Goliath Smashes Through 12,000 Entrants; Anon Player Bags Biggest Ever Day 1 Stack

The 2026 Goliath will set a new record for the long-running event, with more than 12,000 entries already processed. Two more flights concluded on July 30, bringing the total attendance to 10,987. However, at the time of writing, 1,150 players had entered Day 1h, and social media suggests there are already more than 350 players on the alternate list.

Including re-entries, Day 1f drew in 2,227 entrants, the second-most of any Goliath flight since the tournament first ran in 2011. Only 137 of those starters advanced to Day 2, and nobody had more chips than “F.S” when the curtain came down on proceedings.

The Grosvenor Poker Facebook page revealed “F.S.” is called Farzin, and that he bagged up a tournament-leading 2,100,000 chips after the completion of the 20th level on Day 1f. That colossal stack was enough to claim the flight’s chip lead, the overall chip lead, and a place in Goliath’s history books as the largest-ever Day 1 stack.

A comment on Facebook suggests Farzin plays a rather unorthodox style, with one commenter claiming Farzin was raising 10x from the early position at one stage.

On the evening of July 30, the turbo-structured Day 1g took place. It saw 928 entries processed, with another 91 players advancing through 20 levels to Day 2. John Bousfield claimed the chip lead in the flight with a 900,000 stack.

Current 2026 Goliath Top 10 Chip Counts

The 2026 Goliath Attendance So Far

As you can see from the table below, 10,987 entrants are already accounted for, with another 1,150 registered for Day 1h, which shuffled up and dealt at 11:00 a.m. BST on July 31. More than 350 players are on the alternate list, with another 200 already registered for the Day 1i turbo at 6:00 p.m. BST on July 31.

Even if nobody else enters or re-enters, which is an impossibility, the 2026 Goliath’s field will be more than 12,600 and only 300 or so short of the 12,961 turnout from last year.

Brett Wilkins Takes Down the £440 Mystery Bounty After a Four-Way Chop

According to The Hendon Mob Database, Brett Wilkins had never cashed in a live poker tournament before deciding to head to Coventry for the 2026 Goliath festival. Wilkins can now boast of an outright victory and £36,040 in winnings after topping a field of 1,076 in the £440 Card Room Direct Mystery Bounty.

Plenty of established grinders finished in the money places and received a portion of the £223,440 prize pool. They included Bryan Taylor, Stefan Lazar, Dean Hutchison, Calogero Morreale, Robert Cowen, Adam Wilkinson, Richard Kellett, Lee French, Dale Wilson, and Kyle Scott.

After Matthew Bonham bowed out in fifth for £8,100, the remaining four players chopped up the remainder of the prize pool. Gareth Cresswell then fell in fourth for £25,320, Haydyn Dickinson busted in third for £24,870, with Shane Brown crashing out in second for £25,260. Those exits left Wilkins as the last player standing, and with a £36,040 prize to show for his efforts.

_{None of the prizes include mystery bounty payments}

_{*reflects a four-way deal}

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.