Richard Trigg Is Your Latest GUKPT Reading Champion (£78,260)
After three days of play, including three Day 1 flights, the £1,000 GUKPT Main Event has concluded. Your winner Richard ''Rick'' Trigg takes his third GUKPT title and £78,260 for his victory after 10 hours of play on Day 3.
The event was a really successful one, with 346 entrants taking to the tables in Reading South Grosvenor Casino. There were 34 players that made the money in the event, with Duc Cao being the unfortunate bubble boy. Day 2 saw 108 players play down to just 14, after 10 levels of play.
Returning players that fell just before the final table were Vikrum Mehta (14th), Eovert Maile (13th), Emrah Yildiz (12th), ex-England international footballer Anthony Gardner (11th). The unlucky man to bubble the final table was Phil Tate, who got in his tens against the aces of Kuljinder Sidhu and didn’t improve.
Final Table Payouts
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (£) |
| 1 | Richard Trigg | United Kingdom | £78,260 |
| 2 | Kuljinder Sidhu | United Kingdom | £54,930 |
| 3 | David Anderson | United Kingdom | £33,570 |
| 4 | Michael Burnett | United Kingdom | £21,360 |
| 5 | Christopher Brammer | United Kingdom | £14,040 |
| 6 | Jack Hardcastle | United Kingdom | £10,370 |
| 7 | Jack Loraine | United Kingdom | £7,630 |
| 8 | Andrew Bullen | United Kingdom | £6,410 |
| 9 | Benjamin Creasey | United Kingdom | £5,490 |
Benjamin Creasey was the first out on the final table, after running his pocket pair of sixes into the pocket kings of Jack Hardcastle, earning £5,490 for 9th.
Andrew Bullen was next to go after he ran into the pocket kings of Jack Loraine, which didn’t improve sending him out in 8th for £6,410.
In 7th was Loraine, unfortunately for him his pocket jacks got rivered after being all in preflop against Michael Burnett's queen-seven. Loraine cashed for £7,630.
Hardcastle finished 6th, not able to grab himself another title. Still a great showing from the Portsmouth-native, who cashed for £10,370 after running his king-queen into the big slick of Burnett.
The names kept falling as Christopher Brammer busted in 5th for £14,040. Brammer busted into Trigg's Ace-queen when he jammed his short stack in. It was Brammer's first GUKPT event in years, a great showing from the British pro who couldn't go better than his best finish in a GUKPT of second place.
Burnett was out in 4th after he lost nearly all his stack with pocket kings against Sidhu’s ace-queen. He did manage to triple up the next hand but ultimately couldn’t spin it back up. He exited after running into the pocket tens of David Anderson with his pocket sevens, cashing for £21,360.
Anderson was actually next to bust, he got in king-queen suited against Trigg’s big slick and although he flopped a flush draw, he didn’t improve, which sent play to heads-up. He did make £33,570 for his efforts, still.
Heads-up play was back and forth, both keeping in contention trading small pots with one another. After Trigg opened up an 3-to-2 lead, Sidhu flopped two pair with queens and fours against the pocket jacks of Trigg. Trigg then turned a set and after a blank river came in, Sidhu quite rightly got his hand all in only to be shown the bad news by Trigg, who three-of-a-king secured the win and his third GUKPT title. Sidhu cashed for £54,930 and added another great accolade to his already fantastic poker resume.
Winner's Interview
Grosvenor live stream commentator and interviewer Phil ''The Tower'' Heald caught up with the victor after his win and asked him how it sounds to be three time champion. ''It feels really good, I've had my eye on trying to get the third one''.
Trigg, who was one of 11 players to max late register at the start of Day 2 and got down to 3 big blinds at one point on Day 2 but battled back, spoke about what it was like playing in the Poker room in Reading where they played out the final table, ''It's been such a strange final, it's been so quiet, it made everyone concentrate a bit more and play better. Normally there are a couple of people on the rail making some noise''.
Trigg was asked how it felt and what it was like to win as a sponsored Grosvenor player, ''Uhm...hopefully I get a contract renewal!'', which drew a laugh from his interviewer. ''It's like a family, everyone roots for each other, everyone's been texting me all day''. It must have been great for Trigg to get a victory on a tour close to his heart.
Trigg drew a big smile as he lifted his third title on the GUKPT tour, congratulations to Rick! That does it for the PokerNews coverage of GUKPT Reading. This is the place for coverage for many events, including future GUKPT tour stops. UKIPT Nottingham and EPT Barcelona are close on the radar so keep it here for all the hand histories and info on players.