The 2026 Goliath is done and dusted after the record-breaking tournament came to a thrilling conclusion on August 2. Damon Burch-Hyson will forever be known as this tournament’s champion, while the massive £365,520 he collected for his £200 buy-in has the potential to be life-changing.
Including re-entries, the 2026 Goliath’s attendance stood at 14,663, eclipsing last year’s tally by 1,702 entrants. Despite only costing £200 to enter, the 2026 Goliath prize pool tipped the scales at a gargantuan £2,228,780!
2026 Goliath Final Table Results
| Rank | 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 |
Prizes reflect a four-way deal
The third and final day began with 36 players returning to their seats. Amazingly, two former Goliath champions found themselves in the mix. Alex Todd, who triumphed in 2023, and reigning champion Paul Worsley had the chance for a historic and highly improbable double Goliath victory.
Unfortunately for them and their legion of supporters, Worsley fell in 27th place, while Todd bowed out in 25th.
When Nicholas Fellone busted in 10th place for £22,000, the nine-handed final table was set. Each of those finalists locked in £26,000 for their efforts, but with £365,000 up top, none of them wanted to claim that still impressive payout.
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Current National Poker League (NPL) leader, Bryan Taylor, was the first player eliminated from the final table. The Scotsman committed his last 14 big blinds with pocket jacks and will count himself unfortunate to run straight into the pocket aces of Burch-Hyson. The community cards offered little drama, and Taylor headed to the cashier’s desk.
Before the 2026 Golitah, Nittin Sonawane’s largest haul weighed in at £2,700, his reward for reaching the money in the April edition of the GUKPT London Main Event earlier this year. He can now brag of a £31,500 score. Sonawane busted when his ace-three failed to come from behind and beat Lewis Aikman’s dominating ace-queen.
A double elimination left only five players in the hunt for the title, while flipping the tournament on its head. A massive hand saw Wai Lun Lam all-in with ace-jack, Lorenc Boci at risk holding ace-king, and Burch-Hyson set for a massive pot courtesy of holding pocket queens. The queens held, sending Lam home in seventh (£37,890) and Boci to the rail in sixth (£50,000).
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The Goliath became an all-male affair after Reema Bodalia exited in fifth. Down to a mere four big blinds, Bodalia found herself all-in with king-queen against Jonny Elworthy’s lowly jack-four. A jack on the flop propelled Elworthy in front, but a king on the turn looked to give Bodalia a much-needed double. However, Elworthy improved to trip jacks on the river to eliminate Bodalia. The £71,500 she collected was by far her largest score of his career to date.
With Bodalia out of the running, the final four players paused the tournament clock and discussed a deal. After much deliberation, the foursome agreed to the new payouts, which left £88,520 to play for.
Dayle Gallagher was the first exit post-deal. Gallagher, who had one cash worth £810 on his Hendon Mob profile, got 13 big blinds in with ace-eight and couldn’t find an eight to best Aikman’s ace-queen.
A second double elimination of the final table crowned the Goliath’s champion. Elworthy had lost all but 4.5 big blinds in a clash with Burch-Hyson a couple of hands prior. He then found himself all-in with queen-nine against Aikman’s ace-five, and Burch-Hyson’s ace-eight.
Ace-eight remained the best hand on a double-paired board, busting Elworthy in third and Aikman in second.
Elworthy banked £167,330 from the prize pool, but he had used his GGPoker account to buy into the Goliath. Thanks to the special partnership between Grosvenor and GGPoker, Elworthy also collected a 20% cash boost on his payout, meaning he received an additional £33,466.
Aikman, whose previous best prize was worth €18,500, got his hands on a £173,700 score, while Burch-Hyson was announced as the 2026 Goliath champion, which came with £365,520 in cash, £20 more than the original first-place prize!
2026 Goliath Results
Expand the table below to see all the results from the Golitah festival. As you can see, there were plenty of impressive results, not least the £163,280 that Dean Hutchison won for taking down the £1,250 GUKPT Main Event, and the £65,600 collected by Michael Donofrio for his victory in the £550 GGPoker Cup.
Expand the table below to see all of the results from the Golitah festival
There are fewer than two weeks to wait for the next major Grosvenor festival, with GUKPT Glasgow scheduled to run from August 16-23. Satellites are available on Grosvenor Poker and GGPoker.
Matthew Pitt
Senior Editor