Career-Best Score For Costin as He Slays the Grosvenor Behemoth
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The Grosvenor Behemoth Main Event crowned its champion on December 15 after an impressive turnout for the inaugural event. A field of 1,347 entrants created a ￡336,210 prize pool that the top 168 finishers shared. Cristinel Costin came out on top and reeled in a ￡43,700 prize after a three-way deal, the largest haul of his career.
Costin's previously best live poker tournament result came in December 2021 when he finished 30th in the €10,350 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event for €35,709. The prize money earned from taking down the Grosvenor Behemoth pushes Costin's lifetime earnings past $200,000.
￡300 Behemoth Final Table Results
| Rank | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cristinel Costin | ￡43,700* |
| 2 | Gary Nordigian | ￡42,260* |
| 3 | Dawid Chmiel | ￡48,450* |
| 4 | Tommy Bingham | ￡16,810 |
| 5 | Yucel Eminoglu | ￡10,090 |
| 6 | Yujia Hu | ￡7,390 |
| 7 | Aleks Golubevs | ￡5,380 |
| 8 | Andrew Cowley | ￡4,370 |
| 9 | Dan Silverman | ￡3,840 |
*reflects a three-handed deasl
The nine-handed final table lost its first player After Dan Silverman got his last 14 big blinds into the middle holding ace-king, and Dawid Chmiel called with queen-ten. A queen on the flop proved enough to relieve Silverman of his stack, and he bowed out in ninth for ￡3,840.
Andrew Cowley's deep run ended in an eighth-place finish worth ￡4,370. Cowley got his stack into the middle with king-jack on a jack-high board but ran into Costin's overpair.
Seventh place and ￡5,380 went to Aleks Golubevs, who, you may recall, was the 2023 WPT500 UK champion. Down to only eight big blinds, Golubevs jammed all-in with pocket eights, and Tommy Bingham looked him up with ace-six. Bingham caught a six on the flop and another on the turn to eliminate Golubevs.
Grosvenor Casinos Unveils 14-stop Schedule for the 2025 GUKPT
Bingham then dispatched Yujia Hu in sixth. Hu check-called on the flop and turn before moving all-in on the river. Bingham called with top pair, and a busted flush draw was all Hu could muster. The ￡7,390 that Hu collected is the largest of his fledgling career.
The remaining players breathed a sigh of relief when Yucel "Mad Turk" Eminoglu bowed out in fifth. Eminoglu, recent winner of the GUKPT Grand Final Midi Main, committed his last ten big blinds with jack-nine but couldn't win the coinflip against Costin's pocket sixes. Eminoglu added ￡10,090 to his lifetime winnings.
Start of the final table chip leader Bingham was next to fall. Bingham flopped top two pair with his jack-ten and will have been pleased to get his chips into the middle. However, Chmiel had flopped a set, leaving Bingham high and dry, although the ￡16,000 payout will have helped to numb the pain somewhat.
The final three players decided to lessen the severity of the pay jumps and struck a deal. The deal left no money to play for, just the title and glory of triumphing in a live event.
Chmiel was eliminated in third when he moved all-in for 19 big blinds with a pair of red sixes on the button. Costin called from the small blind with pocket aces, and Gary Nordigian squeezed all-in with ace-five. Costin snap-called creating a three-way all-in. A king-high board eliminated Chmiel in third and gifted Costin a 25,700,000 to 8,000,000 chip advantage going into heads-up. Unsurprisingly, it didn't take long for Costin to bust his final opponent and become the first-ever Grosvenor Behemoth champion.
The 2025 GUKPT Season Starts January 9
The first of 14 stops on the 2025 Grosvenor UK Poker Tour (GUKPT) is only a few weeks away, with GUKPT Coventry scheduled to start on January 9. The festival has over ￡600,000 in combined guarantees. Justin Tsui is the reigning GUKPT Coventry Main Event champion. Tsui outlasted 631 opponents on his way to collecting ￡100,000 of the ￡667,400 prize pool.
Win your way into the GUKPT Coventry Main Event online at Grosvenor Poker.
