The Goliath is, most years, the biggest event by attendance on the UK poker calendar. This year we saw the biggest Goliath in the event's history. In addition to being the biggest Goliath ever, the event's turnout also set a new record for tourney size outside of Vegas.
Tucked beneath the Coventry Building Society Arena, home to the local football (read "soccer") team, the G Casino becomes the largest poker room in the UK for a few weeks. All that space was necessary. Even with eight Day 1 starting flights, the tourney field took up most of the floor, crowding out side-events and satellites on the busiest days.
This low buy-in, high guarantee event attracts thousands of players to the G Casino Coventry every year (with exceptions in 2020 and 2021 when the Goliath was held online).
This year it hit 10,584 entries.
The rising price of poker
In past years, the buy-in for the Goliath has been £100 (about $115) — plus a £20 or £25 rake depending on how cheeky the Grosvenor team is feeling. However, inflation is everywhere these days and this year's buy-in rose to £120 + £30.
If a 25% rake seems a bit much, at least Coventry City F.C. did its part to boost the tourney's ROI potential. The team lost its two matches during the Day 1 flights. That ensured the Goliath field was stocked with plenty of local players with some sorrows to drown at the bar.
As a result of the increased buy-in and record turnout the prize pool (£1,219,270) and record first place prize (£200,000).
Kyle Jeffrey took down that first-place prize, adding his name to those inscribed on the Goliath cup and giving him his biggest ever win — a personal record to go with the international.
2022 Grosvenor Goliath X Main Event complete final table results
| Position | Player Name | Country | Payout |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Kyle Jeffrey | United Kingdom | £200,000 ($233k) |
| 2nd | Luke Cheslin | United Kingdom | £134,000 ($155k) |
| 3rd | David Reed | United Kingdom | £89,120 ($103k) |
| 4th | Charlie Tarimo | United Kingdom | £60,960 ($70.6k) |
| 5th | Georgian Georgescu | Romania | £39,020 ($45.2k) |
| 6th | Saied Yolmeh | United Kingdom | £26,820 ($31.0k) |
| 7th | Young Seo Yoon | United Kingdom | £20,730 ($24.0k) |
| 8th | Gareth Cresswell | United Kingdom | £17,070 ($19.7k) |
| 9th | Peter Norton | United Kingdom | £14,630 ($16.9k) |
Featured image source: G Casino
