Weissman wins 5th PGT title as race for Poker Masters Purple Jacket heats up

With 241 points, he now trails only Myles Mullaly in the race for the highly-coveted Poker Masters Purple Jacket. 

Nick Palma isn't far behind the two of them, with 235 points to his name following a first-ever PGT title win in Event #2.  Gheba and Adrian Mateos, both with runner-up finishes, fill out the rest of the top five. 

While the front runners have begun to emerge, there's still plenty of points up for grabs across the remaining events. 

PGT Poker Masters Leaderboard (Top 5)

If you want to check out the full replay of the Poker Masters Event #3 final table, scroll down and click the play button – or, read on for a recap of the eliminations. 

Weissman cleans it up 

The opening orbits at the final table did not go Ausmus' way and the amount of chips he sent in the direction of other players – Gheba in particular – far outweighed the amount that found its way back to him. The knockout blow came in a blind versus blind confrontation with Weissman. From the small blind, Ausmus moved all-in with and Weissman quickly called with . 

The runout provided a sweat, but Ausmus' flush outs failed to materialize and his run came to an end in sixth place – certainly not the finish he may have dreamt up at the start of the final table. 

Gheba picked up the following two knockouts. In the first, a set up hand between he and Linde saw both players commit their stacks preflop. Gheba's had Linde's in bad shape and the runout failed to provide a two-outer to save him. Then he took the last of Wilson's short stack, downing his with on a runout. 

Daniyal Gheba's runner-up finish in Event #3 vaulted him into the Top 5 on the Poker Masters Purple Jacket leaderboard.

When three-handed play began, Gheba held a sizable advantage in the chip counts – but it all vanished in the span of just a few hands. After taking a sizable pot off of Shorr, Weissman's stack grew considerably closer to Gheba's – and the very next hand off the deck turned out to be a consequential one. 

In a blind versus blind clash, Weissman opted to limp from the small blind with and Gheba put in a raise with . Weissman sprung his trap with a 3-bet and Gheba wasn't buying it – he moved all-in over the top. 

Weissman called quickly and the left Gheba drawing dead on the turn. With the influx of chips, Weissman was now in control of the table and one hand later he sent Shorr packing. In another blind versus blind confrontation, the Alabama native sent his stack into the middle with only to find himself dominated by Weissman's . 

The runout offered no help to either player and Weissman's ace-high was good enough to down Shorr in third place. 

Weissman held nearly all of the chips in play to start the heads-up battle and made quick work of Gheba thanks to a lucky river card. 

In the first hand dealt, he moved all-in with and Gheba quickly called off his 12 big blinds with . The runout looked as though it would result in a chop with three deuces and a jack on board, but the river improved Weissman to a full house and it was all over. 

^{Images courtesy of Antonio Abrego/PokerGO Tour}