GUKPT Event News & Reports

Luke Porter Wins London GUKPT

By Jonathan Raab

22 Jan 2024

Jonathan Raab 22 Jan 2024

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Luke Porter Wins GUKPT London for £116,710
Tom Hall finishes second, Ludovic Geilich cashes in 13th
Winner's age astonishes commentators and live stream viewers
GUKPT in its 18th season

Photos Courtesy of Grosvenor Poker

It was late on Sunday when Luke “he’s never 40” Porter outlasted a field of 529 players, defeating Tom Hall after a short heads-up battle. His more experienced opponent, with over $3m in live winnings to his name, was looking for his second Grosvenor UK Poker Tour (GUKPT) main event win, having scooped the Luton edition in 2022.

For much of the last day and a half of the tournament, it looked very much like he would do just that, as Hall, playing in his 9th GUKPT main event final table, commanded the chip lead for the majority of this time. He only surrendered the advantage when it went three-handed after Porter won a crucial pot with

A♠J♣ v 9♣9♦

Porter was all in for his remaining 2.5m, while Hall had held the lead on 6.3m. However, their fortunes reversed when the board ran out

3♠K♠3♣3♥A♦

This boosted Porter into the lead on 5.2m while Hall fell back to 3.8m, but still a little ahead of Vince Meli. After losing a few more pots Hall was almost down to third place, but he then eliminated Vince Meli to give himself a fighting chance against a steamrollering Porter.

Heads Up for the Title

Luke "Baby Face" Porter v Tom Hall, Heads Up at London GUKPT

But opportunities did not arise and although he did brielfy regain the chip lead, Hall was unable to add a second GUKPT title to his poker CV. In the final hand Luke held

8♠A♦ versus Hall’s 7♠A♠

The flop was Q♠10♥2♦ and it was all over when the 8♥ hit the board on the turn, enabling Porter to claim the biggest win of his poker career to date. Porter had just £14k in winnings from all his prior live poker results but has now smashed that out of the water, securing £116,710 for first place. His previous best result was for just £4,240 just under a year ago. Tom Hall's consolation prize was £86,595.

The Result

Place	Player	Prize
1	Luke Porter	£116,710
2	Tom Hall	£86,595
3	Vincent Meli	£58,690
4	Reet Raniwala	£37,855
5	Kully Sidhu	£25,200
6	Martins Adeniya	£17,460
7	Mingrui Cen	£14,370
8	Joe Hindry	£12,435
9	Thomas Clack	£10,500
Total Players		529
Total Prize Pool		£552,625

Hall Gracious in Defeat

Hall was gracious and modest in defeat, telling GUKPT live stream host Phil The Tower Heald that despite having a huge chip lead for much of the final day, he never “expected” to win. Tom Hall will have to wait a little longer for his second GUKPT title, but it would be no surprise to see him grace further final tables this year.

How Old is He?

A victorious Porter almost caused a minor ripple in poker's space-time continuum when he was asked how old he was. The Tower expressed utter disbelief at the winner’s revelation that he is 40 years old. Co-commentator Jay Harwood remarked that he looked younger than Luke Littler, the 16 year old who took the darts world by storm last week when making the final of the PDC World Championship.

Harwood also confessed that he had noticed a result for Luke from 2002, but had assumed it was for another player with the same name, finding it incredulous that the new London GUKPT champion could possibly have been old enough to have been playing over twenty years ago.

Wrapping up the session, both commentators remained in a state of shock as they closed the live stream and I’m sure that utterances of “40, he’s never 40” would have been echoing round Edgware Rd for quite some time afterwards. Even reading this now, Tower is probably pinching himself thinking, did that just happen?

Geilich Misses Final Table

Narrowly missing out on a seat at the final table was Grosvenor Poker’s newly unveiled sponsored pro, Ludovic Geilich. The highly respected Scottish player’s attempt at a maiden win at the dawn of his new deal was scuppered when he hit the rail in 13th place, having been one of the short stacks with two tables left.

GUKPT Still Going Strong into 18th Season

The opening event of the year marks the start of the 18th season of the legendary poker tour. It started life back in 2007, with ten fully televised stops featuring £1k buy-in main events and a £3k grand final. Launching just a year after the European Poker Tour came into existence, the tour became the focal point of the UK poker community and is still considered a very prestigious event to win. Several players have won multiple main event trophies, including Tony Cascarino, Julian Thew, Neil Channing and Rick Trigg.

Qualify Online for Manchester GUKPT

The next stop on the GUKPT is in just three weeks time when the tour moves north to Manchester. Online qualifying options abound on Grosvenor Poker, where tour credit satellites take place several times a day for varying buy-ins. This unique qualifying program enables players to accumulate credit to use on the event of their choice at Grosvenor Casinos. And with the GUKPT taking place multiple times a year, in addition to the National Poker League and the popular 25/50 tournaments, there really is no shortage of events for Grosvenor’s online players to target via online qualification.

Disclaimer: The GUKPT is My Baby

I might be somewhat biased when it comes to the GUKPT, but that’s because it’s my baby. I was the creator of the tour and ran it for its first 3 seasons from 2007-2010. It’s something I’m still very proud of and I hope it continues for many more years. I don’t live in the UK any more, but if I did, I’d regularly be playing on the GUKPT circuit.