Slay the £250,000 Goliath This July
Grosvenor Casinos has confirmed the dates for the 2017 Goliath tournament, which despite costing only £120 to enter, could be the biggest tournament you ever play.
The Goliath is an annual tournament run by Grosvenor Casinos at their venue at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry. Although the buy-in is an affordable £120, the sheer number of entrants to each Goliath tournament mean that the prize pool is larger than the biblical character the event is named after.
In 2012, Les Fenton topped a field of 1,954 entrants to grab £35,800 of the £200,000 guaranteed prize pool. Twelve months later, Jake Skidmore became the Goliath’s champion when he triumphed over a field of 2,568, which was the largest Goliath ever at the time.
Nobody expected the Goliath to continue growing at such a rapid rate, but in 2014, a staggering 3,394 entries were processed and a £339,400 prize pool created. A gargantuan £62,320 of that princely sum went to Ryan Foster after he defeated Mark Adams heads up for the title.
Finland’s Miikka Toikka was crowned the 2015 Goliath champion when he outlasted a field of 4,210 players, including his heads-up opponent Katie Swift who recently reached the final table of the partypoker MILLIONS event at Dusk Till Dawn.
Vamshi Vandanapu was the last of 5,232 players standing in 2016 to win £62,750 after a three-way deal.
This latest Goliath tournament keeps its £100+£20 buy-in and the same £250,000 guaranteed prize pool but there is every chance that the pot of money waiting for those who cash will top £500,000 or more.
2017 Goliath Schedule
| Date | Time | Tournament |
|---|---|---|
| July 27 | 7 p.m. | £220 National 25/50 Event Flight A |
| July 28 | 7 p.m. | £220 National 25/50 Event Flight B |
| July 29 | 11 a.m. | £87 Redtooth £25,000 Gtd |
| 12 p.m. | £120 Goliath Main Event Flight A | |
| 7 p.m. | £220 National 25/50 Event Flight B | |
| July 30 | 11 a.m. | £76 Redtooth Tag Team Event |
| 12 p.m. | £120 Goliath Main Event Flight B | |
| 2 p.m. | National 25/50 Final Day | |
| 6:30 p.m. | £38 Redtooth Win the Button | |
| 7 p.m. | £31 Open Dealers Championships | |
| July 31 | 12 p.m. | £120 Goliath Main Event Flight C |
| 7 p.m. | £38 4/5/6 Omaha 7-max | |
| Aug. 1 | 12 p.m. | £120 Goliath Main Event Flight D |
| 7 p.m. | £38 Win the Button | |
| Aug. 2 | 12 p.m. | £120 Goliath Main Event Flight E |
| 7 p.m. | £76 Tag Team Event | |
| Aug. 3 | 12 p.m. | £120 Goliath Main Event Flight F |
| 6 p.m. | £83 APAT 8-Game Championship Day 1 | |
| 7 p.m. | £38 Joker is Wild | |
| Aug. 4 | 12 p.m. | £120 Goliath Main Event Flight G |
| 8 p.m. APAT 8-Game Championship Day 2 | ||
| Aug. 5 | 12 p.m. | Goliath Main Event Day 2 |
| 4 p.m. | £83 APAT UK Amateur Poker Championship Day 1 | |
| 7 p.m. | £330 Super High Roller Day 1 | |
| Aug. 6 | Goliath Main Event Final Day | |
| 12:30 p.m. | Super High Roller Final Day | |
| 1 p.m. | APAT UK Amateur Poker Championship Final Day | |
| 1:30 p.m. | £58 APAT Pot-Limit Omaha Championship | |
| 2 p.m. | £38 Deep and Steep Event |
The 2017 Goliath will sit players down with a generous starting stack of 25,000 chips with blinds starting at 25/50. Blinds increase every 40-minutes throughout the tournament and 16 levels are played on each of the seven starting flights and on Day 2. When breaks are taken into consideration, each starting day, up to the final day, should finish at approximately 12:40 a.m each morning.
Re-entry is possible while late registration is open, with late registrations spanning three hours each day.
Online satellites for the Goliath are running now at Grosvenor Poker which is also where you can buy into any of the starting flights via the holding tanks in the tournament lobby. It is also possible to buy into the Goliath tournament at any Grosvenor Casino in the United Kingdom.
Download Grosvenor Poker via PokerNews today and you’ll receive a 200 percent bonus up to £700 when you make your first deposit. You’ll also receive a bonus bag worth £50.
