Jake Daniels was the grim reaper at the final table of the third event at the 2022 PokerGO Cup. He came into the final day of the $10,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em event in the middle of the pack with six players remaining but managed to knock out each of his five opponents on his way to the title and the top prize of $200,000.

This was Daniel’s 11th career six-figure score, and the fourth-largest payout on his tournament resume. He now has nearly $2.6 million in lifetime live earnings to his name.

In addition to the title and the money, Daniels was also awarded plenty of rankings points for his victory. He earned 480 Card Player Player of the Year points for defeating the 80-entry field. This was his second POY-qualified score of the year, having also placed eighth in the World Poker Tour Lucky Hearts Poker Open $3,500 buy-in main event for and $124,365 and 270 points. The two scores were enough to move Daniels into 28th place in the overall 2022 POY race standings. He also secured 200 PokerGO Tour points for the win, enough to catapult him into 12th place on that leaderboard.

“I’ve hired a couple of coaches and I’ve put in a ton of work in the last five or six months trying to get better because these guys are so stinking good,” Daniels told PokerGO Tour reporters after coming out on top in this event. “I had a nice deep run in Florida for a WPT a couple of weeks ago, made a final table there. I love the competition.”

The first player to hit the rail on the final day was short stack Brock Wilson. He ran his pocket sixes into Daniels’ pocket kings to finish sixth for $48,000. Wilson increased his career earnings to $4,172,381 with this latest deep run.

The next major showdown began with high-stakes tournament regular Sean Winter raise to 400,000 from the button with AClub Suit5Diamond Suit, leaving himself with just 25,000 behind. Daniels looked down at ASpade SuitKClub Suit in the small blind and three-bet to 920,000. Two-time bracelet winner and WPT champion Chris Moorman called all-in for 840,000 from the big blind with AHeart SuitQSpade Suit and Winter came along for the ride. The board came down JHeart Suit9Club Suit6Spade Suit7Spade SuitKSpade Suit and Daniels’ kings with an ace kicker secured him the pot and the double-elimination. Winter earned $64,000 as the fifth-place finisher, increasing his lifetime earnings to more than $19.5 million in the process. Moorman earned $80,000 for his fourth-place showing. He now has more than $7 million in live earnings to his name, with another $19 million more in online tournament scores as well, according to PocketFives’ leaderboard.

With that, Daniels took roughly a 2:1 chip advantage over his nearest opponent, Daniel Weinand, heading into three-handed action. Three-time bracelet winner Jeremy Ausmus was not far behind at that point, but fell further back as play continued. Ausmus was down to just over five big blinds when the next big clash arose. Weinand raised to 250,000 from the button with ASpade Suit9Diamond Suit and Daniels called from the big blind with JSpade Suit10Heart Suit. The flop came down 9Heart Suit5Spade Suit2Diamond Suit and Daniels checked. Weinand bet 175,000 with his top pair, top kicker. Daniels check-raised to 625,000 and Weinand called. Daniels overtook the lead in the hand when the 10Diamond Suit on the turn gave him a higher pair. He bet 850,000 and Weinand moved all-in for around 2.2 million. Daniels thought it over before making the call to put Weinand at risk. The river brought the 2Spade Suit to lock up the pot for Daniels. Weinand earned $96,000 as the third-place finisher. This was the second-largest score of his career, behind only his runner-up showing in a $15,000 buy-in event at last year’s inaugural PokerGO Cup.

Daniels held an overwhelming chip lead, with roughly a 19:1 advantage over Ausmus, when heads-up play began. Ausmus put together the start of a comeback, winning a couple of all-ins to narrow the gap somewhat. Ausmus got all-in again with his ASpade SuitJClub Suit leading the JHeart Suit2Heart Suit of Daniels, who had shoved from the button. The board came down 8Heart Suit5Diamond Suit2Spade Suit9Club Suit4Diamond Suit to secure the title for Daniels. Ausmus earned $144,000 and 400 points for his fourth POY-qualified score of the year.

Here is a look at the payouts and rankings points awarded at the final table:

Photo credits: PokerGO / Antonio Abrego.

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board announced that it will hold a hearing in March on the potential renewal of the gambling license of Rivers Casino Pittsburgh.

The public hearing is part of the renewal process that happens once every five years for brick-and-mortar casinos in the Keystone State. The hearing will be held on the casino’s home turf, with the Allegheny County Courthouse selected as the venue for the Mar. 16 hearing.

