Jamie Clossick Crowned 2022 GUKPT Blackpool Champion (£109,000)

Blackpool is a British seaside town usually frequented by families enjoying rides on donkeys, eating fish and chips, and experiencing an adrenalin rush on rollercoasters at the famous amusement park. However, this weekend there were different types of donkeys and fish, and a whole host of excitement because the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour (GUKPT) was in town.

Several side events, capped off by the £1,250 buy-in Main Event, adorned the busy schedule. It was Jamie Clossick who became the latest in a long line of GUKPT Blackpool Main Event champions when all was said and done. Clossick walked away with a career-best £109,000 after a three-handed deal late on.

2022 GUKPT Blackpool Main Event Final Table Results

*reflects a three-handed deal

The Main Event drew in 543 players, who fought it out for a share of the £597,300 prize pool. Players that cashed in the top 54 spots included Brandon Sheils, Michael Kane, Tim Chung, Grosvenor-sponsored pro Andy Hills, Guy Taylor, Waheed Ashraf, Stuart Rutter, WSOP Main Event finalist Jack Oliver, and final table bubble boy Yucel "Mad Turk" Eminoglu.

Mark Dyson's time at the final table was short-lived because he was the first player heading for the cashier's desk. Dyson got his chips into the middle holding pocket kings against the ace-king of GUKPT London champion Euan McNicholas, but the latter spiked an ace on the turn.

Eighth place was decided soon after with Alex Montgomery all-in and at risk with ace-queen against the pocket nines of Clossick. Montgomery flopped two pair, but a nine on the turn gifted Clossick a set. The set of nines held, and Montgomery was gone.

Rick Trigg won the GUKPT Blackpool Main Event in 2013, fell short of becoming the stop's first two-time winner. The Grosvenor Poker-sponsored pro busted after losing two pots where he was a substantial favorite preflop. First, Trigg's pocket kings lost to queen-jack courtesy of a latter flopped Broadway. He then lost with queen-jack against the dominated queen-ten, with the board running ten-high.

Louis Leeth Lambert fell in sixth place when his ace-ten failed to get there against Clossick's superior ace-king, before John Musson, champion of a £400 buy-in event at the 2021 edition of this festival, crashed by the wayside, leaving only four players in the hunt for the title.

Those four became three when McNicholas lost a classic race against Maxim Fana. McNicholas needed some help as his ace-king trailed Fana's pocket queens, but help failed to arrive, and he was done and dusted in the Main Event.

The final three players decided enough was enough, and they made an ICM-based chop of the remaining prize pool. The deal meant Tom Avovaara finished third for £85,420, Fana banked £106,290 for his second-place finish, and Clossick became the 2022 GUKPT Blackpool Main Event champion, an accolade that came with £109,000.

Clossick was visibly emotional during his winner's interview. The popular grinder revealed the past two years have been extremely difficult for him. The COVID-19 pandemic put a stop to all of his regular work, and he openly admitted that his mental health had significantly suffered.

"I'm not going to lie, I've struggled mentally badly; I've been in some dark place," said Clossick. "It [the victory] means so much. It could not come at a more perfect time."

Congratulations to Clossick on his impressive and thoroughly deserved victory. He can forever call himself a GUKPT champion.

Other GUKPT Blackpool Results

*part of a deal

2023 GUKPT Schedule Released

The 2022 GUKPT season ends in with the Grand Final in London in mid-December, but the GUKPT management team has wasted little time in finalizing the schedule for the coming year.

Next years, the 17th year of the GUKPT, sees the tour take place over nine legs, a Grand Final, and the eagerly anticipated Goliath festival. In addition, there is a £1,500 buy-in UK Poker Open at The CBS Arena in Coventry between February 25-March 5 that has a whopping £1 million guaranteed prize pool!