It's the Last Chance for romance at the PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas, where poker's high-stakes hopefuls are grinding out the final events before the field locks on the season-ending PGT Championship.
The $1,000,000 freeroll will feature the top 40 players on the PGT's leaderboard, with points accumulated at high-stakes tournaments and PGT events throughout 2025 and this final rush for points in the first week of 2026. Also on the line at PGT Last Chance series are five Dream Seats, a one-way ticket to the freeroll for the top five finishers on the series leaderboard (who don't already have a seat.)
Pads jumps into top 40
The second event's winner, Patrick 'Pads' Leonard, was well served by the PGT points. Pads now moves in to a comfortable 27th on the list, already bolstered by a season that featured 16 cashes and a win during the PGT Kickoff series. The victory earned $315,000 for Leonard, which is his first $300K+ score since 2017 when he did it three times.
Leonard started the Day 2 final table of seven with a comfortable chip lead after beating up on the series-high field of 126 entries. He was followed by the likes of Joao Simao and Nick Schulman, who already rank in the top six on the PGT leaderboard. They're trying to scoop up the extra points this week to improve their standing for the freeroll, which will start with staggered chip stacks according to the player's final rank.
Also present for the final day were David Coleman and Jeremy Ausmus, who sat outside the top 40, but they would probably find a way in after a few players get thrown out for not meeting the minimum threshold of three PGT cashes. The group is rounded out by Jared Jaffee and Brock Wilson, who need a little more help than the others to get into the $1,000,000 freeroll. They're going to have to finish in the five on the series leaderboard to lock up a Dream Seat, and they're going to have to start winning now. This is the second cash of the series of Jaffee and the first for Wilson.
Early brake check for Pads
What went down was anything but predictable, and Leonard's path to victory was chaotic, at best. Schulman doubled through Wilson right away before Wilson doubled through Simao, starting a chain reaction of double-ups that shifted the scoreboard around a few more times before Simao was the first to fall off the carousel. The opening bloodshed shook up the standings, moving Leonard to fourth below a pack now led by Jaffee and Schulman.
Ausmus followed Simao out the door in sixth as the blinds started to bear down on the shorter stacks. It was Coleman's turn for a run, and he would surge to the top of the leaderboard in five-handed play before he sent Wilson to the showers in fifth.
Four-handed play was a slog and Jaffee hit Coleman with a double to bring him back to the pack. Leonard then doubled through Coleman twice to retake control of the situation he once dominated.
Leonard's luck lurches back
It started with a Coleman raise and a Leonard three-bet, which left only one chip behind. Both players checked down a board of 
and Leonard turned over 
to beat Coleman's 
and stay alive. Moments later, Leonard shoved and Coleman tried again, this time with 
. Leonard's 
survived the board of 
and he was back in the chip lead in less time than it takes to get a watermelon juice from the PokerGO Studio bar.
Coleman still had chips to play with and a double against Jaffee brought him back to health. Jaffee turned around and doubled through Schuman, but it wasn't enough to save him a short time later.
"I think you should let this one go," Schulman was heard telling Jaffee, who was facing a bet for the rest of his chips with 
. Jaffee called and Schulman had 
, but it was good anyways when a 
fell on the flop. Jaffee was out and a three-hour long sequence of four-handed play was finally over.
Three-handed play moved quickly. A double wasn't enough to save Schulman, who went out at the hands of Leonard. Heads-up play was also short lived, with Leonard closing the door on a big chip lead after one hope spot double from Coleman.
What's next?
Coleman's runner-up finish moved him into the top 40 and Leonard now sits comfortably with a freeroll seat, as well. Meanwhile, Jaffee has a better hold on the series leaderboard in the third spot behind previous winner Clemen Deng and Event #1 runner-up David 'ODB' Baker.
The race for the final spots in the $1,000,000 now shifts to Event #3 and it will play to a final table on Wednesday evening. The $10,100 buy-in is up to 85 players with a large group of late runners entering the fray as late registration closes. Among them: Phil Hellmuth Jr., Wilson, Baker, Leonard, and Simao. Matthew Wantman, Shannon Shorr, and Erik Seidel are among the leaders at press time.
PGT Last Chance Series 2026 Event #2 final table results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Patrick Leonard | $315,000 |
| 2 | David Coleman | $195,300 |
| 3 | Nick Schulman | $138,600 |
| 4 | Jared Jaffee | $107,100 |
| 5 | Brock Wilson | $75,600 |
| 6 | Jeremy Ausmus | $63,000 |
| 7 | Joao Simao | $50,400 |
Images courtesy of Antonio Abrego/PokerGO.