The state will ultimately decide whether it will approve the renewal of the slot machine operator license for Category 2 licensee Holdings Acquisition Co., LP, operator of Rivers Casino Pittsburgh.

Citizens, public officials, and community groups can choose to speak or submit written testimony. The hearing is open to the public and will also be live streamed from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board’s website.

The second step in the renewal process for Rivers Casino Pittsburgh is to hold a separate public hearing in the state capital of Harrisburg, where representatives of the casino will offer evidence and oral arguments.

The regulatory bar for Rivers Casino Pittsburgh is the following:

“The burden is on the renewal applicant to establish and demonstrate, by clear and convincing evidence, its eligibility and suitability for renewal of a gaming license. During the hearing, the renewal applicant will be given the opportunity to demonstrate, among other things, its good character, honesty and integrity; compliance with its statement of conditions; as well as provide evidence on tax revenue generated; jobs created; success in implementing its diversity plan; and involvement in the surrounding communities.”

Police in the casino hub of Macau reportedly have arrested a top casino operator.

According to a report from the BBC, Macau Legend Development, operator of three casinios in Macau, confirmed that one of three arrested over the weekend for alleged money laundering and illegal gambling was its chief executive and controlling shareholder Chan Weng Lin.

In November, another casino executive in the city, Alvin Chau, was arrested by Chinese authorities. The casino operator responded in a note to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange as its stock plunged a reported 30%.

“The Board is of the view that as the Group is operated by a team of management personnel and the above incident relates to the personal affairs of Mr Chan and not related to the Group,” Macau Legend Development said in a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

“The Board does not expect the above incident to have a material adverse impact on the daily operations of the Group,” it added.

Macau Legend Development runs the Landmark Macau, Babylon Casino, and Legend Palace Casino.

The 2022 Mid-States Poker Tour Bally’s Black Hawk $1,100 buy-in no-limit hold’em main event attracted a strong turnout of 683 total entries, more than doubling the $300,000 guarantee in the process. In the end it was a resident of nearby Denver, Colorado who emerged with the title. Billyray Gallegos walked away with $104,890 for his first major live tournament win.

“It’s just my time man. I knew it inside. I have always made Day 2, cashed but this time I was like today is different,” he told PokerNews live reporters after coming out on top. “I dressed up today! I’m usually that hoodie guy, sweatpants, and everything. But today I was feeling good so I dressed up”.

After three starting flights running from Jan. 27-29, a total of 80 players returned on Sunday, Jan. 30 to play down to a champion. The top 72 finishes made the money, earning at least $2,181 for cashing in this event. By the time the final table of nine was set, players had locked up $11,898.

Gallegos entered the final table as the chip leader with 4.6 million. 2018 Card Player Poker Tour Golden Gates Casino main event winner Vincent Moscati sat in second place when cards got in the air with nine remaining. Brady Bullard scored the first two knockouts of the day to climb nearer to the top of the leaderboard.

Moscati lost a big chunk of his stack to Chris Gfull’s pocket kings. Shortly after that, he got all-in with A-J facing Gfull’s K-Q. A queen-high flop gave Gfull the lead, which he maintained through the turn and river. Moscati finished seventh of $19,830.

Bullard secured his third knockout of the day thanks to a massive preflop race during five-handed action. His ADiamond SuitKClub Suit outran the JSpade SuitJHeart Suit of Jared Ingles. A king on the river locked up the pot for Bullard and sent Ingles to the rail with $34,373.

Gallegos’ first elimination at the final table came when he picked up pocket kings facing the all-in of Gfull, who held A-10 suited. The big pair held up and Gfull was knocked out in fourth place ($45,610).

The final three players negotiated a deal that brought the tournament to its conclusion. Bullard was awarded $81,347 as the third-place finishers, while Ronald Scott took home $93,369 as the runner-up thanks to sitting on the second-largest stack at the time. Gallegos’ healthy chip lead was enough to earn him the title and a six-figure top prize.

Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at the final table:

Winner photo via MSPT’s official Twitter account.

Phil Hellmuth doesn’t have anything to prove anymore. Not only is the Poker Hall of Fame member the all-time World Series of Poker bracelet leader with 16 titles won at the series, he is also one of just 34 players to ever cash for more than $20 million on the tournament circuit. The 57-year-old poker pro is far from done adding to the already legendary resume, though. Hellmuth’s most recent addition was his eighth match win on PokerGO’s popular heads-up show, ‘High Stakes Duel’. He defeated fan-favorite high-stakes cash game star Tom Dwan to earn $400,000.

