Elliott Marais has created a history by winning the biggest 2017 GUKPT Goliath tournament ever held. He bested a record-breaking field of 6,385 players to win the title for a whopping£85,760 . The biggest live event outside of Vegas created a mammoth £638,500 in the total prize pool which was shared among 682 players.
Unlike many players who entered several times, Marais entered Day 2 with the smallest of investment of £120. He played Day 1E, went home on Thursday and came back for Day 2 on Saturday. His previous best cash was £215 after finishing 4th in a tournament in Sheffield in January this year. His live tournament winnings amount to just £1,111. This was the biggest tournament win for Marais who will be celebrating his upcoming birthday in style.
Final Table Recap
Within minutes of the final table commencing, Dean Perry found himself all-in with ace-ten against the dominating ace-king of Robert Shore. He was the first elimination from the final table. The next to go out was Fabio Liriomiranda who moved all with with a pair of deuces and lost to Paul Morris. Up next, the final table lost Oneib Saeed who moved all-in with ace-five and Shore called with ace-king. Next to fall was Calum Goodwin and it was yet again Robert Shore who eliminated him in 6th place.
The man finishing 5th was none other than the aggressive Robert Shore whose Ace-Ten lost to Tai Hoang’s Ace-Jack. Fourth-place went to Paul Morris who looked to double through Marais when his ace-jack went up against Marais’ jack-nine but Marais got an unlikely straight to bust Morris. The next player to fall was Day 3 chip leader Levan Reid who went out in 3rd place, leaving the heads-up battle.
After exchanging hands several times, it was Marais who came out on top to grab the £85,760 top prize, while Hoang settled down for £63,060 in the consolation prize for superb efforts.
2017 GUKPT Goliath Final Table Payouts:
1 Elliott Marais £85,760
2 Tai Hoang £62,060
3 Levan Reid £44,630
4 Paul Morris £31,670
5 Robert Shore £21,900
6 Calum Goodwin £15,390
7 Oneib Saeed £12,005
8 Fabio Liriomiranda £9,895
9 Dean Perry £8,490