Howdy ho, peeps and welcome to a brand spanking new season of the GUKPT, now sponsored by soon-to-be-launched-online-poker-room gcasino.com. As well as the sponsor, there’s also a changing of the guards in our blogging quarters, with Peter Leper out of action for the week. Your reserve teacher today is my good self, Snoopy, eager to replicate the standard set by my predessor. Don’t worry though, Peter’s not abandoned you, he’s just enjoying a tempoarary sobattical and will return for Walsall next month.

For those that fear they might struggle with the change, please see the pictorial comparison below. Notice the difference in expression (I’m rarely that pensive), and also the lack of long black floppy ears and wet nose on Peter.

Congratulations to Alli Mallu who has won the £100 NL Hold’em Rebuy. The local legend came out on top of the 50-runner event to scoop the first prize of £4,570 and claim his seat into the £150,000 Champion of Champions tournament.

Event - £100 NL Hold’em Rebuy
Players - 50
Rebuys - 45
Add Ons - 32
Total Prize Pool - £12,700

Place  - Player  - Prize
1st  - Alli Mallu  - £4,570
2nd  - Raphael White  - £3,300
3rd  - Caroline Cove  - £2,160
4th  - Maurice Samuels  - £1,140
5th  - Zafar Aslam  - £890
6th  - Anthony Flanagan  - £640

Congratulations to Steve Holden from Telford, who has won the inaugural GUKPT event of 2010. He defeated a field of 189 players in the £150 NL Hold’em Freezeout, to take the first prize of £8,240. The runner up was WSOP bracelet winner Lawrence Gosney from Leeds. Steve also wins a seat in the £150,000 Champion of Champions tournament.

Event - £150 NL Hold’em Freezeout
Players - 189
Total Prize Pool - £28,350

Place  - Player  - Prize
1st  - Stephen Holden  - £8,240
2nd  - Lawrence Gosney  - £5,460
3rd  - Paul Murphy  - £3,540
4th  - Colin Myott  - £2,130
5th  - William McMurray  - £1,630
6th  - Steven Rajesh Ram  - £1,060
7th  - Michael Oakes  - £780
8th  - Aaron Barry  - £570
9th  - Reyaaz Mulla  - £430
10th  - Ishvarbhai Patel  - £430
11th  - Waseem Shahid  - £350
12th  - Paul Wilson  - £350
13th  - Sandra Medley  - £350
14th  - Christopher Lythgoe  - £350
15th  - Ian Nelson  - £280
16th  - Abed Eid  - £280
17th  - Tim Brown  - £280
18th  - Michael Carney  - £280
19th  - Bhavesh Patel  - £280
20th  - Brian Scott  - £280

189 players turned out for the opening event of the 2010 GUKPT at the G Casino, Bolton. 31 of these made it through to the second day of the £150 NL Hold’em Freezeout, which has now resumed. Full chip counts to follow.

Leg 1 of the gcasino.com sponsored 2010 Grosvenor UK Poker Tour (GUKPT) takes place at the G Casino, Bolton from the 18th - 24th January. Bolton was the venue for the very first GUKPT event in January 2007, which was won by Praz Bansi. As per that first event, this year’s main event has just one starting day on Friday the 22nd January. It will conclude on Sunday 24th. The £1,000 + £70 main event has a capacity for 200 players and will start at 2pm. Each player will start with 15,000 chips.

 

The festival includes several side events with buy-ins from £100 - £300 and also includes a last chance super satellite the night before the main event starts. Further super satellites take place at 2pm on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday during the festival week. All side events in 2010 will have increased starting chips this year (see below).

 

Please note that most of the side events in 2010 will start half-an-hour earlier than in previous years, at 7.30pm. Thursday’s PL Omaha tournament will start at 5pm. The winners of all tournaments will be invited to play in the £150,000 Champion of Champions tournament.

 

The Schedule

 

Date - Event - Start Time

Mon 18th Jan  - £150 + £15 NLH Freezeout - 7.30pm

Tue 19th Jan - £100 + £11 NLH Rebuy - 7.30pm

Wed 20th Jan - £300 + £30 NLH Freezeout - 7.30pm

Thu 21st Jan - £100 + £11 PLO Rebuy - 5.00pm

Thu 21st Jan - £150 + £15 NLH Freezeout Super Sat - 9.00pm

Fri 22nd Jan - £1,000 + £70 NLH Main Event - 2.00pm

Fri 22nd Jan - £100 + £11 NLH Freezeout - 7.30pm

Sat 23rd Jan - £200 + £20 NLH Freezeout - 7.30pm

Sun 24th Jan - £100 + £11 NLH Bounty Freezeout - 5.00pm

 

For further information, please visit www.gukpt.com or call the casino directly on 01204 375820.

 

Tournament Structure

 
This year all tournaments (with the exception of some satellites) will use the same blinds structure. To view the GUKPT blinds structure for 2010, please visit the following page on the GUKPT website:

 

http://www.gukpt.com/blind.shtml

 

Starting Chips

 

Main Event - 15,000

£100, £150 & £200 Freezeouts - 7,500

£100 Rebuys - 3,000

£300 Freezeout - 10,000

 

Clock

 

Main Event - 1 hour

Two Day Side Events - 40-minutes

Omaha Event - 30-minutes

One Day NL Hold’em Events - 25-minutes

 

Registration will close 15 minutes before the start of each tournament. Once each tournament has started, late entries/alternates will be accepted (space permitting) for the first three levels of one-day tournaments or the fist two levels of multi-day tournaments.