“It feels good. Tom is just one of the greatest players in the world. I like to use the term ‘natural-born hold’em player.’ I think there are about 10 natural-born hold’em players in the world,” Hellmuth told PokerGO reporters after coming out on top. “I’m one of the 10, for sure. What do I have, 13 world championships in hold’em or something? Plus, just 50 final tables in hold’em. So yeah, I’m one of them.”

Hellmuth had lost the previous round against Dwan, which saw the end of his seven-match winning streak. His run began with a three-match sweep of Antonio Esfandiari. He backed that up with another clean sweep against Daniel Negreanu. His final win of the streak came against sports commentator Nick Wright in the first round of ‘High Stakes Duel III’. Wright decided against continuing, and Dwan was brought in as the next opponent.

Dwan won that round 2 match in August of 2021 thanks to his pocket tens cracking the pocket aces of Hellmuth with all of the chips in before the flop. The two met again for the third round of ‘High Stakes Duel III’, with each putting up $200,000 to create the $400,000 winner-take-all prize.

The two battled for roughly three hours in this latest match. The two traded small leads for most of the first two hours of the showdown, with one key highlight being an impressive laydown from Hellmuth that helped him maintain his advantage. Hellmuth limped in from the button for 1,200 total with QDiamond Suit5Diamond Suit and Dwan checked KDiamond Suit6Diamond Suit from the bigblind. The KSpade SuitKClub Suit10Club Suit flop gave Dwan trips and he checked. Dwan check-called a bet of 1,500 from Hellmuth. The QHeart Suit saw both players check. The QSpade Suit gave both players full house. Dwan checked again. Hellmuth made a small bet of 1,200 into the pot of 5,400. Dwan check-raised to 6,500. Hellmuth thought it over before laying down the underfull to send a smaller pot than might have been to Dwan.

Hellmuth extended his advantage with turned trips beating the pocket tens of Dwan in a chunky pott hat saw him take a 3:1 lead. By the time the final hand of the match was dealt, he had pulled even further ahead. Hellmuth picked up AClub SuitKSpade Suit and limped in from the button for 2,000 total. Dwan raised to 7,000 from the big blind with 8Heart Suit8Club Suit. Hellmuth moved all-in and Dwan made the call. The board came down KDiamond Suit5Diamond Suit2Heart Suit6Heart Suit6Diamond Suit and Hellmuth made kings and sixes to secure the pot and the win.

Dwan announced the following morning that he would rematch against Hellmuth, setting up battle for $800,000.

“The next match is for $800,000. If I lose, I’m pretty sure that I’m not going to pony up $800,000 to play again, but I bet he will,” said Hellmuth. “If he doesn’t, then someone else will. I have to win twice more, and it could be Dwan then [Phil] Ivey, or Dwan then Dwan, if I can win the next match.”

Photo credits: PokerGO / Antonio Abrego.

Jonathan Jaffe defeated a field of 93 entries in the massive 2022 Lucky Hearts Poker Open $25,500 buy-in no-limit hold’em high roller event, securing his second victory in this event after having come out on top back in 2020. In a way, Jaffe went back-to-back, as this event was not included in the schedule for the 2021 LHPO.

This time around Jaffe earned $574,085 as the champion, the second-largest payday of the 34-year-old professional poker player’s career behind only his runner-up showing in the 2008 World Poker Tour World Poker Finals main event for $670,635. The 2014 WPT Montreal main event champion now has just shy of $5.5 million in live tournament earnings to his name.

“I definitely ran the best I can ever remember running in a high-roller,” Jaffe told Seminole Hard Rock Poker Blog reporters after securing the win. “That’s kind of a peculiar feeling, when you keep winning all-ins from behind and your chips multiply, but you don’t feel like you did something particularly great.”

In addition to the title and the money, Jaffe also secured plenty of rankings points for the win. He took home 756 Card Player Player of the Year points, enough to move him into 11th place in the 2022 POY race. He also scored 344 PokerGO Tour points, good for fourth place on that leaderboard.

Jaffe entered the final table as the chip leader with 90- big blinds, with Daniel Colpoys in second chip position and bracelet winner Joseph Cheong in third.

