Negreanu denied at Poker Masters as Nick Seward wins $412K and first PGT title

Poker Masters Purple Jacket Leaderboard

1. Adrian Mateos: 451 PGT Points
2. Nick Palma: 407 PGT Points
3. Nicholas Seward: 397 PGT Points
4. Vitalijs Zavorotnijs: 365 PGT Points
5. Daniyal Gheba: 348 PGT Points

Nick Seward won his first PokerGO Tour title against one of the game's best.

Lonis and Wilson out early

Negreanu had a sizable lead to start, but Nicholas Seward and Daniyal Gheba weren't far behind.

Brandon Wilson was on a bit of an island as the lone middling stack while Sean Perry, Matthew Wantman, and Jesse Lonis had their work cut out for them as short stacks. 

Lonis was the first player eliminated at the final table. In a blind versus blind clash, he called for his tournament life with in the face of Seward's jam from the small blind with . 

The flop paired both players and Lonis was a four-to-one favorite to win the hand – but the turn left him with just one out to stay alive. The completed the runout and hi' run came to a brutal end in seventh place. 

Wilson followed soon after, losing the majority of his chips after moving all-in from the small blind with against a late position open from Seward. The Washington, D.C. native had the goods with and the two players checked it all the way down on the runout, leaving Wilson with just north of a single big blind remaining. 

Wilson's meager stack bought him a few additional hands, but there was no spin up to be had as he lost the rest of his chips in short order. 

$100K SHRB XI champ Brandon Wilson made another deep run in the PokerGO Studio, but bowed out in sixth on Thursday's final table.

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Perry goes with it, Wantman and Gheba fall

Perry went out next, eliminated by Negreanu. In the face of an early position raise from the Canadian, Perry called from the big blind with and connected with a combo draw on the flop. After checking to Negreanu and facing a bet, he opted to raise and then called it off when Negreanu came back over the top for the rest of it. 

Negreanu was ahead with , but Perry had plenty of outs. The turn and river weren't what he needed, however, and he had to settle for a fifth-place finish. 

Negreanu notched another elimination after an hour of four-handed play. In a blind versus blind clash, Wantman sent the majority of his chips into the middle with and Negreanu called from the big blind with . 

The flop saw Negreanu vault into the lead, but the action went check-check. On the turn, he asked for Wantman's final 20K in chips. 

Wantman made the call to see the river complete the board and seal his fate. 

And just a few hands later, play reached the heads-up stage as Seward took out Gheba in a blind versus blind clash that saw his hold up against on a runout. 

Fresh off a career-best score on the Triton Poker Series, Matthew Wantman made a strong showing in the Poker Masters $25K.

Omar Sader

Seward downs the Hall of Famer

Negreanu started the heads-up match with the chip lead – his 84 big blinds to Sewards 66. The Canadian added to that lead in the early goings, but Seward fought back to reclaim some of his chips and level the stacks. 

The two continued to trade pots back and forth before Seward flopped quads in a pivotal pot to take command of the match. Soon after, an unfortunate river card saw Negreanu sink further into the danger zone as Seward rode the wave of momentum. 

The hand started with a raise from Seward on the button, with . Negreanu defended his and check-called a small continuation bet on the flop. The presented him with outs to the winner, but he was still drawing slim against Seward's two pair. With his added equity, Negreanu opted to lead into his opponent and Seward played it safe with a call. 

The river was an action card as Negreanu improved to a flush while Seward made a full house. Negreanu bet again and this time faced a decision for the rest of his stack as Seward move all-in over the top. 

After a bit of thought, he sent his cards into the muck. 

In the final hand of the clash, Negreanu moved all-in for about 20 big blinds in the face of another button raise from Seward. With he was in bad shape against Seward's and the runout provided him no help. 

"GG," Negreanu said to Seward. "You got me, fair and square. Congrats, kiddo." 

^{Images courtesy of Antonio Abrego/PokerGO Tour}