Jeremy Becker claims first PGT title with Poker Masters win

Following Wednesday's conclusion to Event #1, the PGT 2024 Poker Masters continued with Day 2 action in the series' first $10,000 buy-in. The event drew 100 entries to generate a prize pool of $1,000,000, with 15 places paid and $255,000 for the eventual winner.

When the action concluded Thursday evening in Las Vegas, Jeremy Becker stood atop the podium to claim the title and the top prize. With the win, Becker's lifetime earnings eclipse the $2,000,000 mark and he adds a first-ever six-figure score to his resume.

Becker survived a tumultuous experience on Day 1, dipping below the ten big blind mark before surging into a late night chip lead. The remaining players at the six-handed final table, aside from the short-stacked Ren Lin, sat just below Becker in the chip counts, all well within striking distance of the top spot. Dan Sepiol added to a run of notable scores that began back in December with his $5,282,954 WPT World Championship victory, continued over the summer with a WSOP bracelet win, and brought him to the final table of this event second in chips. 

Daniel Sepiol looked to continue his heater of a year

Sean Winter, a PokerGO Studio regular and super high roller crusher looking for his seventh PGT title, started the final table third in the counts, followed closely by Michael 'Texas Mike' Moncek, who had taken a break from setting Hustler Casino Live VPIP records to tangle in the tournament streets. Nicholas Seward rounded out the field in fourth, comfortably above Lin, but slightly set apart from the others, after making his first-ever PokerGO Tour Major final table appearance yesterday in Event #1, finishing in sixth place. 

Both Jessica Vierling and Spencer Champlin entered Event #2 after finishing the previous tournament in second and first place respectively. Vierling finished outside of the money, unable to parlay her previous run into another cash. Champlin, however, rode the winner's wave to a ninth place finish, good for $30,000. 

PokerGO's bonus coverage of the event streamed live on its YouTube channel, providing fans a chance to see players navigate the early stages of the event, along with the tension of the money bubble and final table pursuit. 

Final table proceedings

Lin, the lone short stack amongst the tightly knit cluster of the other five, took the first spot he could, jamming his last few big blinds from the button with . Sepiol looked down at in the big blind and quickly called. Lin needed to spike a three-outer for a chance to spin his stack back up, but the runout failed to provide. 

With no clear short stack at the table, the players found themselves in a chip distribution deadlock, drawn even tighter as Seward picked up a few pots while Becker's chip lead ebbed away. The upward momentum didn't last long for Seward as a failed bluff against Moncek left him as the only sub-million chip stack, smack dab in the danger zone. The remainder of his chips would later head Moncek's way as well, in an ace-high versus ace-high clash which saw Seward first get lucky and then very unlucky. The flop shot his into the lead against Moncek's , but the turn flipped the situation and the river sealed Seward's fate in a fifth place finish. 

Sean Winter made his return to the PokerGO studio

Moncek notched another elimination, taking out Sepiol with a turned straight. Sepiol committed his stack from under the gun with before Moncek re-shoved from the button with . It was a flip Sepiol needed to win to stay alive and the flop saw him take the lead, but not without the need to fade certain cards. The turn was one such card and Moncek took a hammer lock on the hand. Sepiol's hand wasn't quite dead, with outs to a chop or a higher straight, and the river improved his hand, but not in the manner required and his day ended with a fourth-place finish. 

Three-handed for the title 

Moncek started the three-handed affair with a comfortable chip lead, but, with lots of poker left to play, the title was far from decided. After slipping into the danger zone, Winter acquired a few doubles courtesy of Becker in blind versus blind spots. 

Then, a massive collision between Moncek and Winter saw the two get all the chips in preflop while Becker, now on the short stack, watched on with hopes of a pay jump. Moncek's button raise with drew a fold from Becker, but Winter looked down at in the big blind and re-raised. Moncek, not believing his opponent's story, came back over the top with an all-in. Winter snap called and the cards hit their backs. Moncek needed some serious luck to find a win and the flop provided just that. The flopped straight gave him a hammerlock on the hand and after the turn Winter was drawing only to a chopped pot. The river saw the brutal bad beat completed and Winter's day ended with a third place finish. 

Michael Moncek held more than 90% of the chips to start heads up play

Moncek took an overwhelming chip lead into heads-up play, but three early doubles brought Becker back to life to make things interesting. After a few hands with roughly even stacks, Becker pulled away, regaining the chip lead he started the day with and widening the gulf between his stack and Moncek's. 

After a double-up brought him back to the ten big blind mark, Moncek committed his stack with and Becker made a quick call from the big blind with . Becker would need to improve to win the hand and complete an epic comeback. The dealer spread the flop to keep Moncek firmly in front. Until that is, the on the turn paired Becker to position him one card away from the title. The river stayed clean for Becker and after battling back from a significant chip disadvantage, he hoisted the Poker Masters trophy as his mentor and backer Daniel Negreanu celebrated on the rail. 

Poker Masters Event #2 final table results

^{Images Courtesy of Antonio Abergo/PokerGO}