Miikka Toikka Wins GUKPT Goliath

Miikka Toikka Wins GUKPT Goliath

Monday, 17 August 2015

After more than a week of action, this year's £110 buy-in GUKPT Goliath has come to an end and when the betting was over it was Miikka Toikka who stood victorious.

Despite setting an impressive target in 2014, the GUKPT managed to smash all records this time around thanks to an impressive 4,210 entrants. That figure not only rewrote the GUKPT's record books but helped the GUKPT Goliath become the largest live poker tournament ever held outside of Las Vegas.

Following a string of opening flights that took place over the course of seven days, Saturday's official Day 2 welcomed back 572 players. Although it appeared to be a mammoth task to whittle that number of players down to something more manageable, the players and blinds worked in unison to cut the field to just 16 players.

With the prospect of a £75,800 cash reward up for grabs, Day 3 started with a tremendous amount of excitement and within just over an hour the 16 players became nine on the official final table. Sitting bottom at the start of play was Grant Ferguson and true to form he hit the rail first after his A-6 couldn't overcome Ben Boulden's pocket aces.

Next to find their way to the cashiers' desk was Shane Mossop and he was quickly followed by the aforementioned Boulden, Andrew James, Phil Bain and Sunil Moti. With just three players, it was Toikka that held the largest stack and he used that to good effect after Ryan Meager moved all-in with A-Q.

Quick to call with a pair of kings, Toikka watched as the board rolled out a set of blanks to send Meager to the rail in third to collect a prize worth £29,050.

Now holding ten times more chips than Katie Swift, Toikka was able to bulldoze his way to the GUKPT Goliath title within two hands. Taking a chance with A-4, Toikka hit a pair of aces on the flop and never looked backed. As the confetti rained down and Swift slipped into the shadows, Toikka stood in the spotlight as the latest GUKPT Goliath champion and £75,800 richer.


GUKPT Goliath 2015 Result:

1. Miikka Toikka - £75,800

2. Katie Swift - £46,300

3. Ryan Meager - £29,050

4. Sunil Moti - £20,200

5. Philip Bain - £12,650

6. Andrew James - £8,400

7. Ben Boulden - £5,900

8. Andrew Mossop - £3,800

9. Grant Ferguson - £3,100



Tags: GUKPT Goliath, Miikka Toikka, Katie Swift, Ben Boulden, Ryan Meager, Grant Ferguson, Sunil Moti, Andrew Mossop, Philip Bain, Andrew James