Crusher Ravi Sheth has won the GUKPT Coventry Main Event at the Goliath Festival taking down the first prize of £192,700. It was the second main event on the tour that Sheth has mastered, having claimed his first in 2024 when he took down GUKPT Blackpool for £68,580. It was also the first time that a £1m guarantee has been placed on a GUKPT Main Event, but with 1,023 entries, it was met without overlay, making it the biggest GUKPT Main Event ever.
Sheth defeated Simon Willson after a short, sharp and for him at least, a sweet heads-up battle. After eliminating Josh Curry in third place for £102,420, the chip counts were almost even between the last two standing (technically sitting, but who’s counting?).
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During the first few hands Willson began to pull away from Ravi, possessing over 12m of the 19m chips in play. However the chip lead flipped into Ravi’s favour in one hand, which was the crux of the encounter.
On a board of 10♠7♣4♠10♦6♥ Willson set Ravi all-in. It was the key hand because Willson would have had over three-quarters of the chips in play if he had won the hand. But this would only be possible if Ravi were to fold, as his A♣9♦ was behind to 3♠3♥.
In a situation like this, holding an underpair, it’s not an easy decision to make, but without any delay Ravi made the call, flipped his winning hand over, scooped the pot, smiled cheekily at the rail and sat back down to finish the job. And it did not take long to achieve, as moments later he emerged victorious.
In the final hand, holding 9♥9♣, Simon bet 600k on a board of K♠5♠8♠ and was raised by Ravi, who made it 1.8m, holding K♦4♠. Just as commentator Jay Harwood was opining that Simon would have to let this one go, he moved all in for his last 6m chip. Ravi called and Simon only had one out, but that non-spade nine didn’t materialise on the river and the 5♥ brought the proceedings to a close.
Sheth went into the nine-player final table 4th in chips, but at that point all eyes were on 2nd placed Rick Trigg, who was shooting for a record breaking 4th GUKPT Main Event victory. Trigg was the pre-final crowd favourite, but eventually bowed out in 4th place, for £74,400. Grosvenor Poker ambassador Katie Swift also made the final, departing in 6th place for £38,480.
Sheth is known as a very aggressive player and dominated the final table from start to finish when he won his first GUKPT title last year, but this time the situation was different. In the immediate aftermath of the final, Sheth was interviewed by the Tower, noting
“that was a grind, today was tough”
adding
“normally you see me, I have the chip lead, but I didn’t, I was middle of the pack…this is something special…i’m very grateful to win.”
Runner-up Simon Willson was a frequent live player until about ten years ago, when he set up his own business and no longer had the time to play often. He also confirmed he is not the same Simon Wilson (only one l in his name) who won the Irish Open earlier this year. His second place finish for £140,580, was by far the biggest poker result of his life. It seems likely that he will start to play more regularly again, following this win.
| Position | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ravi Sheth | £192,700 |
| 2 | Simon Willson | £140,580 |
| 3 | Josh Curry | £102,420 |
| 4 | Richard Trigg | £74,400 |
| 5 | Nicholas Drinkwater | £53,670 |
| 6 | Katie Swift | £38,480 |
| 7 | Iman Sarkeshik | £27,480 |
| 8 | Jay O’Leary | £19,670 |
| 9 | Raymond Power | £14,320 |
Photos by Mickey May, courtesy of Grosvenor Poker