2016 WSOP main event eighth-place finisher Jerry Wong was the first player to be knocked out at the final table, with third pair and a live straight draw failing to outrun the top pair and flush draw of Tim Capretta. Wong earned $66,615 as the ninth-place finisher.

A preflop race spelled the end of Vikenty Shegal (8th – $68,915), with his pocket nines unable to outrun the A-K of Colpoys. Sameer Batra was the next to fall. His middle pair was bested by the top pair of Cheong, and when no help came on the river, Batra hit the rail in seventh place ($80,400).

According to the event’s live updates, Caleb Piderit won his way into this high roller event via a $2,650 satellite. He managed to turn his seat in this event into career-best cash of $98,775, with his run coming to an end when his A-5 suited was unable to overcome the pocket nines of Capretta. Piderit’s previous top cash was for $7,520.

Capretta secured another elimination when his A-Q held against the K-7 suited of 2021 Wynn Winter Classic main event winner Eli Berg. The flop gave Berg a flush draw, but he was unable to improve to the winner by the river and settled for a $130,935 payday as the fifth-place finisher.

Colpoys got the last of his stack in with a three-bet squeeze holding K-J. Cheong had called the initial raise from Capretta with A-Q, and wasted little time in deciding to call after the opener got out of the way. Both players flopped a pair, but Cheong’s aces were best by the end. Colpoys earned $202,145 as the fourth-place finisher, the largest payday of his career.

Jaffe doubled through Cheong and then got involved in a preflop coin flip with the chip lead on the line. Jaffe held AClub SuitJHeart Suit facing the 7Heart Suit7Club Suit of Capretta. The board came down KDiamond SuitJClub Suit4Club Suit10Heart Suit and Jaffe’s jacks were enough to secure the pot. Capretta was awarded $291,730 for his third-place showing.

With that Jaffe took roughly a 5:4 chip lead into heads-up play with Cheong. The two agreed to make a deal to bring the tournament to a conclusion, with Jaffe earning $574,085 and the title as the chip leader, while Cheong took home $540,000 as the runner-up.

This was Cheong’s third POY-qualified final-table finish of the year. With 1,094 total points and more than $610,000 in year-to-date POY earnings, he now sits in second place in the overall standings.

Here are their final payouts, along with the other final tablists:

1st:  Jonathan Jaffe  –  $574,085 + LHPO Trophy
2nd:  Joseph Cheong  –  $540,000
3rd:  Tim Capretta  –  $291,730
4th:  Dan Colpoys  –  $202,145
5th:  Eli Berg  –  $130,935
6th:  Caleb Piderit  –  $98,775
7th:  Sameer Batra  –  $80,400
8th:  Vikenty Shegal  –  $68,915
9th:  Jerry Wong  –  $66,615

Poker Stories is a long-form audio podcast series that features casual interviews with some of the game’s best players and personalities. Each episode highlights a well-known member of the poker world and dives deep into their favorite tales both on and off the felt.

Dan Cates discovered poker in high school, and wasted no time immersing himself in the game online. By the time he dropped out of college, the man known as ‘jungleman12’ had already risen to the highest stakes and won millions against some of the top players in the world. According to HighStakesDB.com, Cates is one of the biggest high-stakes online cash game earners of all time.

As it turns out, the Maryland native has also been a big winner on the live tournament circuit. In 2014, he finished runner-up in the €100,000 EPT Grand Final high roller for $1.7 million, and in 2019 he pocketed a combined $2.65 million in the Triton Super High Roller series. Last fall, the 32-year-old broke through at the World Series of Poker, picking up his first bracelet and $954,020 in the prestigious $50,000 buy-in Poker Players Championship. He now has nearly $10 million in live tournament earnings.

Highlights from this interview include climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, high school scrap paper games, building a bankroll at McDonald’s, quitting his college Game Theory course, getting trash talked by his grandma, rebuilding after a massive loss, calling his shot at the WSOP, bracelet or necklace?, final table cosplay, his ongoing “feud” with Phil Galfond, Jesus and Moses’ old stomping grounds, Safariman12, karma and morality, shrugging off a HKD$200 million pot, fitness prop bets with ElkY, the 72-hour session, and where he ranks himself among his peers.

Issac Haxton earned his second career GGPoker $10,300 Super MILLION$ title this week after topping the 222-entry field and collecting the $448,842 first-place prize.

