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Today in the 3-Bet we find a new record for live poker in Europe, Kenny Hallaert thundering through the summer and Nipun Java hotter than lava.
This year, 2020, the Goliath Poker festival is moving ONLINE! The National Online Goliath series will take place from 1st – 10th August exclusively on grosvenorpoker.com The National Online Goliath series has a whopping £350,000 in guaranteed prizepools across 15 spectacular events. The series boasts incredible, deep structures, some of the best you could possibly find online. Goliath 2020 has 2,917 members. A place to discuss, track, question and follow the Goliath 2020 Poker tourney in Coventry.
1) Goliath = Goliath
There's a new record for the biggest live poker event ever held in Europe (or outside Vegas for that matter).
Breaking its own record of 5,242 entries last year the £120 buy-in GUKPT Goliath at the Grosvenor Casino in Coventry set a new record over the past week with 6,385 entries.
The $890,000 prize pool nearly tripled the $325,550 guarantee and paid out $111,665 to the winner, Elliot Marais.
Working off of just one buy-in ($156), that's a pretty solid return on investment for Marais. Considering he had exactly $1,111 in live earnings prior, it's astonishing.
Next stop for the GUKPT is in Leeds next month where the field might not be quite as huge but the value should be similarly high.
Goliath Poker 2019 Blog
If watching small-stakes poker is your bag there will be a live stream for all four days of play, which is very cool.
Watch an interview with the winner and runner-up below.
2) Kenny Hallaert is a Boss
Did you know Belgian Kenny 'SpaceyFCB' Hallaert has over $7m in combined live and online tournament earnings?
Hallaert came to the attention of most poker fans for the first time during his impressive run to the 2016 WSOP Main Event November Nine and 6th-place finish.
He made even more fans this year with another deep run in the Main Event that ended in 68th. But Hallaert's legacy in poker goes well beyond just those two big scores.
A full-time tournament director for the Unibet Poker Tour (among others) Hallaert has been a big contributor on the industry side of the game in Europe for over a decade.
He also has a startlingly impressive online poker resume with $3.8m in career earnings - a number which grew even further this past week. Taking little rest from his summer exploits (9 WSOP cashes for > $450,000) Hallaert won his second career online Triple Crown with 3 nice wins:
- PokerStars $1,050 Super Tuesday for > $60,000
- partypoker $15K Gtd Eliminator
- 888poker $120,000 Whale on Sunday for $44,250
A pretty successful 10-day grind, then:
Completed my Triple Crown today in style!! It was a good 10 day grind.Couple of days off now. pic.twitter.com/3cJlne6YEa
— Kenny Hallaert (@SpaceyFCB) August 7, 2017Well earned for one of the nicest guys in poker.
3) Nipun Java Wins $570 SHRPO Deep Stack for $230,849
Speaking of poker players on impressive runs ... Nipun Java is having a summer to remember, too.
A regular on the tournament scene since around 2011 the New Delhi-based Java has posted some dazzling results over the past two months.
It started at the very beginning of the 2016 WSOP when he and partner Aditya Sushant earned the first-ever bracelets for India in the $1k Tag Team event. He followed that up with an even more impressive solo bracelet in the $1k Online Championship July 7.
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Less than a month later he's added another live title to his Hendon page as he topped 3,173 entries to win the $570 Deep Stack at the Seminole Hard Rock in Florida over the weekend.
After a four-handed deal Java collected $230,849 to push his career earnings up over $2m - and even further ahead at #1 on India's all-time money list.
Even with the Indian poker scene booming of late, it may take a very long time for his $1.3m lead over second-place Raghav Bansal (a Macau regular) to be overcome.
At this time of year, I’d usually be loading up the car and heading down the M40 to Warwick to stay with my friends for the next 2 weeks, just 20 minutes away from the Ricoh Arena.
While I still have the week off, I’d be lying if I said that my level of excitement and anticipation for the Online Goliath was anywhere near what it usually is for the live festival.
The Goliath has been a huge part of my poker calendar for the last 4 years and is how I choose to spend 2 weeks of my holiday each Summer. With the event now being held online, I’m interested to see how many of Grosvenor’s live event attendees will make the leap to the online felt for the Goliath 2020 Festival.
There’s no denying that online poker is different and there will be many live players who will give it a miss this year. This is because there’s more to the Goliath than just the events themselves: players come from all around the UK to play, meet old friends and catch up over a beer or two. The shine is taken off that a little when you’re sat at home by yourself in front of your laptop!
However, I am hopeful that many players will be attracted to the generous tournament schedule that’s on offer and that the series might even encourage a few more players to enter the online realm.
Tournament Schedule
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As online events have no need for dealers and rarely have any time or space restraints put on them, it means they’re able to offer more tournaments within the same time-frame. With multiple tournaments running over each of the weekends and a new tournament each weeknight, you no longer have to use work as an excuse not to get involved in the full Goliath Festival! There are buy-ins from £5 all the way up to £560 which is perfect for the online arena and there really is something within everyone’s price range.
Goliath Poker Live Blog
Tournament Structures
A slow structure for an online tournament is usually around 15 minutes per blind level. Interestingly, Grosvenor have chosen to use a ‘live clock’ for their bigger guarantees such as The Main Event, The Opener and The High Roller by choosing to use a 30 minute clock! This is unusual for an online event but with many players looking to get as much play as possible for their buy-in, I think they’re going to love the slow structures.
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What I’ll be playing this year:
As I mentioned earlier, I still have the week off to play poker, so aside from Tuesday evening, when I plan on watching Brentford make their way up to the Premiership, I’ll be playing many of the lower (£55 and below) events plus the Main Event on Saturday 8th August.
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I may hop into some of the 6-max events if I’m feeling particularly good but I think I’ve already got enough to keep myself busy with the games I’ve chosen to play!
Now that I’ve got my week planned out and I’ve had a good look at the tournaments on offer, I’m excited to play this year’s online Goliath. Even if the shine has been taken off it a little, I’m hoping that the Online Goliath 2020 is a huge success as I would love to see some online events added to the schedule next year.
I’ll make sure to keep you all updated on how each of the events go.
Good luck if you play!