The ongoing 2023 PokerGO Tour moved four qualifying events closer to its completion with four consecutive $10,000-entry Aria High Roller events in recent days. Dan Smith, Isaac Kempton, Seth Davies, and Vladas Tamasauskas picked up qualifying wins in elite but small-field events that marked the end of the 2023 Aria High Roller series.
Smith's win in AHR Event #16 over a 26-entry field was worth $119,600, but perhaps more importantly, it nudged him into 39th place in the year-long PokerGO Tour standings. The top 40 players will automatically qualify for the PGT Championship $1,000,000 Freeroll in January. Another player who moved into the top 40 on the PGT leaderboard was Andrew Lichtenberger, who climbed to 37th with two cashes during the mini-series.
Besides Smith's opening win, Kempton claimed $115,000 by topping a 25-entry field in Event #17, Davies earned $128,800 by outlasting a 28-entry field in Event #17, and Tamasauskas collected $116,000 as the winner of the 29-entry Event #18.
The cashing players in each of the four Aria High Rollers were as follows:
Event #16:
- Dan Smith- $119,600
- Isaac Kempton - $72,800
- Shunsuke Tokoo - $41,600
- Andrew Lichtenberger - $26,000
Event #17:
- Isaac Kempton - $115,000
- Maxx Coleman - $70,000
- Victoria Livschitz - $40,000
- Isaac Haxton - $25,000
Event #18:
- Seth Davies - $128,800
- Sam Soverel - $78,400
- Erik Seidel - $44,800
- Dan Smith - $28,000
Event #19:
- Vladas Tamasauskas - $116,000
- Chris Brewer - $75,400
- Andrew Lichtenberger - $46,400
- Sean Winter - $31,900
- Joe McKeehen - $20,300
Haxton retains lead as PGT players head to WSOP Paradise
Isaac Haxton held on to his overall lead with his cash in Event #17, while Chris Brewer's runner-up finish in Event #19 moved him past Daniel Weinman and into second. Stephen Chidwick and Sam Soverel round out the current top five.
Just as much interest mar surround the current bottom five in the PGT Top 40 as many of the players head to the just-started WSOP Paradise series in the Bahamas. The current players in spots 36-40 are as follows:
36th: Chino Rheem (1,029 pts.)
37th: Andrew Lichtenberger (1,001)
38th: Nacho Barbero (982)
39th: Dan Smith (964)
40th: Ka Kwan Lau (945)
The WSOP Paradise series includes six PGT points-generating events:
Event #3: $25,000 GGMillion$ High Roller
Event #5: $25,000 PLO High Roller
Event #7: $50,000 Super High Roller
Event #9: $100,000 Ultra High Roller
Event #13: $10,000 PLO Championship
Event #15: $10,000 High Roller 6-Handed
The 2023 PokerGO Tour concludes in the first week of January 2024, as six points-generating events will offered during the PGT Last Chance series at the PokerGO Studio at Aria. That series runs January 2-7, 2024. Besides determining the final Top 40 and the Championship Freeroll eligibility, the last-chance series will also carry its own series leaderboard and award two more freeroll seats to the top leaderboard finishers who otherwise finish outside the year-long Top 40.
