Florian Duta Wins the 2018 GUKPT Goliath For ��101K
Birmingham-based Romanian Florian Duta is the new GUKPT Goliath champion after he topped a record field of 7,584 players to turn his ��125 investment into a massive ��101,450.
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Florian Duta | ��101,450 |
| 2 | Warwick Brindley | ��73,100 |
| 3 | Mariusz Czech | ��52,500 |
| 4 | Bogdan Bolboceanu | ��37,150 |
| 5 | Ricky Read | ��25,650 |
| 6 | Craig Marnier | ��17,950 |
| 7 | Ioana Belet | ��14,050 |
| 8 | Gordon Paterson | ��11,600 |
| 9 | Joseph Stoyles | ��10,000 |
The 2018 GUKPT Goliath broke its own record for the largest poker tournament outside of Las Vegas with a 7,584-strong field. Grosvenor Casinos guaranteed the eventual champion would win at least ��100,000 and that��s exactly what happened as Duta walked away with ��101,450.
Some 747 players received prize money for their efforts. A min-cash was worth ��150 with each of the nine players at the final table securing ��10,000.
Joseph Stoyles busted in ninth-place and netted ��10,000 with Gordon Paterson following Stoyles out the door in eighth-place to win ��11,600. Seventh-place and ��14,050 went to Ioana Belet before Craig Marnier exited in sixth place for a ��17,950 payout.
Banking ��25,650 for fifth place was Ricky Read and now the money was getting serious. Bogdan Bolboceanu saw his ��125 turn into ��37,150 when he fell in fourth place and Mariusz Czech crashed out in third for a ��52,500 payday.
This left Warwick Brindley and Duta to battle it out heads up in what was essentially a ��28,350 heads-up sit & go. No deal was struck, despite the huge pay jump, and it worked in Duta��s favor as he swept Brindley aside to win his second six-figure score in the space of a month.
Stellar Year for Duta
This latest victory was Duta��s second in a month after the Romanian won the $1,600 No-Limit Hold��em Championship at the 2018 Wynn Summer Classic in Las Vegas for a career-best $429,161. Duta managed six cashes at the 2018 World Series of Poker, including a 12th-place finish in the $3,000 No-Limit Hold��em 6-Handed event.
Duta now has $1,248,636 in live poker tournament winnings, enough to place him sixth in Romania��s all-time money listings. He is now less than $200,000 behind Dan Murariu on the list and if Duta��s form continues, a top-five berth beckons.
Next on the GUKPT
Next up on the 2018 GUKPT is a trip up North to Leeds where a ��560 buy-in Main Event with a ��100,000 guarantee is the highlight of the festival. GUKPT Leeds runs from Sep. 9-16 at the Grosvenor Casino Westgate. Will Duta be there? You had better hope not!
2018 GUKPT Goliath Stream
You can check out the final table action via the video below.
