Goliath 2016: Europe’s big one

The Goliath is back for another record-breaking event at the Ricoh in Coventry

The Goliath has been breaking records since 2011, when 1,765 runners battled it out in the £100k guaranteed event. Actually, to be more specific, it’s been breaking it’s own record, again and again. Each year the Goliath has grown… In 2012, 1,954 runners battled the beast and in 2013 it claimed the title of biggest live event in Europe when 2,568 players put their money down to play.

In 2014, the Goliath officially became the biggest live event outside of the USA, when 3,349 players smashed the previous record of 2,732 held by the Beijing Millions in China. Amateur player Ryan Foster won the Goliath in 2014, claiming a stonking £62,320 first prize for his £120 entry.

Last year the Goliath bared its teeth again. 2,764 unique players took part and 1,446 re-entries took it to a new record figure of 4,210. That meant the total prize pool on offer was an incredible £421,000, obliterating the £250,000 guarantee. Finnish player Mikka Toikka was the big winner – the £70,800 first prize dwarfed his two previous cashes, which totalled £330!

Bigger, better

Grosvenor aren’t content though. They’re fully expecting the 2016 Goliath to be the biggest yet. The buy-in stays the same – £120 – with seven different starting flights running from Saturday July 30 through to Friday August 5. You can play one or as many of these flights as you want, with Day 2 on Saturday and the final table playing on Sunday August 7. We’ve played the Goliath for the past few years (including one deep run!) and we can report that it’s a lot of fun. The atmosphere is fantastic and there’s a decent amount of play before the shoves start flying in. If you haven’t played a live tournament before as you’re looking for something unique to get your teeth into, we’d highly recommend taking a shot.

There’s more than just the Goliath Main Event too. There’s a £220 buy-in 25/50, which starts on Thursday July 28 with three Day 1s, plus daily side events from £31 including 4/5/6 Omaha, Win the Button, Joker is Wild and Tag Team tournaments. Plus, from July 17 there are daily super satellites in GrosvenorPoker.com, with a minimum of 15 seats guaranteed for the Goliath in each. On Sunday July 24 and Thursday July 28 there are 30 seats guaranteed!

Click here for the full schedule and the full list of satellites. Sign up for a Grosvenor Poker account here. Good luck and we’ll see you in Coventry!


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