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Damon Burch-Hyson Wins Record-Breaking 2026 Goliath
- 2026 Goliath hit a record 14,663 entries; Burch-Hyson wins £365,520.
- Jamie Dwan took the Super High Roller; Hutchison denied Sheth's title defense.
- Festival tournaments drew large fields and awarded major prizes.
The 2026 Goliath ended with another attendance record, a four-player deal and two eliminations in the tournament’s final hand.
Damon Burch-Hyson outlasted 14,663 entries in the £200 event at Grosvenor Casino Coventry, earning £365,520 from a £2,228,780 prize pool. The field grew by 1,702 entries compared with 2025, continuing a run of record-breaking editions for the festival’s flagship tournament.
Burch-Hyson Takes Control at the Final Table
Thirty-six players returned for the last day, including former champions Paul Worsley and Alex Todd. Neither made the final table, with Worsley finishing 27th and Todd departing in 25th.
Burch-Hyson began making his mark once the final nine were set. His pocket aces eliminated Bryan Taylor’s pocket jacks in ninth place, and he later won the largest multiway pot of the final table with pocket queens.
Wai Lun Lam held ace-jack and Lorenc Boci had ace-king in that confrontation, but neither player improved. Lam and Boci were eliminated together in seventh and sixth, leaving Burch-Hyson with a far larger share of the chips.
Reema Bodalia then exited in fifth before the final four agreed a deal. The arrangement left £88,520 to play for and produced an unusual payout order, with fourth-place finisher Dayle Gallagher receiving more than the players who eventually finished second and third.
Burch-Hyson ended the tournament by eliminating Jonny Elworthy and Lewis Aikman in the same hand. His ace-eight stayed ahead of Aikman’s ace-five and Elworthy’s queen-nine on a double-paired board, giving him the title without the need for a separate heads-up match.
2026 Goliath Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Damon Burch-Hyson | £365,520* |
| 2 | Lewis Aikman | £173,700* |
| 3 | Jonny Elworthy | £167,330* |
| 4 | Dayle Gallagher | £178,850* |
| 5 | Reema Bodalia | £71,500 |
| 6 | Lorenc Boci | £50,000 |
| 7 | Wai Lun Lam | £37,890 |
| 8 | Nittin Sonawane | £31,500 |
| 9 | Bryan Taylor | £26,000 |
Major Goliath Festival Winners
| Event | Entries | Winner | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| £200 Goliath | 14,663 | Damon Burch-Hyson | £365,520 |
| £1,250 GUKPT Main Event | 876 | Dean Hutchison | £163,280 |
| £550 GGPoker Cup | 713 | Michael Donofrio | £65,600 |
| £300 Travel Open | 1,238 | David Sandford | £55,760 |
| £1,500 High Roller | 211 | Brandon Sheils | £54,130 |
| £2,000 Super High Roller | 89 | Jamie Dwan | £47,200 |
| £440 Mystery Bounty | 1,176 | Brett Wilkins | £36,040 |
Dwan Wins the Super High Roller
Jamie Dwan won the £2,000 Super High Roller only weeks after collecting his first WSOP bracelet in Las Vegas.
The Coventry event attracted 89 entries and generated £152,200. Dwan defeated £1,500 High Roller champion Brandon Sheils heads-up without a deal, taking £47,200 while Sheils received £31,500.
Yuzhou Yin also added another result to his festival record, finishing fifth for £10,650 after previously taking third in the GUKPT Main Event.
Hutchison Denies Sheth Back-to-Back Titles
Dean Hutchison won the separate £1,250 GUKPT Main Event, preventing Ravi Sheth from defending the title he claimed in 2025.
The final three agreed a deal, guaranteeing Sheth £134,000 and Yuzhou Yin £118,820. Hutchison went on to defeat Sheth heads-up and collected £163,280.
Together, the two headline tournaments paid their champions more than £528,000, while the wider schedule produced another run of five-figure prizes across the Coventry festival.
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