Praz Bansi wins GUKPT London

The British poker scene was out in force for last week’s Grosvenor UK Poker Tour, and it was a familiar face who pocketed the £101,020 first prize. Praz Bansi has been in the form of his life over the past 12 months, and he duly added a second GUKPT title to his growing list of live achievements.

The two-time WSOP winner saw off a star-studded final table, which included fellow Hitsquad member Karl Mahrenholz and 2008 GUKPT main event champion Jeff Kimber, to take his lifetime winnings to more $2,587,356.

Yet Bansi looked to have lost his grip on the title, held at the prestigious Grosvenor Victoria Casino, when Germany’s Manig Loeser overturned a 6-to-1 chip deficit heads-up.

But Loeser’s brief time atop the chip leader board lasted mere minutes before Bansi turned a nut flush to crush Loeser’s top pair. Left with just one big blind, Losener hit the rail on the next hand, leaving the Hitsquad star to collect another major honour.

Here’s how the final table finished:

1 Praz Bansi £101,020
2 Manig Loeser £67,070
3 Gary Lindsay £44,100
4 Karl Mahrenholz £26,640
5 Jamie Roberts £19,840
6 Ken Wong £16,170
7 Christopher Kyriacou £12,510
8 Jim Dunsford £10,110
9 Jeff Kimber £7,350