Elliott Marais Wins the Biggest Ever GUKPT Goliath Tournament
The 2017 GUKPT Goliath, which wrapped up over the weekend, was officially the biggest-ever live poker tournament to take place outside of Las Vegas after a staggering 6,385 entries were processed across several starting flights. Emerging victorious from the huge field was Elliott Marais, who turned one entry for a £120 investment into £85,760.
2017 GUKPT Goliath Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Elliott Marais | £85,760 |
| 2 | Tai Hoang | £62,060 |
| 3 | Levan Reid | £44,630 |
| 4 | Paul Morris | £31,670 |
| 5 | Robert Shore | £21,900 |
| 6 | Calum Goodwin | £15,390 |
| 7 | Oneib Saeed | £12,005 |
| 8 | Fabio Liriomiranda | £9,895 |
| 9 | Dean Perry | £8,490 |
The field was made up of 4,022 unique entrants and 2,363 reentries, which meant the £250,000 guarantee was blown out of the water with a £638,500 prize pool up for grabs. By the time the field was whittled down to the final nine players, the minimum anyone would take home weighed in at £8,490.
Dean Perry was the first casualty of the final table and walked away with that £8,490 prize, which was more than double the size of his previous largest score. Perry was followed to the rail by Fabio Liriomiranda, Oneib Saeed and Calum Goodwin, who were all eliminated in quick succession.
Fifth-place and £21,900 went to Robert Shore, who recently retired and has immersed himself in the small stakes poker scene at the Grosvenor Casino Reading South where he cashed for £1,100 in a Grosvenor 25/25 Series in January 2017.
Until this weekend, Paul Morris’ largest live tournament cash was worth £465, his reward for a sixth-place finish in a £50 buy-in event in Hull in November 2016, but now the former Marine can brag of a £31,670 score and a fourth-place finish in the 2017 GUKPT Giliath.
Third-place eventually went to Levan Reid who had hoped to win enough money to take his two children to Disneyland. Reid managed to do exactly that because his third-place finish saw his bankroll swell by an impressive £44,630 so it looks like he and his children will be jetting off to the U.S. sooner rather than later.
Heads-up was contested by Marais and Tai Hoang, a player from Birmingham who would have made a popular champion. Although the chip lead exchanged hands several times during the one-on-one battle, it was Marais who came out on top to grab the £85,760 top prize, which resigned Hoang to the £63,060 consolation prize.
The organizers of the Goliath have already announced the dates for the 2018 edition of this seemingly ever-growing event. The Ricoh Arena in Coventry is the place to be between July 26 and August 5, 2018, where it is hoped the total attendance will top 7,000 entrants.
Images courtesy of GUKPT
