Satellite winners go head-to-head for first Poker Masters title

The first event of the 2024 PGT Poker Masters concluded earlier today at the PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas. Event #1: $5K No-Limit Hold'em drew a total of 131 entries, setting a new record for the series, while generating a prize pool of $655,000. Of that number, 19 players made the money with $160,475 going to the first place finisher. 

Germany's Jessica Vierling, the only non-American at the final table, held the chip lead to start proceedings, with Dylan Linde not far behind. Spencer Champlin, Dan Shak, Nicholas Seward, and Zachary Grech filled out the rest of the seats. When the dust settled just over two hours later, Champlin stood alone atop the winner's podium, notching his first-ever PokerGO Tour cash in spectacular fashion with a Poker Masters title win and the $160,475 top prize.

Three early eliminations

The first three eliminations at the final table came fast and furious. Seward fell first, on the very first hand of PokerGO's streamed coverage. In a blind versus blind spot, Champlin applied maximum pressure to Seward, jamming from the small blind with . Seward looked down at and quickly called off his roughly 15 big blinds. As a 70% favorite before the flop, the Washington, D.C. native looked set for an early double and a chance to continue his recent run of results, which includes back-to-back wins at the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open in August. 

Alas, it was not meant to be as the dealer ran out the board to pair Champlin on the river and end Seward's first-ever PokerGO Studio final table appearance with a 6th place finish. 

Jessica Vierling came into the final table with the chip lead

Antonio Abrego, PokerGO

After sending the majority of his chips to Vierling in a bluff gone wrong, Grech committed the rest of his chips in a blind versus blind spot with Linde, who asked for a count before making the call. Unfortunately for Grech, his was in rough shape against Linde's . The flop paired Grech to give him the lead and the turn changed nothing. The river, however, was just the ticket for Linde and sent Grech to the rail in 5th place. 

Shak then found a perfect spot to double up his stack of a little more than 10 big blinds, committing his chips with and getting a call from Vierling with . The dealer spread the flop, but the turn flipped the situation completely and left him looking for a miracle. The river wasn't what Shak needed and his run ended in a 4th place finish. Vierling, on the other hand, took an even more commanding chip lead — over 60% of the chips in play. 

Three-handed play saw Vierling press her advantage, wielding the big stack masterfully as she leveraged her opponent's ICM considerations against them. As the gulf between the two of them and Vierling widened, Linde and Champlin collided in two big spots to take the action to the heads-up stage.

The first saw both players pick up ace-high holdings. From the button, Champlin moved the majority of his chips into the middle with , only to see Linde request that the remainder go in the middle as well. Champlin needed to improve against Linde's to stay alive and improve he did on the flop. The turn and river failed to provide Linde the necessary three-outer and the shorter stacks swapped positions. 

Dylan Linde added a 3rd place finish to his PGT career resume

The very next hand, Linde moved his chips all-in from the small blind with , only to see Champlin put in the call with a dominating . The flop left Linde drawing thin and the turn locked up the pot, and the elimination, for Champlin. 

Heads-up for the satellite winners

Both Champlin and Vierling won their seats to the tournament via satellite events and now found themselves battling one another heads-up for the first title of the 2024 Poker Masters run. Vierling began, as she had for every hand dealt at the final table, with the chip lead, holding roughly a 2:1 advantage over Champlin. With her Alaskan Husky Leya resting peacefully at her feet, Vierling went to work. 

In an early clash, Vierling took a chunk of her opponent's chips after looking down at on the button. Champlin defended his big blind with against Vierling's preflop raise and the two players saw the flop. Vierling continued with a bet and Champlin called with his gutshot straight draw. The on the turn spelled disaster for Champlin as he made top pair, but remained second-best in the hand. Facing another bet, Champlin could do nothing but call. With roughly a pot sized bet left behind, Champlin needed to improve, but the river wasn't the right card. Vierling bet once more, opting to extract pure value with a half-pot sizing, and Champlin made the call to send more chips in his opponent's direction. 

Then, Vierling ran into back-to-back setbacks, sending two full doubles Champlin's way. The first came in unfortunate fashion as she got the money in good with against Champlin's . With the title on the line, the runout saw Vierling's hammer lock on the win evaporate as Champlin paired his sidecard. The very next hand, the domination situation flipped as the two players got the chips in the middle once more. This time, Vierling needed help as her was well behind Champlin's . The dealer ran out the board to send a second double up Champlin's way. 

Spencer Champlin's first-ever PGT cash was a big one

Champlin's momentum held strong and, just a few hands later, he took the chip lead in a pot that saw both players river a straight. Vierling, with the low end of the straight, called a raise after betting her hand on the river to send a sizable pot, and the chip lead, in her opponent's direction. Undeterred, Vierling quickly regained the lead, but couldn't build upon it as Champlin battled back and the two players traded the chip advantage back and forth. 

Champlin crowned champ 

Eventually, Champlin started to pull away with the lead before the two collided in the tournament-deciding pot.

Vierling, facing a raise from Champlin on the button, counted out her stack before moving all in with . Champlin, with , called quickly and the cards went on their backs with the title on the line once again. This time, it was Champlin who needed to fade his opponent's outs to claim victory. The dealer spread the flop to add a flush draw to Champlin's already-best holding. The turn paired both players, leaving Vierling with just three outs to stay alive. Champlin improved to two pair on the river and, with that, secured the Poker Masters Event #1 title.

Despite narrowly missing out on what would have been a memorable win, Vierling enjoyed the chance to spin it up, as she shared with PokerGO following the tourney's conclusion:

Poker Masters Event #1: $5K No-Limit Hold'em final table payouts

^{Images Courtesy of Antonio Abergo/PokerGO}