Back-to-back Brandon notches second PGT Last Chance victory

Madanzhiev out first, Laskowitz runs into it

With the shortest stack in play, Madanzhiev was in need of a serious spin-up to keep his hopes of victory alive. After looking down at from UTG, Madanzhiev slid forward the majority of his chips. The action folded all the way around to Laskowitz in the big blind and, after some deliberation, he made the call with . The flop kept Madanzhiev's pair best, but Laskowitz had plenty of outs with his nut flush draw and two overcards. On the turn, Laskowitz completed his flush to leave his opponent drawing dead and the meaningless river sent Madanzhiev to the payout desk in seventh place. 

After getting lucky to survive an all-in encounter against Laskowitz, Holst moved all but one of her remaining chips across the betting line from the button with a mystery hand. Laskowitz then looked down at in the small blind and moved all-in over the top. Unfortunately for him, Laskowitz's pocket pair ran headlong into the of Kaverman in the big blind. 

Sam Laskowitz has cashed in all four events of the PGT Last Chance series thus far, but ran into a pair versus pair cooler against Byron Kaverman.

Holst, thanks to leaving that singular chip behind, was then able to fold her cards and keep her tournament life intact – with the potential for a pay ladder – while Kaverman and Laskowitz clashed. With only two immediate outs to improve, Laskowitz was in need of help, but the runout offered no such assistance and his day came to an end in a sixth-place finish. 

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Holst spins her final chip, but can't hang on

After securing an additional pay ladder thanks to her savvy one-chip-behind play, Holst managed to score back-to-back doubles to give herself some breathing room. With a little more than three big blinds to work with, Holst found on the button and took her shot at a third double up. Kaverman called from the small blind with and Wilson got out of the way from the big blind. Holst, with the best hand, simply had to fade Kaverman's six outs, but the flop paired her opponent to leave her drawing at three immediate outs. The on the turn changed nothing and the river sealed Holst's fate. 

Linde was the next player headed for the payout desk after moving all but one of his chips into the middle with and failing to improve against Wilson's on a runout. The very next hand, Linde was forced all-in from the big blind and, amazingly, was dealt the exact same two cards – . Again, however, he was unable to outdraw Wilson's on the runout and his day came to an end with a fourth-place finish. 

Dylan Linde made back-to-back final table appearances in Events #3 and #4 of the PGT Last Chance series.

Ausmus goes from short stack to chip leader

The start of three-handed play saw Ausmus at a distinct disadvantage in the chip counts compared to Wilson and Kaverman, but his experience in the PokerGO Studio served him well as he managed to hang around and find two double-ups to get right back in the mix. 

After chipping up even further, Ausmus moved ahead of Kaverman in the counts and, soon after, found a spot to score an elimination. In a blind versus blind confrontation, Ausmus moved all-in from the small blind with and Kaverman called off the rest of his chips with . The flop provided additional outs for Kaverman, but the turn and river kept Ausmus' pair out in front. With that pot, Ausmus snatched the chip lead away from Wilson as the two players entered heads-up play. 

Wilson's hero call leads to second win

It didn't take long for Wilson and Ausmus to battle over a big pot as the second hand of heads-up play saw the former make an impressive hero call to regain the chip lead. Facing a raise from Wilson on the button, Ausmus elected to defend his big blind with . Wilson remained in the lead with his on the flop, but Ausmus wasn't going to simply check-fold in the face of a continuation bet. Instead, the PGT Player of the Year opted for the check-raise with his backdoor equity to put Wilson to the test. 

Jeremy Ausmus ran a multi-street bluff against Brandon Wilson, but couldn't get it through.

After matching the raise, Wilson called once more as Ausmus unloaded a second barrel on the turn. The river didn't change much and Ausmus fired his last shell with a complete airball bluff. With the covering stack, he wasn't at risk of elimination, but when Wilson made the correct call, Ausmus' stack was reduced to mere crumbs. 

Shortly afterward, Ausmus called off the rest of his roughly three big blinds with and found himself in good shape against Wilson's . On the flop, however, Ausmus was drawing at just three outs to a higher straight as his opponent flopped a wheel. The turn and river weren't the cards Ausmus needed to see and his day came to an end in a second-place finish.

PGT Last Chance Event #4 final table results

^{Images Courtesy of Antonio Abrego/PokerGO Tour}