The 2022 PokerGO Cup reached its climax on Thursday, Feb. 10 with the conclusion of the eight-event series’ final offering: the $50,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament. Not only was the title and the $640,000 top prize on the line, but each of the final five players had a shot of being crowned this year’s PokerGO Cup champion depending on how things shook out. In the end, it was rising high-stakes tournament star Sean Perry who emerged victorious, earning the aforementioned payout for the largest score of his young career.

Perry’s win in the event was not enough to see him clinch the player of the series award, though. Jeremy Ausmus finished third to earn $256,000 and enough ranking points to lock up the PokerGO Cup and the $50,000 in added prize money that comes with it. Perry finished second in the points race, having cashed three times with two titles won.

This victory increased Perry’s career earnings to $5,865,966, all of which has come within the last five years. In 2021 he broke out with 20 final-table finishes and five titles won, finishing third in both the Card Player Player of the Year and PokerGO Tour points races. Now, thanks to his success at the PokerGO Cup, he has once again positioned himself as a top contender.

“You better believe it, for sure I am,” Perry told PokerGO reporters when asked if he plans to chase the POY again in 2022. “I took some time off at the beginning of this year, I missed a bunch of events, but this win has me motivated and they have something to fear.”

“It’s bittersweet,” Perry offered when asked about taking down the final event but falling just short of the player of the series title. “I’m happy I got a new Instagram picture to post, but it would’ve been awesome to win the trophy. I’m very happy that Jeremy won it. He’s an awesome guy, very honorable and great, and nobody has anything bad to ever say about him. Like I said, I came out here and I did what I did, won the tournament, but it wasn’t enough to win the overall player of the series. I’m still very happy with the result.”

Ausmus made four final tables during the eight-event series, recording two third-place showings, a runner-up finish, and one outright victory along the way. All told, he cashed for $824,500 during the high-stakes tournament festival, accruing 658 rankings points to lock up the player of the series award.

“It’s great,” Ausmus said after securing the Cup. “It was a big sweat to win this. Everyone coming into the final table could’ve won it and I barely eeked it out.”

“It’s awesome,” said Ausmus when asked about the feeling of winning a player of the series title. “I was telling someone earlier that I’ve gotten crushed in here. In the U.S. Poker Open and Poker Masters, I was home for dinner every night and I didn’t realize what it was like to have any points or anything. Then I was part of the big race and saw how involved everyone was and how people are into it, and I didn’t get that before. It’s cool. It’s a lot of fun. The extra $50K that’s given is awesome. It’s just really cool.”

Ausmus’ third-place finish didn’t entirely lock up the series win. Brock Wilson, who finished second for $416,000, would have pulled out a buzzer-beating win if he had defeated Perry heads-up. He ultimately finished third in the series points race.

The final table began with Perry in the lead and Wilson in second chip position. Ausmus was the shortest stack to start, but Daniel Negreanu slid to the bottom of the leaderboard after losing a big hand with top pair, ace kicker against Wilson’s set of tens. Negreanu then ran pocket sevens into another pair of tens for Wilson to hit the rail in fifth place. The six-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner went home with $112,000 for his second six-figure payday of the series, having earned $350,000 as the champion of event no. 6 just a few days earlier. He now has more than $44.8 million in lifetime tournament earnings, the third most of any player in poker history.

Ausmus earned a key double-up through Perry during four-handed action to climb into third chip position. He further grew his stack thanks to winning a battle of the blinds against his fellow three-time bracelet winner in Nick Schulman. Ausmus shoved with KClub Suit6Club Suit from the small blind and Schulman called with 10Spade Suit10Club Suit. The board ran out JSpade Suit3Diamond Suit2Club Suit5Club Suit9Club Suit to give Ausmus a backdoor flush and the pot. Schulman earned $176,000 for his fourth cash of the series.

Ausmus’ run came to an end as a result of another preflop battle of the blinds. Perry, who had more than four times as many chips as Ausmus’ second-ranked stack, open-shoved from the small blind with 10Spade Suit7Diamond Suit. Ausmus made the call for his last 19 big blinds with AHeart Suit2Club Suit and the board came down 10Heart Suit8Heart Suit5Diamond Suit8Spade Suit5Heart Suit to secure the pot for Perry.

Perry took roughly a 7:1 chip lead into heads-up play with Wilson. It didn’t take too long for him to convert that lead into the title. In the final hand he raised to 125,000 on the button with JSpade SuitJClub Suit. Wilson picked up KClub SuitQClub Suit in the big blind and shoved for just over 16 big blinds total. Perry made the quick call and it was off to the races. The 10Heart Suit8Diamond Suit6Spade Suit4Heart Suit8Club Suit runout kept Perry’s jacks ahead to earn him the title. Wilson’s $416,000 payday as the runner-up was the second-largest of his career, bringing his earnings to more than $4.8 million.

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

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

Photo credits: PokerGO / Antonio Abrego.

Poker legend Phil Hellmuth is apparently trying his hand at a new game.

Hellmuth announced that he is playing live corn hole on Friday on ESPN in a celebrity match organized by the American Corn Hole League. The ACL brought back its “SuperHole” that it has run the Friday before the Super Bowl.

There will be multiple preflims before culminating with the SuperHole III Championship that will be hosted alongside the ACL World Championships this August in Rock Hill, South Carolina.

The first prelim of 2022 will be held live from Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay on ESPN this Friday, Feb. 11 from 6:30-8 p.m. PST and features Hellmuth, CBS’ S.W.A.T star David Lim, Pawn Stars’ Austin “Chumlee” Russell, and former NFL Running Back Terry Kirby, all of whom will be paired with an ACL Pro to battle it out for a chance to compete in the championship.

The two previous SuperHole events have featured NFL stars Doug Flutie, Sam Darnold, Daniel Jones, Rashad Jennings, Mac Jones, and Devonta Smith.

“SuperHole just keeps growing in popularity with our fans, and that’s why this year we decided to change things up and give them even more SuperHole with a tournament that runs throughout the year,” said Stacey Moore, ACL founder. “This year will feature more action, more celebrities, and more competition as all the participants vie to be crowned champions.”

Hellmuth in a statement said: “I’m looking to go all the way here and take home the title of SuperHole III champion. I think the trophy will look pretty nice next to my 16 WSOP bracelets.”

“I might not be able to take Phil down at the poker table, but I think I’ve got a good shot on the cornhole boards,” said Pawn Stars’ Russell. “If I take home the trophy don’t bet on seeing it at the pawn shop any time soon.”

Hellmuth posted content to his Twitter showing him practicing for the match.

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