Redemption For Paul Vas Nunes in the 2023 GUKPT Grand Final
Nine years ago, Paul Vas Nunes almost became the 2014 Grosvenor UK Poker Tour (GUKPT) Grand Final champion. The Londoner navigated his way through most of the 212-strong field, and found himself heads up against a certain Charlie Carrel, who was a relative unknown quantity back then. Carrel defeated Vas Nunes heads-up and clinched his first major live title, leaving Van Nunes to collect a £94,775 consolation prize.
Fastforward to 2023, and Vas Nunes has come out on top in the £1,800 buy-in GUKPT Grand Final Main Event, leaving 324 opponents in his wake on his way to collecting £140,000.
2023 GUKPT Grand Final Final Table Results
| Rank | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paul Vas Nunes | £140,000 |
| 2 | Alex Montgomery | £100,000 |
| 3 | Adam Bonham | £62,210 |
| 4 | Tom Hall | £39,440 |
| 5 | M.I. | £26,120 |
| 6 | Iulian Petrache | £20,000 |
| 7 | Hamza Nasir | £14,500 |
| 8 | Mathew Frankland | £12,000 |
| 9 | Angel Plazasaez | £10,500 |
The top 32 finishers received a share of the £555,600 prize pool. Such luminaries as Keith Johnson, Florian Duta, 2023 PokerNews Cup champion Johnny Kelly, GUKPT Coventry winner Joe Hindry, Ludovic Geilich, and the recently crowned 2023 National Poker League champion Calogero Morreale were among the in-the-money finishers, the latter popping the final table bubble.Hamza Nasir
Until this tournament, Angel Plazasaez only had a solitary live score worth £625 to his name, but he now has a £10,500 payout on his Hendon Mob profile. Plazasaez committed his 18 big blind stack with pocket sixes, and ran straight into pocket queens.
Mathew Frankland was the next player to go, busting in eighth place. Frankland was the shortest stack at the start of eight-handed play, and he got the last of his chips into the middle with ace-jack on a jack-high flop, only to discover his opponents was sat with pocket aces.
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2023 GUKPT Leeds High Roller champion, Hamza Nasir ran out of steam in seventh. Nasir's pocket aces were a massive favorite over Adam Bonham's pocket tens, but the four of the community cards were clubs, and Bonham had the ten of clubs in his hand. A brutal way to end another deep run for Nasir.
The final six became five after Iulian Petrache bowed out. Romania's Petrache committed the last of his chips with pocket threes, and was in bad shape when he found that lowly pair up against the queens of Alex Montgomery and the ace-king of Bonham. Montgomery improved to an unnecessary full house on the river, and Petrache was gone, albeit with a career-best £20,000 to show for his efforts.
An anonymous player known simply as "M.I." crashed out in fifth, before Vas Nunes cracked Tom Hall's queen with pocket fours courtesy of flopping a set. Hall has been in scintillating form of late; this latest final table appearance earned him £39,440.
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Three-handed play did not last long, with Bonham's pocket threes losing a coinflip against the king-ten of Vas Nunes. The £62,210 Bonham collected is almost three times the size of his previous best score.
Montgomery went into the heads-up battle with Vas Nunes knowing he would enjoy his best-ever finish in a GUKPT Main Event. Montgomery's previous best was a third-place finish in the 2018 GUKPT Manchester Main Event.
Vas Nunes held a substantial chip advantage over Montgomery, and it took next to no time for him to seal the deal. Vas Nunes moved all in with ace-three, and Montgomery called off a shade over ten big blinds with queen-ten. An ace on the flop left Montgomery drawing thin, and he was drawing dead on the turn. Montgomery had satellited into the Grand Final, and turned that small investment into a £100,000 payday. However, Vas Nunes was the man of the moment, the 2023 GUKPT Grand Final champion and recipient of £140,000 almost ten years to the day since he finished as the bridesmaid in this event.
