83-year-old Lilian Welch wins 888poker UK Poker League (UKPL) Blackpool Main Event

Age has been proven to be just a number, as Lilian Welch became the oldest person to ever win on the Grosvenor Poker stream, taking down the UKPL Blackpool Main Event. Welch topped a field of 318 entries, which created a £151,050 prize pool.

Welch took home a career-high £31,390 after the final three players agreed to an ICM deal. This score topped her previous best of £8,150 ($11,057), which was a third-place finish in the 2022 Grosvenor 25/25 Series event in Blackpool.

Welch is the definition of a Grosvenor Blackpool regular, with all 72 of her career cashes coming at the Grosvenor in Blackpool. She plays everything, whether it’s a UKPL or an APAT, as long as it’s in her home casino.

Winner’s reaction

After winning the 888poker UKPL Blackpool Main Event, Welch was very quickly a fan favorite. She made it clear that she doesn’t play for the money. It’s the love of the game that keeps her going.

“I’m speechless, really. I’m just glad to win it. It’s the first time I’ve ever won anything like this.

“I’m never really aware of how much I’ve won til the end. I want to thank Brian and Frankie for giving me a good game. I’ve come for the trophy.”

While this started as a local feel-good story, Welch’s fame has spread across the globe. Her UKPL win has earned her tons of fans, with thousands liking and sharing her victory moment on social media.

888poker UKPL Blackpool Main Event final table results

Other notables who cashed the UKPL Blackpool Main Event are Robert Douras (11th, £2,065), 888poker ambassador Ian Simpson (12th, £1,845), Aqeel Butt (21st, £1,465), Adam Wilkinson (29th, £1,330), and WSOP Europe Main Event final tablist Brandon Sheils.

As with any final table with a significant buy-in in the United Kingdom, there was a phenomenal mix of local talent, British pros, and classic regulars.

Fellow Blackpool regular Chris Flint was the first to go in ninth, followed by Yucel “Mad Turk” Eminoglu, one of the best UK regulars. Eminoglu, who has about $2.3 million in career live tournament earnings, is an older gent himself who finished in second place at the 2024 WSOP Super Seniors event for $238,748.

Gaoyang Yang, unfortunately, blinded out at the final table and was forced to shove fewer than two big blinds from under the gun with ten-three off. He finished in seventh place, one spot behind Bryan Taylor, who jammed his ten-seven offsuit straight into the pocket queens of Brian Clarke.

Peter Charalambous, who has a WSOP final table to his name, went out in fifth place for £7,140. Charalambous is now less than $10,000 away from achieving $1 million in career live tournament cashes, according to The Hendon Mob. He got his last three-and-a-half big blinds in with ace-queen offsuit but couldn’t beat Clarke’s pocket jacks in the all-important flip.

Welch would then make back-to-back flushes before cracking Paul Orritt’s top pair with a straight and she had half of the chips in play going into three-handed play. The final three made an ICM deal, giving Welch roughly £24,000 while Frankie Mok and Clark each received £21,700 and change. This also left the three of them to play for £7,500 and the trophy.

A few hands after the deal, Welch won a classic flip with ace-king suited against Clarke’s pocket queens, with a king in the window. Clarke, a Blackpool regular by way of Scotland, was denied his first major title since winning the GUKPT Blackpool Main Event for £96,500 all the way back in 2008. He did, however, bag the second-largest cash of his career.

Welch went into heads-up play with a narrow 30-to-23 big blind lead. The duo would swap the chip lead back and forth, and suddenly, after the blinds went up a few times, both players had under 20 big blinds.

With Mok having a 19-to-13 lead, Welch won a flip with king-queen offsuit against Mok’s ace-nine suited to take a commanding lead. Mok then jammed his final five blinds with jack-deuce offsuit into Welch’s jack-ten. Though he made a flush draw on the turn, he was denied by the river, and Welch became Blackpool’s 83-year-old champion, much to the delight of the crowd and the UKPL commentary team.