The organizers for the 2017 edition of the GUKPT Goliath are confident that this year’s tournament will witness a record attendance.
Held by Grosvenor Casino Coventry, the latest edition is likely to break the previous year’s record of 5,232 players.
Launched in 2012, the GUKPT saw just 1,954 entries in the first year which meant that the £200,000 guarantee could not be met. Although that was a little disappointing, the overall tournament turned out to be a big hit with the players.
In 2013, the entries jumped to 2,568 which was a 31.4 percent increase while in 2014 the entries were up by 32.17 percent to 3,394. In 2015, Goliath hit 4,210 entries which was an increase of 24.04 percent. The 2016 edition was the biggest ever with 5,232 players registering a growth of 24.28 percent.
GUKPT
This year the tournament organizers are expecting over 5,000 entries for the Main Event. If that happens, then the prize pool will go beyond £500,000 which is double the amount as the existing guarantee has been fixed at £250,000. If the player registrations pass the expectations of the organizers by 10 percent, then there will be a total of 5,750 players and the prize pool will reach £575,500.
Given its attractive prize pool and low buy-in amount, the organizers are hoping for the event to become the biggest poker tournament outside of Las Vegas in Europe. With an affordable buy-in of £100+20, the GUKPT is hoping to attract amateurs and newbies to the event and prove that tournaments need not be very expensive.
The schedule for the current edition of Goliath features seven starting flights for the Main Event with each playing 16 levels lasting 40 minutes each. Players will get 25,000 tournament chips and blinds at 25/50. Re-entriesare permitted twice each day. In addition to the Main Event there are a range of other side events available for poker fans.
Some of the other exciting events are the £87 Redtooth £25,000 Gtd, £76 Redtooth Tag Team Event, £38 Win the Button, £38 4/5/6 Omaha 7-max and £38 Deep and Steep Event. An event called ‘Joker is Wild’ will be held on Aug 3. The Amateur Poker Association & Tour (APAT) is holding three events across 10 days: the £83 APAT 8-Game Championship, the APAT UK Amateur Poker Championship and £58 APAT Pot-Limit Omaha Championship.
Apart from these events, poker players will also have the opportunity to participate in round-the-clock cash games at the venue.
