Endrit Geci Gets the Lot in the GUKPT Manchester Main Event

The 2026 Grosvenor UK Poker Tour (GUKPT) Manchester Most important Occasion has its champion, and Endrit Geci is that man. Geci sat down on the closing desk with a colossal chip lead, maybe the biggest ever seen within the GUKPT’s 20-season historical past. Whereas he relinquished that lead at one stage, Geci in the end got here out on high and scooped one of many largest reside scores of his profession, one weighing in at £76,710.

Thirty-eight of the 315 entrants shared the £327,920 prize pool, with the min-cash at £2,790. Bryan Taylor continued his transition from money video games to match poker with one other GUKPT money, whereas Kully Sidhu, Ankit Ahuja, Jamie Clossick, and Robert Douras all added one other money to their resumes.

By the point the nine-handed closing desk was set, every of the gamers was assured £6,000 and was solely eight eliminations from a £76,710 rating.

2026 GUKPT Manchester Most important Occasion Remaining Desk Outcomes

Geci entered the ultimate desk with an enormous stack of 230 massive blinds. Robert McAdam was Geci’s closest rival with 103 massive blinds at his disposal.

Franky Inexperienced was the shortest stack firstly of the ultimate desk with 14 massive blinds. Inexperienced was all the way down to eight massive blinds when she discovered pocket aces and pushed her chips over the road. Inexperienced discovered herself towards the pocket queens of Barry Grime and the pocket jacks of McAdam. Sadly for Inexperienced, Grime flopped a set, busting her in ninth place, extending the GUKPT’s run with no feminine Most important Occasion champion.

Eighth place went to Joe Hindry, the 2022 GUKPT Coventry Most important Occasion champion. Hindry three-bet all-in for 20 massive blinds with pocket sevens after Geci had opened one more pot. Geci referred to as with ace-king, flopped an ace, and Hindry was gone.

Geci and ace-king despatched Grime to the rail in seventh. Grime, down to 5 massive blinds, jammed all-in with ace-jack and wanted loads of assist from the neighborhood playing cards as a result of Geci held the dominating ace-king. Each gamers flopped an ace, however Grime had a spade flush draw in addition. Each the flip and river have been pink, the latter being a king to unnecessarily enhance Geci’s holding. Grime banked £8,760 just a few days after accumulating £10,140 for a runner-up end within the £1,100 PLO Excessive Curler.

Martin Hellmuth turned Geci’s subsequent sufferer regardless of getting his chips in as a considerable favorite. Hellmuth selected queen-nine to commit his final 3.5 massive blinds with, and Geci referred to as from the large blind with nine-five. A 5 on the flop proved sufficient to ship Hellmuth to the cashier’s desk to gather the primary five-figure prize of the match.

You should win your coinflips if you wish to win poker tournaments, however it seems Peter Stewart did not get that memo. He received 22 massive blinds into the center of the desk holding pocket tens, and was racing towards Justin Devonport‘s ace-queen. A queen on the flip was sufficient to resign Stewart to a fifth-place end.

The ultimate 4 turned three when Devonport made an ill-timed play in a battle of the blinds with Geci. Devonport limped in from the small blind with ace-nine, Geci raised to 3 massive blinds with a pair of jacks within the gap, just for Devonport to tear in 40 massive blinds. Geci referred to as, the jacks held, and Devonport headed into the chilly Manchester evening.

Heads-up was reached when Philip Tate bowed out by the hands of McAdam. Tate three-bet all-in for 14 massive blinds with ace-ten after McAdam had opened. McAdam referred to as with the inferior ace-seven, however a seven on the flop rescued him and despatched Tate to the showers.

McAdam held a slender lead over Geci firstly of heads-up play, however Geci dominated the early levels of the conflict and began to forge a lead for himself. The ultimate hand befell in the course of the 40,000/80,000 stage, with McAdam making it 200,000 to go together with king-queen, and Geci calling with jack-deuce of golf equipment. A deuce-four-deuce flop noticed Geci examine, McAdam guess 175,000, and Geci click on it again to 365,000. McAdam thought for a number of moments earlier than transferring all-in for 975,000, and Geci snap-called. A 5 on the flip left McAdam drawing lifeless with a seven on the river confirming Geci’s spectacular victory.

2026 GUKPT Manchester Outcomes

Though Geci will likely be remembered because the GUKPT Manchester champion, Stephen Blow was the participant of the competition. Blow received the £300 buy-in G300, which served because the competition’s opening occasion, for £25,690 and adopted that up with a victory within the £1,500 Excessive Curler for an additional £26,100.

Blow solely has cashes on his Hendon Mob from late January 2025, however now has nearly $140,000 in earnings.

Subsequent Up On the 2026 GUKPT

The GUKPT now heads to The Victoria in London for the third leg of the 2026 tour. Gamers from far and broad will descend on the luxurious on line casino between April 9-19, the place a £1,250 buy-in, £250,000 assured Most important Occasion will headline the schedule.

Earlier this 12 months, The Victoria hosted the opening leg of the 2026 GUKPT. Brandon Sheils received the £1,250 Most important Occasion, outlasting 367 opponents to scoop an £88,760 prize solely a few days after triumphing within the £2,500 Excessive Curler for £49,560.

On-line satellites can be found at Grosvenor Poker. PokerNews could have the complete 2026 GUKPT London schedule within the coming days.

Matthew Pitt hails from Leeds, West Yorkshire, in the UK, and has labored within the poker trade since 2008, and labored for PokerNews since 2010. In September 2010, he turned the editor of PokerNews. Matthew stepped away from reside reporting duties in 2015, and now concentrates on his position of Senior Editor for the PokerNews.