The Grosvenor UK Poker Tour (GUKPT) launched in 2007 and is still going strong today. Now in its 18th season, the popular tour has visited dozens of cities across the United Kingdom, with the seaside town of Blackpool ever-present throughout its existence.
Blackpool is famous for its pleasure beach, "The Big One" rollercoaster, and being a haven for stag dos and hen parties. But for a week each year – twice per year since 2023 – Blackpool attracts poker players from far and wide because the GUKPT is in town.
Ireland's Paul Bracken took down the inaugural GUKPT Blackpool Main Event in November 2007, outlasting 352 opponents in the £1,050 buy-in tournament; yes, £50 fees representing less than 5% of the buy-in used to be a thing 18 years ago! Bracken returned home with £109,700, which remained the largest first-place prize awarded at GUKPT Blackpool until Jamie Clossick helped himself to £109,000 in November 2022.
Plenty of stellar names have returned from GUKPT Blackpool with the winner's trophy under one arm and a bankroll-boosting score under the other. They include Simon Deadman, Rich Trigg, Tom Middleton, and Yiannis Liperis.
GUKPT Blackpool has always been the penultimate leg of the tour, serving as the warm-up for the season-ending GUKPT Grand Final. Grosvenor Casinos mixed things up in 2023, adding a second Blackpool stop to the schedule.
Reigning GUKPT Blackpool Main Event champion Ian Gascoigne
The latest GUKPT Blackpool Main Event features a trio of flights, with Day 1C, played to a turbo blind structure. Day 1A commences at 12:00 p.m. on March 14, Day 1B at the same time on March 15, and Day 1C also on March 15 but at the later time of 9:00 p.m.
Of course, there is much more to the 2024 GUKPT Blackpool stop than the £1,250 buy-in Main Event. During the festival, head to the Grosvenor G Casino in Blackpool to find tournaments such as the £1,650 High Roller, £200 No-Limit Hold'em Turbo, and the popular £550 GUKPT Cup.
Date
Time
Event
Sun 10 Mar
3:00 p.m.
£250 NLHE Mini Main Event Day 1A
10:00 p.m.
£110 GUKPT £1K cashout satellite
Mon 11 Mar
3:00 p.m.
£250 NLHE Mini Main Event Day 1B
8:00 p.m.
£180 High Roller cashout satellite
Tue 12 Mar
12:00 p.m.
£250 NLHE Mini Main Event Day 1C Turbo
4:30 p.m.
£250 Mini Main Event Day 2
7:00 p.m.
£250 PLO 4-Card
9:00 p.m.
£180 High Roller turbo cashout satellite
Wed 13 Mar
12:00 p.m.
£180 High Roller turbo cashout satellite
3:00 p.m.
£1,650 NLHE High Roller Day 1
4:00 p.m.
£200 NLHE Turbo
5:00 p.m.
Mini Main Event Day 3
8:00 p.m.
£140 Main Event cashout satellite
Thu 14 Mar
12:00 p.m.
£1,250 NLHE Main Event Day 1A
12:30 p.m.
£1,650 NLHE High Roller Day 2
7:00 p.m.
£140 Main Event cashout satellite
Fri 15 Mar
12:00 p.m.
£1,250 NLHE Main Event Day 1B
2:00 p.m.
£140 Main Event turbo cashout satellite
9:00 p.m.
£1,250 NLHE Main Event Day 1C Turbo
Sat 16 Mar
12:00 p.m.
£1,250 NLHE Main Event Day 2
2:30 p.m.
£550 NLHE GUKPT Cup Day 1
Sun 17 Mar
12:00 p.m.
Main Event Day 3
12:30 p.m.
£550 NLHE GUKPT Cup Day 2
1:00 p.m.
£150 NLHE Seniors
3:00 p.m.
£330 PLO 4/5/6 Card Bounty
7:00 p.m.
£200 Live Closer
Mon 18 Mar
7:00 p.m.
£110 Online Closer Day 1 £25,000 Gtd
Tue 19 Mar
12:00 p.m.
Online Cloaser Day 2 $25,000 Gtd
Stay tuned to PokerNews to discover which player adds their name to the ever-growing list of GUKPT Blackpool Main Event champions.
Matthew Pitt hails from Leeds, West Yorkshire, in the United Kingdom, and has worked in the poker industry since 2008, and worked for PokerNews since 2010. In September 2010, he became the editor of PokerNews. Matthew stepped away from live reporting duties in 2015, and now concentrates on his role of Senior Editor for the PokerNews.