It was the tenth time Haxton reached a GGPoker Super MILLION$ final table in the history of the tournament and his 13th cash of the current season. The high-rolling reg entered the day in the middle of the pack, fifth in chips. But Haxton leveraged his extensive experience (and some good fortune) to climb to the top of the chip counts and assume a commanding chip lead that he never relinquished.

In addition to Haxton, this week’s final table field was packed with star power including Wiktor ‘Limitless’ Malinowski, last week’s runner-up Pablo Brito Silva, and Mikita Badziakouski, who started the day as the overall chip leader.

On the very first hand of the final table, with the blinds at 30,000/60,000 (7,500 ante), Andras Nasman opened to 138,000 holding KsJs and was instantly three-bet by Russia’s ‘VSMPZD’ with the AcTc. When it folded to the short-stacked ‘bill2021’, they committed their final 280,000 holding KhJh. The action was back on Nasman, who eventually let his hand go and ‘bill2021’ was heads-up with ‘VSMPZD’ but at risk. The board ran out Ts5s4c6cKc bringing ‘bill2021’ top pair on the river, however, it was the king of clubs which brought in the backdoor flush for ‘VSMPZD’. ‘bill2021’ called it a day in ninth place and collected $56,105.

Roughly 20 minutes later, Pablo Brito Silva opened from under the gun to 120,000 holding the Ah3h and Haxton, in the cutoff, looked down at the KhKs and opted just to call. In the small blind ‘VSMPZD’ picked up AcQc and moved all-in for just over $1.2 million. Silva got out of the way and Haxton snap-called with his kings. The 5d2h2c8dJd never gave Haxton’s pocket kings a sweat as he took down the 2.7 million chip pot and ‘VSMPZD’ was eliminated in eighth place for $72,759.

With the blinds at 35,000/70,000 (8,500 ante) Wiktor ‘Limitless’ Malinowski was one of the two shortest stacks. From the cutoff he opened to 560,000 holding AsJh, leaving himself just over 1 big blind behind. In the small blind, Mikita Badziakouski shipped all-in with AdQs to isolate and when Konstantin Maslak folded their big blind, Malinowski committed the last of his stack. The flop came 7c6h4h giving no help to Malinowski save for a potential backdoor flush. The turn was the Qc, effectively ending the hand and leaving ‘Limitless’ drawing dead to the 2h river. Malinowski hit the rail in seventh place for $94,357.

Maslak opened the button to 480,000 holding Ac3s, with the blinds at 40,000/80,000 (10,000 ante), leaving himself with fewer than 10 big blinds behind. In the big blind, Haxton raised to more than 1.5 million with the AdJs, more than enough to put Maslak all-in. Maslak took just a couple of seconds and made the call with his tournament on the line. The flop came KdJc3h bringing Haxton middle pair and Maslak bottom pair, leaving him with just two outs to survive. However, the turn came the 4c and the river was the 9d sending Maslak off in sixth place for $122,366.

Right after the first break, ‘joyeux’ who had been nursing a short stack for the better part of an hour, took his shot to get back in the game. Nasman opened from middle position to 176,000 with the KhQc and Badziakouski called from the small blind with the As4s. Then ‘joyeux’ clicked all-in for just over 1 million with his 2h2c. Nasman took some time but eventually made the call which forced Badziakouski out of the pot. Nasman and ‘joyeux’ saw a flop of 7s6h3d, keeping the deuces ahead. But the turn came the Kc and all of a sudden ‘joyeux’ was searching for one of the final two deuces in the deck. The river came the 3s and ‘joyeux’, who started the day eighth in chips, laddered to a fifth-place finish and a $155,689 payday.

The final four battled for a number of levels until the blinds reached 70,000/140,000 (17,500 ante). On the button, Badziakouski opened to 294,000 with the AhKs with 3.2 million behind. Haxton, in the small blind, three-bet ripped his 7.3 million stack with the KdTd and when the action got back to Badziakouski, he made the call, creating a massive pot of 7.2 million. The QhTc7h flop put Haxton in the lead. The 6c turn changed nothing and when the 7s river fell, Badziakouski was officially done in fourth place and collected $205,795.

