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Richard Gryko Wins 2009 GUKPT Luton
Tuesday, August 11, 2009 | Francis Lee
The sixth leg of the 2009 Grosvenor UK Poker Tour (GUKPT) was held at the Grosvenor Casino in Luton. 304 players started out in the £1,000 buy in main event which was the largest turn out in this year’s GUKPT. The first prize place on offer to the winner reached £88,850.
The tournament was filled with quite a few well known poker players from around the UK and Europe making this a tough field. After three days play the tournament reached the final table stage and the final nine was headed by Richard Gryko on just over half a million in chips. The rest of the final nine looked as follows at the start of the final day.
Final Table Chip Rankings
- 1st Richard Gryko 539,000
- 2nd James Williams 493,000
- 3rd Alan McLean 422,500
- 4th Clive Padden 394,000
- 5th Stacey Clarke 340,000
- 6th Nicholas McLellan 303,500
- 7th James Morris 276,500
- 8th Chuck Thompson 154,000
- 9th Alan McBride 140,000
James Morris was the first to go when moving All In with 
after the flop had come down 
Unfortunately for Morris he had run into Stacey Clarke holding pocket Sixes. The set was easily good enough to take the pot leaving Morris to collect £6,100 finishing in 9th place.
Short stacked Alan McBride who was given his entry to this event as a birthday present from his wife was next to fall. He moved All In with pocket Queens but was up against Clive Padden holding pocket Aces. No Queen on the board meant McBride took home £8,200 for finishing in 8th place.
The next elimination came when all the chips went in after the flop had come down 
between Alan Mclean and James Williams. Williams had 
looking for an eight to hit a straight, but was at a big disadvantage as Mclean had 
also looking to hit an eight to make an event bigger straight. This meant Williams needed an Ace, running diamonds or for the board to blank for McLean to have a chance. The 
put Mclean firmly in the lead and the 
on the River confirmed Williams exit in 7th place winning £11,250.
After the good early start Stacey Clarke made, it all went quickly downhill and he was the next player eliminated when trying to make a move for the pot holding 
after the flop had come down 
He had one caller in Clive Padden who had hit top pair with 
The board blanked out for Clarke and he headed for the rail to collect £14,300 for finishing in 6th place. Chuck Thompson quickly followed Clarke when loosing the majority of his chips to Richard Gryko when running into with 
He was then eliminated into 5th place by Clive Padden and won £17,350 for his efforts.
Gryko then increased his chip stack by eliminating Nicholas McLellan in a race with Gryko having 
against pocket eights. Gryko made a straight after the final board had come down leaving McLellan to pick up £23,400 finishing in 4th place. The players had a one hour break and Gryko was leading with 1.8 million in chips, Clice Padden had 700,000 in second closely followed by Alan McLean with 530,000.
When the players returned Clive Padden and Alan Mclean clashed as all the chips went in pre flop. Mclean was well ahead holding 
against Padden’s 
No help came for Padden leaving him with just 110,000 in chips. On the next hand Padden managed to double up against Gryko, but the come back was short lived as Padden pushed All In on the next hand with 
which was beaten by Gryko with Padden won £35,850 finishing in 3rd place.
Gryko started heads up against McLean with almost double the chip stack having around 2 million in chips. He put this to good use winning the event in just over 40 minutes. The final hand came when McLean pushed All in with pocket fours and Gryko called with Gryko hit top pair when the flop came down 
and no four on the turn and river meant he was the GUKPT Luton champion of 2009. He collected £88,850 in prize money as well as a seat in the GUKPT grand final to be held later this year.
2009 GUKPT Luton Final Standings
- 1st Richard Gryko £88,850
- 2nd Alan McLean £53,950
- 3rd Clive Padden £35,850
- 4th Nicholas McLellan £23,400
- 5th Chuck Thompson £17,350
- 6th Stacey Clarke £14,300
- 7th James Williams £11,250
- 8th Alan McBride £8,200
- 9th James Morris £6,100
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