Grosvenor-Sponsored Jamie Nixon Wins GUKPT London Main Event

Jamie Nixon reeled in the largest live poker tournament score of his career when he came out on top of the £1,250 Grosvenor UK Poker Tour GUKPT London Main Event. The tournament, part of the 2022 GUKPT Grand Final festival, drew in 347 entrants and awarded its champion, the Grosvenor Poker-sponsored Nixon, an impressive £93,970.

Nixon's victory and the prize money stemming from it pushes his live poker tournament earnings through the $500,000 barrier.

2022 GUKPT London Main Event Final Table Results

The top 34 finishers won a slice of the prize pool, with the likes of Kevin Allen, Lee French, Timothy Chung, Yiannis Liperis, James Rann, and Chris Johnson cashing but failing to reach the nine-handed final table; Johnson popped the final table bubble.

Yucel Eminoglu, affectionately known as the "Mad Turk" busted in ninth place in a cruel fashion. Eminoglu committed his last seven big blinds with ace-queen of hearts and found himself up against the ace-queen of diamonds in the hand of Justin Tsui. A chopped pot looked most likely until the board ran out with three diamonds, gifting Tsui a flush, and sending a mad Mad Turk to the rail.

They say you have to win your flips if you want to win poker tournaments, which is exactly what Nixon did in a hand against Nikolai Mamut. Down to ten big blinds, Mamut open-shoved with ace-king, and Nixon looked him up with pocket sevens. A queen-high board was no help to Mamut, and his tournament ended in eighth place.

Seventh place and the last four-figure score went to Ryan Mandara. From under the gun, Mandara min-raised to 50,000, and Kully Sidhu called in the big blind. Mandara bet 70,000 on the deuce-nine-five flop, and Sidhu called. The turn was a ten, and Mandara shoved for 270,000. Sidhu snap-called and revealed a slow-played pair of aces in the hole, which crushed Mandara's pocket jacks. No jack on the river meant Mandara was gone.

Tsui was next to fall after a move against Phil Clarke did not have its desired effect. Clarke opened from the hijack and Tsui called in the big blind. A jack-nine-four flop with two hearts saw Tsui check-shove for 400,000 with only nine-seven offsuit, only for Clarke to snap him of with the queen-jack of hearts. Tsui failed to connect with the turn or river, and was gone in sixth.

The final five became four when Antoine Labat lost to a suckout/re-suckout against Clarke. Labat was all-in for ten big blinds with ace-eight against the dominating ace-queen of Clarke. An eight on the flop looked to cause an upset, but Clarke spiked a flush on the river to send Labat to the showers.

Mitch Hynam was the shortest stack at the start of four-handed play, so it was unsurprising to see him bust in fourth. Hynam's last nine big blinds went into the middle holding king-nine, and were handed over to Sidhu when his pocket nines held.

Heads-up was set soon after when Clarke crashed out at the hands of Nixon. Clarke min-raised to 120,000, and Nixon called. A five-ace-eight flop saw Nixon check-raise a 110,000-continuation bet to 305,000, and Clarke called. Nixon led for 400,000 on the king turn, and Clarke stuck around. A four on the river was greeted by an all-in shove of 860,000 from Nixon, and Clarke called. Clarke showed ace-trey but was destroyed by Nixon's ace-eight.

Sidhu held a 3,700,000 to 3,300,000 chip lead over Nixon going into heads-up but was left with only two big blinds almost immediately after the one-on-one battle ensued. Sidhu raised to 150,000, and Nixon called. A six-five-seven flop saw Nixon check, Sidhu bet 175,000, and Nixon check-raised to 450,000. Sidhu went into the tank and remained motionless up to the second the shot clock ran out, which is when he announced all-in. Nixon beat him into the pot with a call, and turned over eight-four for a flopped straight. The hand was not over because Sidhu held eight-seven for top pair and an open-ended straight draw. However, tens on the turn and river all but eliminated Sidhu.

Sidhu was all-in on the very next hand, his five-deuce needing to hit against Nixon's suited ace-king. The five community cards fell queen-high, busting Sidhu in second place, and leaving Nixon as the last player standing in the 2022 GUKPT London Main Event.

Jung Takes Down the GUKPT London Cup

Nixon was not the only GUKPT Grand Final champion crowned this weekend because Sebastian Jung won the £550 GUKPT London Cup. Jung outlasted 311 opponents, including Charles Akadiri, Jack Hardcastle, Jack Oliver, Brandon Sheils, and runner-up Lorenc Boci to bank a £38,080 payday.