Perennial Nationwide Poker League (NPL) chaser Mariusz Czech helped himself to a career-best £160,862 rating and the title of Grosvenor UK Open Most important Occasion champion over the weekend. Czech is a serial casher in Grosvenor Poker occasions, with the majority of his $313,497 earnings stemming from them. Till the 2026 UK Open, Czech had by no means gained a Grosvenor Poker event, however he has now, and in some model.
The £1,500 UK Open Most important Occasion drew in 669 entrants, which meant a £46,408 overlay on the £1 million assured prize pool. Whereas overlays aren’t what operators need, they add worth to those that ponied up the buy-in.
Eighty-four locations have been paid. The likes of Brandon Sheils, Jamie O’Connor, Yucel Eminoglu, and Andrew Hulme have been among the many early in-the-money casualties. Others who completed within the cash however wanting a remaining desk berth included Wendy Watson OBE, Ravi Sheth, Carlo Citrone, Robert Cowen, Tom Middleton, Conor O’Driscoll, Keith Johnson, and Adam Neal.
Neal waited till the final minute to register late, spun up a ten massive blind stack, and finally completed eleventh for £9,060.
2026 Grosvenor UK Open Most important Occasion Remaining Desk Outcomes
1Mariusz Czech£160,862*
2Rhys Eager£78,780*
3Andrew Mapp£107,800*
4Keith Littlewood£95,160*
5Luke Tatum£88,110*
6David Ledden£30,610
7Philip Clarke£22,500
8Donald Jones£17,170
9Calogero Morreale£13,540
*displays a five-way deal, then a heads-up deal
Calogero Morreale was the primary finalist to fall by the wayside. He dedicated his brief stack with pocket eights and located himself in a flip in opposition to the king-queen of Rhys Eager. A king on the flop and one other on the river melted Morreale’s snowmen, and the UK Open Most important Occasion was all the way down to eight hopefuls.
These eight grew to become seven after Donald Jones‘ ace-queen misplaced to Czech’s king-jack, after which six when Philip Clarke‘s three-big blind jam with king-five misplaced to Eager’s ten-deuce courtesy of a deuce on the river.
Czech claimed one other scalp: David Ledden. Ledden, who completed third within the 2025 GUKPT Manchester Most important Occasion, acquired his final 10 massive blinds into the center of the desk with ace-jack. Czech appeared him up with pocket tens, which held, to ship Ledden dwelling in sixth, a end good for £30,610.
£700,000 in Ensures to Play for on the 2026 GUKPT Manchester Leg
The ultimate 5 gamers paused the event clock and mentioned a deal. These discussions resulted in them profitable between £78,781 and £113,237, with the eventual champion banking a further £47,600.
Luke Tatum was the primary post-deal bust-out. Tatum, who gained the £1,100 Pot-Restrict Omaha Excessive Curler earlier within the week for £17,890, misplaced a bit of his stack when his ace-jack could not get there in opposition to pocket queens. He then misplaced the remainder of his chips with ace-deuce in opposition to ace-queen. Tatum took dwelling £88,110 from this occasion, which, when added to his PLO victory, doubled his lifetime stay poker earnings.
Subsequent to fall was Keith Littlewood, one other Grosvenor common. Littlewood’s pocket nines fell foul to Eager’s ace-jack after Eager flopped a jack. Littlewood collected £95,160 for his efforts, a brand new career-best for the devoted Manchester United Fan.
The 2026 UK Open progressed to the heads-up stage when Andrew Mapp busted. Mapp’s remaining motion on this event was to get 18 massive blinds in with king-jack and lose to Czech’s ace-seven of golf equipment, which improved to a flush. The £107,800 that Mapp gained was 5 instances bigger than his earlier greatest.
Czech went into the heads-up battle with Eager holding a 50 massive blind to 31 massive blind benefit. He additionally had extra expertise than Eager, having cashed in 83 tournaments in comparison with Eager’s ten.
The chip lead modified palms a number of instances, with a number of palms seeing all-in bets. The all-important hand got here after the heads-up pair chopped the leftover cash all however £7,000. That second deal led the duo to play even sooner and looser.
Neither participant checked out their gap playing cards and agreed to flip. Eager held five-deuce of diamonds, and Czech turned over ten-six. A ten on the flop proved sufficient to bust Eager in second-place and hand the title and £160,862 to Czech.
2026 Grosvenor UK Open Outcomes
The desk under exhibits all the outcomes from the 2026 UK Open, together with a £2,500 Excessive Curler victory for Timothy Chung, which noticed the proficient professional stroll away with £46,440.
£1,500 UK Open Most important Event669£1,000,000Mariusz Czech£160,862
£2,500 Excessive Roller65£142,020Timothy Chung£46,440
£340 Mini Open719£203,410Anonymous£42,690
£300 G300616£150,650Anonymous£26,930
£550 UK Open Cup274£130,140Pranav Agarwal£23,411
£1,100 PLO Excessive Roller46£50,000Luke Tatum£17,890
£220 8-Game79£15,010Suketu Patel£4,730
£220 Seniors77£14,940Matthew Cartwright£4,510
£200 Closer69£11,800Aqueel Butt£3,720
£115 Girls UK Championship74£7,180Lydia Cugudda£2,260
The GUKPT Heads to Manchester From February 25
Gamers haven’t got lengthy to attend till the following main Grosvenor occasion takes place, with the 2026 GUKPT Manchester pageant working from February 25 via to March 8 on the Grosvenor On line casino Bury New Highway.
This pageant incorporates a £1,250 buy-in Most important Occasion carrying a £250,000 assure on its prize pool. Final yr, Junxian Du outlasted 436 opponents within the Manchester Most important Occasion and took dwelling the winner’s trophy plus a bankroll-boosting £84,700.
Matthew Pitt
Senior Editor