 

Contact Details

 

Host Casino: G Casino, Bolton

Address: Moor Lane, Bolton BL3 5DJ

Phone: 01204 375820

Websites: www.gcasino.com & www.gukpt.com

The Grosvenor UK Poker Tour embarks on its fourth year today, Monday 18th January when the 1st leg of the 2010 season gets underway at the G casino in Bolton. 2010 will see several changes and additions to the UK’s largest series of poker festivals.

 

New Sponsor

 

This year the tour will be run in association with gcasino.com (www.gcasino.com). For the first three years, the tour was run in conjunction with Blue Square Poker (www.bluesqpoker.com) and although the online partner is changing this year, online super satellites will continue to be hosted on Blue Square. The online poker room of gcasino.com will be launched in February and will also host online super satellites and other online GUKPT events.

 

£300,000 in Added Value

 

This year Grosvenor/G Casinos and their online partner gcasino.com are adding £300,000 to the GUKPT. £150,000 if this will form the prize pool for the end-of-year Champion of Champions tournament, which will be taking place at the G Casino, Coventry. The GUKPT rankings will carry £50,000 in prizes, with £20,000 awarded to the overall winner and a further £30,000 distributed to the top 20 players on the leader board. The GUKPT National Leagues will also carry £100,000 in prizes.

 

Increased Starting Stacks

 

Starting stacks in the main events this year will be increased to 15,000. Side events will also have bigger starting stacks with £100-£200 events now awarding 7,500 chips while £250-£500 events kick off with 10,000 chips per player. The Grand Final will have a 25,000 starting stack.

 

The Main Tour

 

There will be eight legs and the Grand Final on the Main Tour in 2010, each featuring at least a week of side events and a three/four day main event. Most of the main events cost £1,000 to play, with the exception of leg 3, which costs £1,500 and the Grand Final, which is £2,500. The winners of all tournaments on the Main Tour will be invited to play in the £150,000 Champion of Champions tournament.

 

Extended Summer Series

 

The Summer Series, which debuted in 2009 has been extended this year to include ten mini-festivals. Each festival lasts between four to seven days and features main events with buy-ins ranging from £300 - £750. New venues taking part in the Summer Series this year include the recently opened G casinos in Dundee and Sheffield. The winners of all tournaments on the Summer Series will be invited to play in the £150,000 Champion of Champions tournament.

　

New for 2010 - The GUKPT Club Championships

 

The Club Championships brings the GUKPT experience to all 23 poker rooms in the Grosvenor/G casino estate. From Aberdeen to Plymouth, these £200 NL Hold’em one-day events will extend the reach of the GUKPT further than ever before. The winners of all Club Championship tournaments will be invited to play in the £150,000 Champion of Champions tournament.

　

The Online 10% Series

 

Throughout the year, a series of one-off tournaments will be hosted on the online poker room of gcasino.com (www.gcasino.com). They take place the day after each main event on the Main Tour and the Summer Series concludes and the buy-in will be 10% of the event which has just finished. The first of these will take place on Blue Square Poker (www.bluesqpoker.com) on January 25th and will have a buy-in of £100. The winners of all Online 10% Series tournaments will be invited to play in the £150,000 Champion of Champions tournament.

 

10-Seat-Guaranteed Super Satellites

 

New for 2010, every host venue on the Main Tour and the Summer Series will stage a 10-seat guaranteed super satellite, which will take place the week before their festival starts. The first of these took place in Bolton, where 14 seats were generated.

 

Live Streaming & Reporting

 

Live streaming of main events will continue in 2010 with Phil ‘the Tower’ Heald hosting the show on www.thenutz.tv. Live reporting will also be available on www.gukpt.com during every main event. Leg 1 will be covered by Adam ‘Snoopy’ Goulding.

 

The Main Tour Schedule

 

Festival - Venue - Dates

Leg 1 - G Casino, Bolton - 18th-24th January

Leg 2 - Grosvenor Walsall 20th - 28th February

Leg 3 - Grosvenor Victoria, London - 18th - 28th March

Leg 4 - G Casino, Bury New Rd, Manchester - 17th - 25th April

Leg 5 - G Casino, Coventry - 17th - 23rd May

Leg 6 - G Casino, Luton - 7th - 15th August

Leg 7 - G Casino, Brighton - 11th - 19th September

Leg 8 - G Casino, Blackpool - 6th - 14th November

Grand Final - Grosvenor Victoria, London - 18th - 28th November

 

The Summer Series Schedule

 

Venue - Dates - Main Event Buy In

 

1a - G Casino, Blackpool - 26th-31st May - £500 + £50

1b - G Casino, Thanet - 28th - 31st May - £300 + £30

2a - G Casino, Luton - 9th - 13th June - £500 + £50

2b - G Casino, Aberdeen - 10th - 13th June - £300 + £30

3a - Grosvenor Walsall - 22nd - 27th June - £500 + £50

3b - Grosvenor Newcastle - 24th - 27th June - £300 + £30

4a - G Casino, Sheffield - 21st -25th July - £500 + £50

4b - G Casino, Dundee - 22nd - 25th July - £300 + £30

5a - Grosvenor Victoria, London - 23rd - 30th August - £750 + £60

5b - G Casino, Bury New Rd, Manchester - 26th - 30th August - £500 + £50

 

The Club Championships Schedule

 

Date - Venues

13th February - Blackpool, Coventry, Leeds, Swansea & Thanet

10th April - Bolton, Dundee, Southampton & Stoke

10th July - Cardiff, London Victoria, Newcastle, Salford & Sheffield

16th October - Aberdeen, Gt Yarmouth, Luton, Manchester & Portsmouth

23rd October - Brighton, Huddersfield, Plymouth & Walsall

 

Club Championships tournaments start at 2pm. They are all £200 NL Hold’em Freezeouts and players start with 10,000 chips.