Matt Eardley Crowned GUKPT Blackpool Champion
Matt Eardley is in the form of his life right now and can seemingly do no wrong. He finished fourth in the $3,300 World Poker Tour UK Main Event for $128,500 in October and this weekend took down the 2019 Grosvenor UK Poker Tour (GUKPT) Blackpool Main Event for an additonal £84,550.
2019 GUKPT Blackpool Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Matt Eardley | £84,550* |
| 2 | Terry Jordon | £79,550* |
| 3 | Richard Kellett | £39,950 |
| 4 | Luke Marsh | £25,150 |
| 5 | Will McMurray | £16,900 |
| 6 | John Bousfield | £12,250 |
| 7 | Terry Owen | £9,350 |
| 8 | Jonjo Lawrence | £7,900 |
| 9 | Craig Smith | £5,750 |
*reflects a heads-up deal
A field of 367 players bought into the £1,110 GUKPT Blackpool Main Event hoping to join the long list of champions who have won this popular leg. This meant a prize pool of £365,000 was created, blowing the £200,000 advertised guarantee out of the water.
Gerald “Skullman” David was the player who burst the money bubble. It took 30-minutes of hand-for-hand action for the bubble to burst, David eventually busting with ace-ten against the dominating ace-king of Phil Clarke. David busted in 35th place and went home empty-handed, Clarke eventually finished in 25th place for £2,500.
Some of the other players who navigated their way into the top 34 and, therefore, received prize money, included Tom Hall, Andrew “Stato_1” Hulme, Ben Dobson, and Mike “DaBookie” Hill, the latter crashing out in 11th place. Andrew Haygarth fell in 10th place and the final table was set.
Final Table Set
Eardley, Terry Jordon, and Richard Kellett found themselves in a dominant position holding more than 5.1 million of the 7.3 million chips in play between them.
Craig Smith crashed out in ninth when his 18 big blind shove with jack-ten was called by John Bousfield’s pocket kings and was joined on the rail by Jonjo Lawrence whose jam with pocket tens lost out to the ace-king of Jordon who flopped two pair.
Terry Owens fell in seventh place after a relative cooler of a hand. Owens opened with pocket queens, Luke Marsh three-bet, Owens jammed for 400,000 chips and was snapped off by Marsh who held pocket aces. An ace in the window helped Marsh take down the big pot and reduce the player count by one.
The final six became five with the elimination of Bousfield. His shove with ace-jack was called by Jordon holding queen-ten. Jordon caught a ten on the flop to bust Bousfield, who collected the first five-figure prize of the tournament.
Jordon and Eardley on Fire
Will McMurray ran out of steam in fifth place when his ten big blind shove with ace-eight was called by the seemingly unstoppable Jordon who held ace-jack. Neither player improved, Jordon’s jack-kicker played, and McMurray was no more.
Fourth place and £25,150 went to Marsh who lost a cruel flip against Eardley. Marsh’s stack went into the middle with queens, Eardley held ace-king and spiked an ace on the river to leave only three players in the hunt for the GUKPT Blackpool title.
Heads-up was set when Kellett crashed out in third. Kellett lost his final 25 big blinds with ace-queen and ran into the kings of Eardley. No help arrived for Kellett and he had to make do with the £39,950 third-place prize.
Eardley held a 5.4 million to 1.8 million chip lead over Jordon going into heads-up but Jordon doubled up early with sixes versus ace-tens, prompting the pair to pause the tournament clock and discuss a deal. The discussions ended with a deal being struck, Eardley taking home £84,550 and Jordon banking £79,450.
The pair then decided to flip for the trophy, Jordon being all-in with pocket nines and Eardley jack-four. A jack on the turn gifted Eardley the title.
Next up is the season finale, the GUKPT Grand Final that runs November 18th through December 1st. The highlight is the £2,650 buy-in Grand Final Main Event that boasts of a £400,000 guaranteed prize pool.
