The stakes were raised at the 2023 Poker Masters high-stakes tournament festival. Following six initial tournaments with a $10,100 buy-in, event number seven saw the buy-in increase to $25,200. A total of 44 players entered the no-limit hold’em tournament, resulting in a prize pool of $1.1 million. After two days of intense tournament action, Nick Schulman emerged as the champion, securing the title along with the top prize of $374,000.
This marked Schulman’s second title of the year, adding to his impressive poker resume, which includes four World Series of Poker gold bracelets. He earned his most recent bracelet in the $1,500 seven-card stud event during the summer. At 39 years old, Schulman has accumulated lifetime tournament earnings of nearly $16.6 million, with his largest score coming from his victory in the 2005 World Poker Tour World Poker Finals at Foxwoods Resort Casino, where he earned $2.1 million.
Additionally, Schulman earned 224 PokerGO Tour points from his triumph, propelling him into sixth place in the race for the Poker Masters Purple Jacket.
This exciting event unfolded over two days at the PokerGO Studio within ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. The second day began with six players remaining, with Ren Lin being the sole player eliminated after the money bubble burst late on day one, securing a $44,000 prize and 105 POY points for his 22nd final-table finish of the year. Lin’s accomplishments included two titles and total POY earnings of nearly $3.7 million, placing him fifth on the POY leaderboard.
Justin Saliba, a two-time bracelet winner, saw his run come to an end in sixth place when his pocket threes lost to Brian Rast’s A-10 in a race. Saliba walked away with $66,000 and 140 POY points, positioning him 13th in the POY standings.
Schulman continued his impressive performance by eliminating the next two opponents. First, his pocket nines triumphed over Victoria Livschitz’s A-4 suited, sending her home in fifth place with $88,000. Then, Schulman pushed with 9-8 suited from the small blind, facing off against two-time bracelet winner Chris Brewer’s A-Q. Brewer initially held the lead through the flop, but an eight on the turn swung the momentum in Schulman’s favor. With a blank on the river, Brewer officially finished in fourth place, taking home $121,000.
