James Broderick (lead image) helped himself to the largest score of his live poker tournament career by taking down the £440 Mystery Bounty event at the 2024 Grosvenor UK Poker Open, yet he still walked away with less prize money than the tenth place finisher, Ravi Sheth.
The mystery bounties came into play when only 54 players from the 426 starters remained, with those surviving players also securing a min-cash. Such luminaries as Matt Davenport, Team Grosvenor’s Jamie Nixon, Mitch Johnson, and Euan McNicholas were among those who cashed, but it was tenth place finisher Ravi Sheth that stole the headlines.
Sheth, best known in UK poker circles for winning the £340 Mini Main Event and £560 Midi Main Event at the 2023 GUKPT London festival had a field day with the mystery bounties. Before he burst the final table in tenth place, Sheth helped himself to nine mystery bounties totaling £22,500, including the top £10,000 bounty. Sheth collected £23,850, £1,850 more than the eventual champion.
2024 Grosvenor UK Poker Open Mystery Bounty Final Table Results
Poland’s Pawel Filar crashed out in ninth for a total score worth £3,140 before Robert Douras came unstuck in eighth; Douras padded his bankroll with £3,420.
Seventh place and £3,950 went to Gunmeet Dhingra. Alex Montgomery, who triumphed in the £330 Mystery Bounty at GUKPT Manchester earlier this month, bowed out in sixth in Coventry for £8,750, with £6,000 stemming from the bounty prize pool.
Emmett Saigal more than doubled his lifetime earnings courtesy of scooping £18,150, of which, £14,250 was bounty payments! Waheed “Wadey” Ashraf was also busy collecting scalps, with £6,950 of his £12,550 payday coming from mystery bounty envelopes.
Heads-up was set when Abdulkadir Ahmed fell in third for £12,200. Four of Ahmed’s last seven cashes have been third place finishes!
James Broderick and David Johnson locked horns heads-up for the title and the largest slice of the prize pool. It was Broderick that came out on top, taking home a combined prize worth £22,000, besting the £20,000 Broderick was awarded for a second-place finish in the Walsall 25/50 event this time last year. Johnson got his hands on £12,460; Johnson was the only finalist not to eliminate an opponent during the tournament.
| Rank | Player | Prize | Bounties | Total Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | James Broderick | £17,000 | £5,000 | £22,000 |
| 2 | David Johnson | £12,460 | £12,460 | |
| 3 | Abdulkadir Ahmed | £8,450 | £3,750 | £12,200 |
| 4 | Waheed Ashraf | £5,600 | £6,950 | £12,550 |
| 5 | Emmett Saigal | £3,900 | £14,250 | £18,150 |
| 6 | Alex Montgomery | £2,750 | £6,000 | £8,750 |
| 7 | Gunmeet Dhingra | £2,200 | £1,750 | £3,950 |
| 8 | Robert Douras | £1,920 | £1,500 | £3,420 |
| 9 | Pawel Filar | £1,640 | £1,500 | £3,140 |
Michelle Bricknell-Sheils Shows Her Boys How It Is Done
Michelle Bricknell-Sheils is the 2024 Grosvenor UK Poker Open Ladies champion, after outlasting 62 opponents en route to claiming the £1,550 top prize. If her surname rings a bell, it is because Bricknell-Sheils is the mother of prominent and popular poker pro Brandon Sheils.
The Sheils family has poker in its blood. Not only do Michelle and Brandon frequent the tables, but Michelle’s son, Richard, and husband, Matthew, are also grinders.
Michelle Bricknell-Sheils has more than $105,000 in recorded live tournament earnings thanks, partly, to seven outright victories. Her largest score came in July 2022 when Bricknell-Sheils finished second in the $550 Ladies event during the Wynn Summer Classic, an impressive result worth $18,135.
It will be interesting to see if Bricknell-Sheils buys into the £1,500 UK Poker Open Main Event from February 28, especially as her son Brandon is heading to Coventry to do exactly that. Imagine how cool it would be to have a mother and son heads-up in the Main Event!
Remaining 2024 Grosvenor UK Poker Open Schedule
The £1,500 Main Event kicks off on February 28 with the first of four flights. February 28 is also when Day 1 of the £2,000 High Roller shuffles up and deals; expect the big guns to turn out in force for that one.
