Julian Thew Wins Record Third GUKPT Main Event

October 18 2011, Matthew Pitt

The GUKPT Coventry Main Event took place between October 14-16 and it will be fondly remember by British pro Julian Thew because his victory means he became the first-ever player to win three GUKPT Main Events.

Over the course of two flights, 145 players paid the £1,070 entry fee, creating a prizepool of £145,000 that was shared out amongst the top 15 finishers, with a min-cash being worth £2,180 and £42,740 being up top for the eventual winner. A whole host of well-known and respected players made it to the money places including Dave “Le Knave” Jones, WSOP Main Event final table member Jon Kalmar, and Sam Grafton.

Thew started the final table sixth in chips and it initially looked as if Sheffield-based pro Richard Trigg was going to run away with the tournament but Thew, known as “Yo-Yo” due to his often erratic and aggressive playing style, stuck to his guns and continued to keep tabs on Trigg by busting out Adriano Liuzzi and then the dangerous Stuart Rutter when the latter shoved with and could not beat Thew's . A special mention needs to go to Rutter who won this very event last year and flew back from the World Series of Poker in Cannes in an attempt to defend his title, a fifth place finish is all he could muster but it is still a remarkable achievement.

Thew found himself heads up with Trigg with a two-to-one chip lead but he did not have the chance to press this advantage too hard because heads up was over in the very first hand! Trigg found and Thew woke up with , all the chips went into the middle and Thew's hand held to win him his third GUKP title to go with those he won in Plymouth (2007) and Brighton (2008).

The win was made even more sweeter by the fact it was Thew's 44th birthday, the perfect birthday present for any poker player. This latest win takes Thew's live tournament winnings past the $2,700,000 mark and shows why Sky Poker were eager to sign him up when he became a free agent a few months ago. Thew also has a European Poker Tour title to his name as he won EPT Baden back in 2007 and just a few months ago he chopped the £1,000 Monte Carlo at the Dusk Till Dawn poker club in his home town of Nottingham.

As mentioned, Thew is a sponsored pro of Sky poker and can be found playing cash and tournaments on the online poker site most days and even has his own tournament every Tuesday at 22:00 called “Thews@Ten”, which costs £11 to enter.

Congratulations and a belated happy birthday to Mr Thew from all at UK PokerNews!

Final table results

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