The record-breaking 2025 Goliath is not just the biggest event in the UK, it’s the biggest poker tournament ever to be held outside Las Vegas. Almost 13,000 entries were made over the course of the eight starting days in the £200 buy-in event and there are now just 40 players left in contention for the £316,640 first prize.
The day began in fast and furious fashion, as is always the case at the start of the second day of the Goliath. On this occasion 200 players were eliminated during the very first level of the day and the pace of eliminations did not slow down for quite some time. As the day progressed the story of the tournament began to take shape, with several protagonists getting involved in the plot.
Gilbert Black was a big part of that story, as the 2024 runner-up started the day by taking the early chip lead. He fell back on the leaderboard as the day progressed, but made it through to Day 2 and although now short-stacked, he still has a chance to make back-to-back Goliath final tables.
With only ten tables left there were still two brothers left in contention, but Charles Morton-Jones busted in 75th (£2,230), leaving sibling Frederic Morton-Jones to fight on for a place in Day 3. However, he was one of the last players to hit the rail, succumbing in 44th place, for £3,450.
There was also considerable support on the rail for Scotland’s James Gray, who unfortunately also busted near the end of the day, in 54th place for £2,800.
By the time play ended, WT had amassed a truly gargantuan stack of 24,775,000, over 8m ahead of second placed Ben Parkin (16,525,000), who has been playing with a broken arm in a cast. Jaz Meegan sits in third with 16,275,000 and Paul Worsley is fourth with 15,275,000.
As play was ending, Phil “The Tower” Heald did a floor walk to see who was left, which can be found on Grosvenor Poker’s facebook page. Play resumes at 11am on Sunday and by the end of the day, the identity of the new champion will be known. Coverage of the final day can be followed on Grosvenor’s YouTube channel.
Massive PokerNews Cup
The £550 PokerNews Cup had 746 entries on its first day of play, with 179 players bagging stacks for Day 2. Late registration remains open until the restart so the final number will climb further and could potentially push the prize pool above £400,000.
Steve Jelinek holds the overnight chip lead, with a monster stack of 869,000, with Adam Gemmell not far behind on 830,000. Along with Henry Bibby on 750,000, these three are head and shoulders above the rest of the field.
Over 1,000 Entries Main Event Travel Open
The third starting day of the £300 Main Event Travel Open saw another 299 players take their seats, 32 making it to Day 2. This takes the field up to over 1,000 entries with still one starting flight left on Sunday morning, with Day 2 starting later in the afternoon.
The event has a £100,000 guarantee, but will exceed £300,000 once late registration on Day 1d closes. Owen Fee bagged the largest stack of 464,000 from the flight. So far 110 players have booked their way into Day 2.
Four-Way Deal in The Giant
This £225 side event known as The Giant was a freeze out and attracted a field of 407 players, generating a prize pool of £75,330. Fifty players made the money, including GUKPT Main Event runner up Simon Willson, who exited in 10th for £1,270.
The first prize was due to be over £16,000, however with four players left, a dealwas done, with Abdul Karim taking the most in the chop, leaving with £11,864. Christopher Louch (£10,566), Georgian Georgescu (£11,088) and Mitchell Vero (£9,212) were the other players Involved in the carve-up.
Redtooth Malta 52
Pub poker league Redtooth have several events taking place at the Goliath and Saturday’s offering was the £130+£20 Malta 52 event. It was a satellite tournament for their annual jaunt to a South European island nation during the upcoming Battle of Malta. A total of 198 players entered, 19 of whom made early entries, with the last nine claiming packages worth £1,500. It wasn’t strictly a satellite as there were also cash prizes for the players finishing in positions 11-20.
Those who won their way to Malta included Timothy Bohane, Andy Clarke, David Clarkson, Alicia Irish, John Todd and Robin Yeung. Although Peter Hedges just missed out on the package, the £1,400 he received for 10th was just as good. There are three further Redtooth events taking place on Sunday at the Goliath.
Photos by Mickey May, courtesy of Grosvenor Poker; and Jonathan Raab
