,100

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