Ryan O'Donnell Takes Down GUKPT London Main Event For Maiden Live Victory
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Ryan O'Donnell is the latest in a long line of poker grinders who can call themselves a Grosvenor UK Poker Tour (GUKPT) Main Event champion. London's O'Donnell came out of top of a 249-strong crowd in the £1,250 buy-in GUKPT London Main Event and raked in score worth £56,760.
O'Donnell was a relative unknown until 2023 when he found himself heads-up against Isaac Haxton in the $25,000 No-Limit Hold'em High Roller 8-Handed event at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vegas. O'Donnell failed to topple Haxton but returned home with a massive $1,049,577 prize to his name, while Haxton captured his first WSOP bracelet.
The third and final day of the GUKPT London Main Event started with only 11 players and Joe Laming leading the way. Such luminaries as Team Grosvenor's Ludovic Geilich, Joe Hindry, reigning PokerNews Cup champion Johnny Kelly, and Philippe Souki had busted on Saturday's Day 2.
Victor Ilyukhin crashed out in 11th place when his ace-nine couldn't beat Cassandra Yong's ace-queen. Shortly after Ilyukhin's demise, Tobias Hegarty popped the final table bubble. A huge three-way all-in saw Hegarty all-in and at risk with king-jack, live poker crusher Matthew Davenport all-in with pocket kings, and Yong holding ace-queen. Davenport won the pot when his cowboys emerged unscathed, leaving Hegarty to collect 10th place money.
2024 GUKPT London Main Event Final Table Results
| Rank | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ryan O'Donnell | £56,760 |
| 2 | D.A. | £42,430 |
| 3 | Matthew Davenport | £29,280 |
| 4 | Joe Laming | £19,470 |
| 5 | Ravi Sheth | £13,540 |
| 6 | Qiaochu Xiao | £9,930 |
| 7 | Tarjei Forus | £7,900 |
| 8 | Cassandra Yong | £6,830 |
| 9 | Artan Dedusha | £5,940 |
Artan Dedusha, the 2020 GUKPT London Main Event champion, finished in ninth when he got his 17 big blind stack into the middle of the felt with king-queen of hearts only for "D.A." to called with ace-king. The community cards failed to come to Dedusha's rescue, and he headed to the cashier's desk to bank the £5,940 ninth-place prize.
Yong was next to bow out. Having lost most of her stack in the three-way final table bubble hand, Yong pushed all-in for three big blinds with ace-queen and lost a coinflip against the pocket sevens of O'Donnell. Another impressive performance for Yong, who has 16 cashes, six final tables, and one win under her belt in 2024.
A raising war broke out between Norway's Tarjei Forus and Ravi Sheth that resulted in the former four-bet shoving 28 big blinds with ace-queen, and Sheth calling with pocket jacks. A nine-high board kept Sheth's jacks the best hand, and Forus busted in seventh place for £7,900.
Sixth place and £9,930 went to Qiaochu Xiao, a player with only £605 in recorded live earnings before entering this event. Xiao was left on life support when Laming cracked his aces with pocket nines, and that life support was turned off shortly after.
A tournament-defining hand sent Sheth to the showers in fifth for £13,540, the tournament's first five-figure prize. O'Donnell opened with pocket jacks, Sheth three-bet with king-ten of clubs, only for O'Donnell to four-bet. Sheth was having none of it and ripped his stack in for approximately one million chips, and O'Donnell snapped him off. The jacks held, and O'Donnell now held a commanding lead with only four players remaining.
O'Donnell's willingness to take flips paid off with the scalp of a dangerous foe in Laming. After a raise and a flat, Laming squeezed all-in for 32 big blinds with what turned out to be ace-ten of diamonds. We know it was ace-ten of diamonds before O'Donnell called the shove with pocket nines, which held to send Laming home with £19,470, the second-largest live score of his career.
The player known as "D.A." and O'Donnell breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Davenport bust in third for £29,280. Davenport three-bet all-in for 14 big blinds with pocket deuces after "D.A." had opened the betting. "D.A." called with pocket sevens, ending Davenport's latest deep run. Amazingly, this was Davenport's fourth consecutive GUKPT Main Event final table!
The final hand saw "D.A." limp on the button with queen-nine of diamonds for 60,000 before calling the raise to 350,000 from O'Donnell, made with king-jack of diamonds. A flop reading deuce-five-nine with two diamonds meant the chips were destined to go into the middle. O'Donnell led for 150,000, and "D.A." called. A queen on the turn gave "D.A." two pair to go with his flush draw. O'Donnell shoved on the turn, and "D.A." instantly called off the 1.1 million chips he had behind. The dealer burned a card before turning over the ten of clubs, gifting O'Donnell a tournament-winning straight and a £56,760 top prize, resigning "D.A." to a £42,430 consolation prize.
2024 GUKPT London Results
Aside from the Main Event finalists, five other players padded their bankrolls with hauls worth in excess of £10,000 after becoming a GUKPT champion in London.
Joe Hindry triumphed in the £560 London Cup for £12,250, Chris Da Silva won the £250 Opener for £13,750, while Ravi Sheth took down the £560 Midi Main for £27,390. Robert Garfield's victory in the £340 Mini Main came with a £27,770 payout.
Bobby N helped himself to a £28,643 prize after winning the £2,000 High Roller. Bobby N struck a deal with third-place finisher Philippe Souki (£31,226) and runner-up Thomas Clack (£34,280) before coming from behind and scooping the trophy. Amazingly, Bobby N also finished second in the £560 Midi Main Event for an additional £20,490.
| Event | Entrants | Prize Pool | Champion | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £1,250 Main Event | 249 | £257,940 | Ryan O'Sullivan | £56,760 |
| £340 Mini Main | 469 | £130,070 | Robert Garfield | £27,770 |
| £560 Midi Main | 270 | £124,600 | Ravi Sheth | £27,390 |
| £250 The Opener | 386 | £81,250 | Chris Da Silva | £13,750 |
| £560 London Cup | 110 | £52,800 | Joe Hindry | £12,250 |
| £250 PLO | 106 | £22,890 | Ayesha Hasan | £5,100 |
| £200 Closer | 108 | £18,600 | Tuan Wu | £4,420 |
| £200 Turbo | 80 | £13,820 | Dost Ghrabie | £3,440 |
| £330 PLO Bounty | 77 | £11,080 | Aleks Golubevs | £2,810 |
| £150 Seniors | 86 | £10,960 | Guy Bowles | £1,400 |
GUKPT Heads to Leeds on May 30
GUKPT players don't have long to wait before the next festival gets underway because GUKPT Leeds runs at the Grosvenor Casino Westgate from May 30 through June 9. A £1,000 Main Event is among the scheduled events. Last year, 361 players turned out for the GUKPT Leeds Main Event, creating a £305,844 prize pool. Konstantinos Patsourakis came out on top and got his hands on £78,419.
