The Grosvenor UK Poker Tour has returned to Luton, with the £560 GUKPT Luton Main Event set to begin on Thursday, September 3 with £150,000 guaranteed.
It is the second time the GUKPT has visited Luton in 2026 and comes during the landmark 20th season of one of British poker’s longest-running tours.
The festival is already underway at Grosvenor G Casino Luton, with the £1,000 High Roller beginning on Wednesday and the £100,000 guaranteed Mini Main reaching its closing stages.
Attention will then turn to the Main Event, where three starting flights will determine who returns for Day 2 on Saturday.
GUKPT Luton Main Event Starts September 3
The £560 Main Event is the centrepiece of the latest GUKPT Luton festival.
Players receive 20,000 starting chips, with the regular opening flights featuring 60-minute levels.
Day 1A begins at 1pm on Thursday, September 3.
Day 1B follows at midday on Friday, before players looking for one final route into the tournament can enter the Day 1C Turbo at 9pm.
Survivors from the three opening flights return at midday on Saturday for Day 2, with the tournament scheduled to play to a winner on Sunday, September 6.
GUKPT Luton Main Event Schedule
| Date | Event | Buy-in |
|---|---|---|
| September 3, 1pm | Main Event Day 1A | £560 |
| September 4, 12pm | Main Event Day 1B | £560 |
| September 4, 9pm | Main Event Day 1C Turbo | £560 |
| September 5, 12pm | Main Event Day 2 | Qualifiers |
| September 6, 12pm | Main Event Day 3 | Qualifiers |
The Main Event carries a guaranteed prize pool of £150,000.
Satellites are also running during the festival, including a Thursday evening qualifier guaranteeing ten Main Event seats.
GUKPT High Roller Gets Underway in Luton
Before the Main Event begins, some of the biggest action in Luton will come from the £1,000 High Roller.
The two-day event starts at 3pm on Wednesday, September 2 with a £50,000 guaranteed prize pool.
Players begin with 100,000 chips and play 40-minute levels, with registration remaining available until the start of Day 2.
The winner is due to be decided on Thursday, just as the first Main Event flight gets underway.
That creates a potentially busy crossover between the two biggest tournaments on the schedule, particularly for High Roller players hoping to move directly into the Main Event.
GUKPT Returns to Luton for Second Time in 2026
Luton has already produced one GUKPT Main Event champion this year.
Yucel “Mad Turk” Eminoglu won the previous GUKPT Luton Main Event in May, overcoming a field of 190 entries to collect £57,640.
That tournament had a larger £1,250 buy-in and generated a £236,250 prize pool.
Ajay Kejriwal also won the £1,650 High Roller for £31,060 during the May festival, while Derek Boyle collected £26,775 after topping a 498-entry Mini Main.
The return to Luton only a few months later underlines the venue’s importance to the tour.
GUKPT Celebrates 20 Years of British Poker
The Luton festival forms part of a significant year for the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour.
GUKPT is celebrating its 20th season in 2026, giving the series a longevity few British poker tours can match.
The tour has spent two decades taking major live tournaments around the country, creating a domestic circuit where British professionals, local regulars and recreational qualifiers can compete without needing to travel to one of Europe’s larger poker festivals.
That role remains important.
While international poker increasingly revolves around enormous festival guarantees and high-roller destinations, the GUKPT continues to provide a recognisably British live poker circuit.
Luton has been a recurring part of that history.
British Live Poker Heads Into a Busy September
The timing of GUKPT Luton also makes the festival worth watching beyond the £150,000 guarantee.
September brings another busy period for live poker, with major series taking place across Europe and beyond.
For British players, however, GUKPT offers something different.
A £560 Main Event gives players a route into a substantial multi-day tournament without the four-figure buy-ins associated with many international Main Events.
The supporting schedule also stretches beyond the headline tournament.
A £340 GUKPT Cup begins on Saturday with £30,000 guaranteed, while the closing Sunday includes a £200 Last Chance event with £15,000 guaranteed and a £150 Closer carrying a £10,000 guarantee.
An Online Closer then brings the festival to an end on September 7 and 8.
Who Will Win the 2026 GUKPT Luton Main Event?
The first question is whether one of the established GUKPT regulars can add another title or whether Luton will produce a new champion.
Eminoglu showed in May what was required to win at the venue.
This time the structure, buy-in and field will be different, but another sizeable field should be expected with £150,000 guaranteed and three opportunities to enter.
The High Roller will provide the first indication of which players have arrived in Luton in form.
Then comes the main attraction.
From Thursday afternoon, the latest GUKPT Luton champion hunt begins.
