May 7-12
The number of spots Vladyslav Shovkovyi moves up on Ukraine's All-Time Money List – from 25th to 19th.
- 1STVladyslav Shovkovyi$180,000
- 2NDPhu Vo$160,000
- 3RDBrant Jolly$95,000
- 4THAdrian Curry$60,000
- 5THRandall Brooks$48,000
- 6THBradley Rich$40,000
The PokerGO Tour Texas Poker Open Main Event drew to a close today at the Champions Club in Houston, Texas.
When the final six players convened today to play down to a winner, the smart money would have been on Pho Vu, the overwhelming chip leader, to emerge from the carnage as the victor. In this instance, a bet of that nature would have failed to pay out.
Instead, Houston resident Vladyslav Shovkovyi battled back from one of the shortest stacks in play to reach heads-up play against Vu. With both players nursing shallow stacks at the time, they agreed to a deal – setting aside $20,000 to play for, along with the title.
After clawing his way ahead in the early goings of the heads-up match, Shovkovyi caught a fortunate river card to make two pair against Vu's top pair and claim the victory.
Rich and Brooks hold on, but can't stick around
It took nearly one and a half hours of play for the first elimination to come – and it wasn't pretty. Shovkovyi kicked off the action with an open from the button with 
before Brant Jolly elected to three-bet with 
from the small blind. Bradley Rich peeled 
in the big blind and sent the remainder of his chips into the middle.
It was only a few more big blinds for Jolly to call and he did so to put Rich at risk. The 
runout wasn't kind to Rich as Jolly went runner-runner to make the low end of the straight.
Another cooler followed not long after. Jolly kicked off the action this time, raising from up front. Vu flatted from the button with 
before Randall Brooks moved all-in from the small blind with 
. Jolly fled the scene, but Vu called it off to put Brooks at risk. The 
paired Vu, but Brooks was still well out in front. The 
turn flipped the situation completely and left Brooks drawing to a two-outer, but the river 
improved Vu to quads.
Shovkovyi takes control
With the pace slowed during four-handed play, Shovkovyi surged into the chip lead thanks to a big hand against Vu – check out the footage below.
With the chip lead in hand, Shovkovyi notched the next elimination. Adrian Curry moved his short stack in from the button with and the Ukranian had an easy call with 
. The 
flop provided Curry with an open-ended straight draw, but the turn and 
river failed to improve his hand and his run came to an end in fourth place.
Only two hands later, Shovkovyi took out Jolly. After raising with 
from the button, Shovkovyi had another easy call when Jolly shipped it in from the small blind with . The 
flop offered up a serious sweat, but the turn and 
river bricked out entirely and his run came to an end.
With not many chips to separate Shovkovyi and Vu, they agreed to a deal to split the remaining prize pool while leaving $20,000 and the title to play for.
Images courtesy of PokerGO Tour