Haxton started three-handed play with a two-to-one chip advantage over both Nasman and Silva. Twenty-five minutes passed and the blinds crept up to 100,000/200,000 (25,000 ante). After Silva folded the button, Haxton called from the small blind with the 9s7s and Nasman, who in the big blind picked up KsKd, raised to 600,000. Haxton made the call and the pair saw a flop of 8c5d3s. Haxton checked it over to Nasman, who bet 418,750. Haxton quickly check-raised to 937,500 and Nasman made the call. The turn was the 2s keeping Nasman in charge but offering Haxton backdoor flush opportunities. Haxton then open-shoved for more than 9 million and Nasman called for it all, ahead with his kings. Unfortunately, for Nasman, the river came the 8s, giving the flush and the hand to Haxton. Nasman finished in third place, which was good for $266,883.

Haxton had Silva outchipped three-to-one when heads-up play started. But Silva didn’t give in so easily. The pair fought for nearly 45 minutes and Silva nearly took the chip lead a number of times. But in the end, Haxton wore down the Brazilian. On the final hand, from the button, Haxton shipped his stack with the 3d3c and Silva called for his final 3.1 million with AhQc. The flop came Th9d5d keeping Haxton’s pocket threes ahead. And that pair held through the 2h turn and Kd river, ending Silva’s comeback bid and sending him home in second place for the second week in a row. Silva collected $346,104 for his efforts and Haxton scored his second career Super MILLION$ victory and $448,842.

GGPoker Super MILLION$ Final Table Results (1/18)

1. Isaac Haxton – $448,842
2. Pablo Brito Silva – $346,104
3. Andreas Nasman – $266,883
4. Mikita Badziakouski – $205,795
5. ‘joyeux’ – $158,689
6. Konstantin Maslak – $122,366
7. Wiktor Malinowski – $94,357
8. ‘VSMPZD’ – $72,759
9. ‘bill2021’ – $56,105

The 2022 World Series of Poker Circuit Choctaw $1,700 buy-in no-limit hold’em main event attracted a sizable field of 1,411 total entries, blowing away the $1 million guarantee to create a final prize pool of $2,137,665. In the end it was Quan Tran who emerged victorious with the title, earning his first WSOP Circuit gold ring and $336,412 in prize money as the champion.

“I feel amazing and overwhelmed at the same time,” Tran told WSOP reporters after his victory. “This was my third Circuit event ever and since the first one it has been a dream of mine to win a ring and become a WSOP Circuit main event winner. It’s a very kind of special to begin this Vietnamese new year off with being able to have my picture hanging from the banner for everyone to see my face.”

In addition to the title and a career-best payday, Tran also secured 960 Card Player Player of the Year points for the win, the most awarded in a single event so far this year. As a result, Tran shot up the standings and into first place in the 2022 POY race.

This event featured two starting flights and then two further days of action. The final day began with just 16 players remaining, with Jessica Vierling in the lead and Tran in second chip position. Tran overtook Vierling for the lead by the time the official final table was set. He further added to that advantage by eliminating Richard Bennett (9th – $36,423).

Raul Garza scored the next knockout, winning a preflop race with pocket sixes besting the A-K of Justin Coliny (8th – $45,595). Rick Alvarado was the next to fall, with his K-J running into the pocket aces of Vierling. Alvarado improved to a pair of jacks, but the overpair held for Vierling and Alvarado hit the rail in seventh place ($57,547).

Jonathan Bennett’s run in this event came to an end when his ASpade Suit5Spade Suit lost a preflop showdown with the KDiamond Suit8Diamond Suit of Nate Steuer, who flopped trips and held from there. Bennet was awarded $73,224 for his sixth-place showing in this event.

The next knockout was the result of a standard coinflip, with Steuer moving all-in with 7Heart Suit7Club Suit and receiving a call from Garza’s AClub SuitKDiamond Suit. A king on the flop gave Garza a lead which he maintained through the river, sending Steuer packing in fifth place ($93,926).

According to Card Player’s poker odds calculator, the next big all-in confrontation that took place result in a chopped pot roughly 97 percent of the time. Hayden Fortini opened and then four-bet shoved with AClub SuitKSpade Suit after Tran three-bet him. Tran called with ADiamond SuitKClub Suit. The flop came down JDiamond Suit6Diamond Suit5Diamond Suit, giving Tran the nut flush draw and a 36 percent chance of scooping the pot. The 2Diamond Suit on the turn completed Tran’s flush, leaving Fortini drawing dead before the river. The QHeart Suit was a mere formality, as Fortini hit the rail with $121,449 for his fourth-place showing.

