The Grosvenor UK Poker Tour finished its second leg (30 Jan—9 Feb) of 2025 in Manchester. The Main Event attracted 437 entries, which generated a prize pool of £455,160. The buy-in for the Main Event was £1,250, and we saw three days of high-level competition before Junxian Du rose to the trophy and won £84,700.
Junxian Du beat Ravi Sheth in a heads-up battle. Du entered as the dominant chip leader, but Sheth gave a good fight for the title. Sheth finished in second place, winning £62,500.
After the win, Junxian Du said that he had studied a lot, and this was the first time he had been in the money. He also said that he prefers live poker to online poker, as he likes to get the feel of his opponents and make live reads.
2025 GUKPT Manchester Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
| 1 |  Junxian Du | United Kingdom | £84,700 |
| 2 | Ravi Sheth | United Kingdom | £62,500 |
| 3 | David Ledden | United Kingdom | £46,070 |
| 4 | Andnew Hulme | United Kingdom | £34,040 |
| 5 | Andreas Olympios | United Kingdom | £25,180 |
| 6 | Andrew Bak | United Kingdom | £18,610 |
| 7 |  Brendan McManus | Ireland | £13,840 |
| 8 | Jewel Miah | United Kingdom | £10,420 |
| 9 | Jake Stone | United Kingdom | £8,060 |
2025 GUKPT Manchester Final Table Recap
Jake Stone was the first one to face elimination as he three-bet shoved with pocket eights and got called by Hulme with pocket kings, and the board was no help for pockets eights as Hulme even rivered a full house to finish the deal. Stone won £8,060 for his ninth-place finish.
Miah Jewel was next to hit the rail as he shoved his short stack with pocket sevens and got called by Junxian Du with ace-five, who was behind but managed to catch an ace on the river to eliminate Jewel in eighth place for £10,420.
Brendan McManus put all of his chips in an open-ended straight draw, holding jack-ten. He was against David Ledden, who hit trips on the river, holding nine-four. McManus was eliminated in seventh place for £13,840.
Andrew Bak was all-in, holding ace-ten, and was against Ravi Sheth, who had ace-jack. Bak didn’t manage to hit a ten or any straights or flushes, so this was the end of the road for him in sixth place for £18,610.
Andreas Olympios was in an all-in situation, holding pocket fours against Ravi’s ace-deuce. The flop put Ravi far ahead as he hit his ace. The turn and the river were of no help for Olympios, and he was eliminated in fifth place for £25,180.
The next one to face elimination was Andrew Hulme, who shoved pocket kings and got called by Du’s ace-eight. Unfortunately, the board ran bad for Hulme, giving Du the straight. Hulme was eliminated in fourth place for £34,040.
As we got closer to the heads-up, David Ledden was all-in with pocket ace and was flipping against Du’s king-queen. The flop gave Ledden the set and put him ahead, but the turn gave Du the straight, and the brick on the river didn’t pair, so Ledden was out in third place for £46,070.
The Heads-Up
Going into the heads-up, Du was far ahead with more than a 4:1 chips advantage over Ravi Sheth, but Ravi managed to win some pots, and it was a back-and-forth battle.
The last hand happened when Du opened king-queen from the button, Ravi shoved ace-ten from the big blind, and Du called. Ravi was ahead with 60 percent equity, and the jack-high flop was good for him, pushing his equity to 75 percent, but the turn was a queen switching lead to Du, and the river was Jack, which ended the game for Ravi, and Du was the new champion. Ravi Sheth won £62,500 for his second-place finish.
* Images and hands courtesy of Grosvenor Poker.
