British TV Star Michael Greco Wins Cardiff GUKPT

I've written about the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour (GUKPT) a few times now and yes, being the Tour Manager is one of the reasons I am predisposed to do so, but with good reason. For a brand new tour we have done remarkably well selling out our first three events and all signs are that this will continue for the rest of the year.

As a recap for those who haven't read my column before, it's a series of ten £1,000 ($1,940) four-day tournaments capped off with a £3,000 ($5,880) Grand Final at the end of the year.

GUKPT is filmed for transmission on Channel 4 (a major UK TV station) in the fall and the event has attracted a lot of media interest over on this side of the Atlantic. While not as big or as prestigious as the European Poker Tour (EPT), it's been well received by the British poker playing population and is disliked only by my long suffering girlfriend who now sees much less of me than she would like to.

British TV actor Michael Greco won the third event, held recently in Cardiff, the capital of Wales. Michael, now a pro poker player who is sponsored by Dusk Till Dawn Poker was once a familiar face on British television, having played one of the leading characters in Eastenders, the most popular soap opera in the UK. His TV character was a disgraced ex-policeman called Beppe Di Marco, but nobody managed to arrest his development in this event as he outlasted over 300 other players to take the trophy.

The nine-handed final started well for Michael, who was short-stacked going into it, but a couple of early double ups put him right back in contention. Roberto Romanello, a Welsh player who has turned many heads during his 18-month poker career, dominated play for much of the final table. His discursive style of always asking his opponents if they will show him their cards if he folds seemed to be paying off, but he suffered a couple of unfortunate setbacks and ended up in third place.

This left Michael heads up with Southampton IT specialist Hoss Parhizkar and holding a 2-to-1 chip lead. After a 25-minute heads-up encounter, Michael prevailed when his two pair trumped his opponent's straight draw. Having picked up almost $200,000 in prize money for his win, Michael's immediate future as a poker player is now secured and his sponsors are delighted. Dusk Till Dawn is the brainchild of Nottingham based Rob Yong. In addition to their online poker room, they are set to open the largest and most luxurious poker room in Europe within the next two months. It will surely not be long before the EPT, WPT or some other major tour makes use of the venue, which will be "the closest thing in Europe to the Bellagio, but bigger," according to spokesman Simon Nowab.