The Grosvenor UK Poker Tour (GUKPT) heads into the last third of 2024 as the seventh leg concludes in Leeds. The £1,000 Main Event attracted 192 entries, creating a prize pool of £160,890. After three days of intense play, it was James Jones who emerged victorious, lifting the trophy and collecting £36,150 for his efforts.
Jones defeated John Bousfield, a GUKPT regular, in a heads-up battle to claim his first major tournament win. This victory has doubled Jones’ live tournament earnings, which now top $90,000. Primarily a cash game player, Jones came to Leeds specifically for the cash games but decided to jump into the tournament as well, and the rest is history.
He entered the final table as one of the shortest stacks, with odds of winning set at 14/1, but managed to spin up his stack from there. “I think I played quite well at the beginning,” said Jones with a smile on his face. “When I got a few chips, I started being aggressive and put pressure on. That’s the way to play tournament poker; you need to put your chips to use.”
2024 GUKPT Leeds Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
| 1 |  James Jones | United Kingdom | £36,150 |
| 2 | John Bousfield | United Kingdom | £27,075 |
| 3 | Garry Spinks | United Kingdom | £18,985 |
| 4 | Abdulkadir Ahmed | United Kingdom | £12,630 |
| 5 | Chris Johnson | United Kingdom | £8,930 |
| 6 | Robert Douras | United Kingdom | £6,675 |
| 7 |  Mark Earl | Ireland | £5,390 |
| 8 |  Shaz | Unknown | £4,585 |
| 9 | Callum Gordon | United Kingdom | £4,025 |
2024 GUKPT Leeds Final Table Recap
Nine players returned for the final day of the 2024 GUKPT Leeds, with Irishman Mark Earl leading the charge, closely followed by John Bousfield.
Unfortunately for Callum Gordon, his run ended quickly as he ran into aces twice in just 15 minutes, first with pocket queens and then with ace-king. This marks his third final table of the season, helping him close the gap on Calogero Morreale on the 2024 National Poker League Leaderboard.
Next to go was the player nicknamed Shaz, who went all-in with king-seven on a 7♦5♣3♦ flop, only to be called by Bousfield with six-five. A turn 6♠ sealed Shaz’s fate, and he exited in eighth place.
An hour and a half was needed for the next exit from the final table, and it was start-of-the-day chip leader Earl, who pushed his last six big blinds with pocket fours against Bousfield’s ace-three. An ace on the turn sent Earl home with £5,390. Rob Douras, getting short-stacked, saw a promising king-queen on the button but clashed with Garry Spinks’ pocket aces in the big blind. The flop 8♣9♠J♠ gave Douras some hope, but the turn and river blanked, sending him to the rail in sixth place.
GUKPT Luton winner Chris Johnson was next on the chopping block. He pushed all-in with queen-nine, and Bousfield called his three-bet. The flop 10♣J♠10♦ gave Johnson 14 outs, but both the turn and river bricked, eliminating him in fifth for £8,930. At this point, Bousfield had more chips than the rest of the trio combined, and Abdul Ahmed gave him some more, pushing with jack-four into Bousfield’s ace-king, which held.
The action and aggression then ramped up. James Jones began to gain the upper hand, notably four-betting all-in with jack-three to make Bousfield fold pocket sevens. Spinks then flopped a second pair with jack-four, but Bousfield was slow-playing his pocket kings. All the chips went into the middle, and Spinks couldn’t improve, being knocked out in third place.
The heads-up battle began almost even, with John Bousfield having a slight lead over James Jones. The lead changed hands several times, but the turning point came when Bousfield missed his open-ended straight flush draw on a 5♥5♣6♥ flop with 4♥3♥ and decided to bluff. Jones, having flopped trips and rivered a full house, crippled Bousfield to just 12 big blinds.
Bousfield managed two double-ups and briefly retook the lead, but it wasn’t enough. Jones steadily chipped away at Bousfield’s stack. The final hand saw Bousfield push all-in with 8♠5♠ on a 7♦6♠5♥ flop, and Jones called with pocket nines. Bousfield had eight outs for the turn and river but failed to connect, finishing as the runner-up. James Jones pocketed £36,150 for his GUKPT Leeds win.
* Images and hands courtesy of Grosvenor Poker.