Vierling slipped to the bottom of the leaderboard during three-handed play. She eventually got all-in on a QSpade Suit4Spade Suit3Heart Suit flop with QHeart Suit8Club Suit, only to find herself in kicker trouble against the QClub Suit9Heart Suit of Tran. The AHeart Suit turn and KHeart Suit river changed nothing, and Vierling was eliminated in third place ($158,286).

Tran took a sizable lead into heads-up play with Raul Garza. On the first hand of heads-up play, Garza limped in from the button with 3Spade Suit3Heart Suit. Tran raised to 1,300,000 from the big blind with 7Spade Suit7Heart Suit and Garza called. The flop came down 10Spade Suit9Diamond Suit2Spade Suit. Tran moved all-in and Garza called. The AClub Suit turn and 8Club Suit river secured the pot and the title for Tran. Garza was awarded $207,927 as the runner-up finisher.

Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at the final table:

Winner photo provided by WSOP.

Three-time World Series of Poker gold bracelet winner Chance Kornuth kicked off his 2022 live poker campaign in style, defeating a field of 129 entries to win the second event of the inaugural Stairway To Millions tournament series.

The new poker festival features a unique format, with players making the money earning direct entry into the next event as the series proceeds through its schedule of eight tournaments with progressively larger buy-ins. The climax of the series will be the $1.2 million guaranteed $100,000 buy-in event that is set for Jan. 19.

Kornuth earned $51,600 for the win, along with a spot in the $4,000 buy-in event. The victory increased his career tournament earnings to $9,750,694.

“I think, in general, it’s really, really good to help people have the opportunity to play some of the higher buy-in PokerGO events that are on stream,” Kornuth told PokerGO reporters when asked about this series’ unique format. “Hats off to them for setting up this Stairway To Millions. I think it’s great.”

In addition to the title and the money, Kornuth was also awarded 264 Card Player Player of the Year points for the win. This was his first POY-qualified score so far in 2022, but it alone was enough to move him inside the top 30 in the overall standings.

Kornuth came into the final day in fourth chip position with six players remaining. Fellow three-time bracelet winner Jeremy Ausmus was the first to hit the rail, with his QDiamond SuitJDiamond Suit running into the ADiamond SuitAClub Suit of Kornuth and failing to come from behind. Ausmus was left with just two big blinds after that hand and was soon sent home with $12,900 for his sixth-place showing.

Brock Wilson’s run in this event concluded when his final few blinds wen in with AHeart Suit9Club Suit against the KHeart Suit4Spade Suit of Kornuth, who made kings and sevens by the river to secure the pot. Wilson earned $18,060 as the fifth-place finisher.

Joelle Parenteau shoved all-in for her last ten or so big blinds with pocket threes from the cutoff. Two-time bracelet winner Eric Baldwin picked up pocket queens on the button and called. The rest of the table got out of the way and Baldwin’s queens held to narrow the field to three. Parenteau earned $23,220 for her deep run.

The next key clash began with Baldwin limping in from the small blind with JClub Suit7Heart Suit. Jovan Santiago checked from the big blind with QSpade Suit6Club Suit and both players hit a pair on a KSpade SuitQHeart SuitJHeart Suit flop. Baldwin bet 225,000 and Santiago called. The 2Spade Suit on the turn brought a second possible flush draw. Baldwin checked and Santiago checked behind. The 7Spade Suit river gave Baldwin jacks up. He bet enough to put Santiago all-in for his last 9 or so big blinds. Santiago ultimately made the call to finish third for $28,380, his largest live tournament payday ever.

With that Baldwin took 6,725,000 into heads-up play with Kornuth, who sat with 6,175,000 to start. The two highly accomplished poker professionals battled it out for around an hour and 15 minutes. Baldwin was able to extend his lead and had Kornuth all-in and at risk with J-8 dominated by his K-8. A jack on the river gave Kornuth the pot and the chip lead, which he was able to convert into the title just a few hands later. Baldwin shoved from the button with 9Club Suit6Club Suit for just more than 16 big blinds. Kornuth picked up AHeart SuitKDiamond Suit and called. The board ran out ADiamond SuitJSpade Suit2Diamond Suit2Heart Suit9Spade Suit to lock up the pot and the title for Kornuth. Baldwin earned $36,120 as the runner-up.

Stairway to Millions Event #2 Final Table Results