Over The Moon Bryan Taylor Crowned GUKPT Edinburgh Main Event Champion

Anyone who has played cash games in Glasgow over the past couple of decades has almost certainly clashed with Bryan Taylor. The Scotsman has grinded cash for 22 years, but recently decided to add tournaments to his repertoire. Since August 2024, Taylor has racked up 14 cashes, including a victory and a runner-up finish in the Grosvenor 25/50 events in Glasgow. This weekend, Taylor became the GUKPT Edinburgh champion.

An emotional Taylor spoke to Phil “The Tower” Heald shortly after defeating “D.N.” heads-up in the £1,000 GUKPT Edinburgh Main Event. Taylor said he was over the moon with his victory before thanking his partner, Emma, for her support and allowing him to pursue his poker career.

The £1,000 GUKPT Edinburgh Main Event drew in 233 entrants who created a £197,960 prize pool that the top 29 finishers shared. Andrew Hawksby, Jack Hardcastle, Robbie Bull, Thomas Clack, Alex Rizvi, and Sinead Davenport were among the in-the-money finishers, the latter bowing out in tenth place for £4,100 and bursting the final table bubble.

2025 GUKPT Edinburgh Main Event Final Table Results

Mitch Johnson‘s latest deep run ended in a ninth-place finish worth £4,760. Johnson committed his short stack with jack-ten of diamonds and found himself flipping against the pocket eights in “D.N.”‘s hand. Johnson flopped a flush draw, which he needed to hit after his opponent turned a set. The river was red, but a heart, and Johnson was eliminated.

Another short stack shove, this time from Craig McCairns, resulted in the player count reducing by one. McCairns jammed eight big blinds with king-six suited and ran straight into the pocket aces of Serghei Zglavoci. An ace on the flop left McCairns drawing thin; he was drawing dead on the turn.

Seventh place went to Fraser Bellamy, who dramatically lost a coinflip against “D.N.” Fraser was all-in with ace-queen of clubs for 14 big blinds and spiked a queen on the flop to take the lead against pocket sevens. However, one of the two remaining sevens appeared on the turn to send the seasoned grinder to the cashier’s desk to collect £6,340.

GUKPT Heads to Blackpool for the 2025 Tour’s Penultimate Stop

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The final four-figure prize, £7,910, went to Andrew Hulme. The last of Hulme’s stack went into the middle with queen-nine suited, with Taylor calling with ace-eight. Neither player improved, and Taylor’s ace-high was enough to eliminate the dangerous Hulme.

Nick Swann’s tournament ended at the hands of Shi Dong. Swann’s ace-eight flopped top pair, but Dong’s ace-six flopped two pair. That two pair improved to a full house on the turn, and Swann was gone.

A dramatic hand busted Dong in fourth for £15,250, a new career-best for him. He got his chips in good with ten-eight on an eight-ten-ace flop against the ace-queen of Zglavoci. King landed on the turn, followed by a jack on the river to improve Zglavoci to an unlikely Broadway straight.

The final three became two when Zglavoci crashed out at the hands of “D.N.” Zglavoci, who celebrated his birthday during the festival. He got 16 big blinds in with ace-jack against the king-queen of “D.N.” A king on the flop proved enough to send the GULPT Edinburgh Main Event into the heads-up stage.

“D.N.” held a 66 to 28 big blind lead over Taylor, an opponent whom he had faced many times in Glasgow cash games over the year. Sometimes, you need some luck to win a tournament, and the deck was with Taylor during the one-on-one battle. Taylor almost immediately put himself in front with some aggressive play with pocket tens on a six-jack-five board, then put his foot firmly on the gas for the remainder of the short heads-up battle.

The final hand saw Taylor move all-in with queen-ten for the equivalent of 23 big blinds, and “D.N.” call with the dominated queen-nine. The community cards ran out king-high, Taylor’s ten-kicker played, and he became the 2025 GUKPT Edinburgh Main Event champion.

2025 GUKPT Edinburgh Results

GUKPT Blackpool Runs November 1-9

The 2025 GUKPT is rapidly approaching its conclusion. Next up is the Blackpool leg, the penultimate leg of this year’s tour. The festival runs November 1-9, and features, among other tournaments, a £1,250 buy-in Main Event with a £250,000 guaranteed prize pool.

Live satellites will be available throughout the GUKPT Blackpool stop, and online at Grosvenor Poker.

Matthew Pitt hails from Leeds, West Yorkshire, in the United Kingdom, and has worked in the poker industry since 2008, and worked for PokerNews since 2010. In September 2010, he became the editor of PokerNews. Matthew stepped away from live reporting duties in 2015, and now concentrates on his role of Senior Editor for the PokerNews.