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£200 Turns Into £365,520 for 2026 Goliath Champio

04 Aug 2026

Samantha Doyle 04 Aug 2026

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Damon Burch-Hyson wins 2026 Goliath for £365,520, beating a field of 14,663.
Festival prize pool surpasses £2.2M with multiple large side event payouts.
Dean Hutchison claims GUKPT Main Event; other big winners include Donofrio and Sandford.

The largest prize at the 2026 Goliath went to Damon Burch-Hyson, who converted a place in the £200 flagship event into a £365,520 payout.

His path to the title ran through a record 14,663-entry field, a final table containing several career-best scores and a four-way deal that rearranged the top payouts. The resulting prize pool reached £2,228,780, passing the festival’s £2 million projection.

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Burch-Hyson Runs Through Final Table

Burch-Hyson eliminated the first player from the final table when Bryan Taylor’s pocket jacks ran into his pocket aces.

Nittin Sonawane followed in eighth before the tournament reached its most important multiway confrontation. Burch-Hyson’s pocket queens held against the ace-king of Lorenc Boci and ace-jack of Wai Lun Lam, eliminating both players at once.

The result left five players, with Reema Bodalia the next to depart. Her fifth-place prize of £71,500 was comfortably the largest recorded result of her career.

The final four then agreed a deal. Dayle Gallagher locked up £178,850, Aikman secured £173,700, Elworthy received £167,330 and Burch-Hyson retained the largest payout. Another £88,520 remained attached to the finishing positions.

Gallagher exited in fourth before Burch-Hyson ended the tournament by removing the final two players simultaneously. His ace-eight beat Aikman’s ace-five and Elworthy’s queen-nine, settling first, second and third in a single pot.

Goliath Final Table Results

Place	Player	Prize
1	Damon Burch-Hyson	£365,520*
2	Lewis Aikman	£173,700*
3	Jonny Elworthy	£167,330*
4	Dayle Gallagher	£178,850*
5	Reema Bodalia	£71,500
6	Lorenc Boci	£50,000
7	Wai Lun Lam	£37,890
8	Nittin Sonawane	£31,500
9	Bryan Taylor	£26,000

Other Major Winners in Coventry

Event	Entries	Winner	Prize
£200 Goliath	14,663	Damon Burch-Hyson	£365,520
£1,250 GUKPT Main Event	876	Dean Hutchison	£163,280
£550 GGPoker Cup	713	Michael Donofrio	£65,600
£300 Travel Open	1,238	David Sandford	£55,760
£1,500 High Roller	211	Brandon Sheils	£54,130
£2,000 Super High Roller	89	Jamie Dwan	£47,200
£440 Mystery Bounty	1,176	Brett Wilkins	£36,040

David Sandford defeated the largest side-event field outside the Goliath and Monster Stack, winning the 1,238-entry Travel Open for £55,760. Michael Donofrio’s £65,600 Cup victory was the biggest first-place side-event payout outside the GUKPT Main Event.

Hutchison Wins the £1 Million GUKPT Main Event

The festival’s higher buy-in Main Event produced another deal-led finish.

Ravi Sheth entered the final table as chip leader and moved within one place of successfully defending his 2025 title. The final three agreed an ICM deal, locking up £134,000 for Sheth, £118,820 for Yuzhou Yin and at least £121,677 for Hutchison.

Hutchison ultimately beat Sheth heads-up to take the title and £163,280. His winning hand saw him call a river shove with trip eights, ending Sheth’s attempt at consecutive victories.

Donofrio and Sandford Lead Large Side Fields

The £550 GGPoker Cup attracted 713 entries and created a £338,670 prize pool, with Donofrio taking the £65,600 top prize.

The £300 Travel Open went even larger, drawing 1,238 entries and generating £305,790. Sandford finished first for £55,760.

Those results underline the scale of the complete festival. Although Burch-Hyson’s £365,520 win dominated the final recap, several side events produced fields that would have been headline tournaments at smaller stops.