The kickoff occasion of the 2025 PokerGO Cup drew 177 entries, setting a report for the biggest subject in a PokerGO Tour owned and operated no-limit maintain’em occasion held contained in the PokerGO Studio at ARIA Resort & On line casino Las Vegas. The sturdy turnout for the $5,000 buy-in match resulted in a prize pool of $885,000. Whereas 27 gamers in the end earned a share, the biggest chunk was awarded to eventual champion Michael Moncek.
The 2-time World Sequence of Poker bracelet winner, recognized to many as ‘Texas Mike’, walked away with $185,850 for the win. He’s now approaching $4.2 million in profession earnings, with seven whole match titles to his identify.
This victory additionally got here with loads of rankings factors for Moncek. The 624 Card Participant Participant of the Yr factors he earned moved him into 84th place within the 2025 POY standings offered by World Poker. He additionally shot into twelfth place within the season-long PGT race with 186 factors and is understandably the early chief within the PokerGO Cup sequence rankings.
Moncek was the chip chief on the finish of day 1, with 37 p.c of the entire chips in play with seven contenders remaining.
Two-time bracelet winner Eric Baldwin was the primary to fall on day 2, with a brutal runout spelling the tip of his match. He min-raised to 200,000 with A
Ok
from the hijack and Moncek referred to as from the massive blind with 9
8. The flop got here down Ok
84 and Moncek check-called 150,000 with center pair. The A flip gave Baldwin prime two whereas Moncek picked up a flush draw to go along with his pair of eights. He check-called once more, this time to the tune of 575,000. The river introduced the ten to finish Moncek’s flush and he moved all-in, an efficient wager of 1,550,000. Baldwin made the decision along with his aces up and was eradicated in seventh place ($35,400).
High two no good for basebaldy</a> after <a href=”https://twitter.com/TexasMike2014?ref_src=twsrcpercent5Etfw”>TexasMike2014 backdoors a flush.
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Danny Qutami was the following to hit the rail. He received his final handful of massive blinds in on a Q43 flop with Ok4 going through the 75 of Michael Brinkenhoff. The A flip saved Qutami within the lead, however the 2 on the tip gave Brinkenhoff the wheel and the knockout. Qutami earned $44,250 because the sixth-place finisher.
Bracelet winner Cherish Andrews doubled up early in five-handed motion with pocket aces, leaving fellow bracelet winner and reigning European Poker Tour Barcelona principal occasion champion Stephen Music because the clear quick stack. Music managed a double-up as nicely, giving himself some much-needed respiratory room.
Regardless of that truth, Music was in the end eradicated in fifth place ($53,100). He misplaced an enormous chunk of his stack with prime pair of kings towards the jacks and fours of Moncek. He then received his final 10 or so massive blinds in calling off with A6 from the massive blind going through a small-blind shove from Andrews, who held OkQ. A king-high runout catapulted Andrews right into a digital three-way tie for second within the chip counts on the time, whereas Music grew his profession earnings to almost $9.3 million because of this, his 281st recorded match money.
Andrews then doubled up in an enormous pot, along with her jacks stuffed with sevens besting the jack-high straight of Moncek to see her overtake the lead for a time.
It simply retains getting higher for @CherishAndrews on this one.
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Moncek had regained the highest spot by the point the following bustout passed off, although. Joey Weissman made a committing increase with Ok10 and referred to as the shove of Brinkenhoff, who moved all-in for barely greater than the preliminary increase out of the small blind with AQ. The board got here down 109789 and Brinkenhoff was despatched packing in fourth place ($66,375).
Not lengthy after that, Andrews opened with 88 from the small blind and referred to as off for simply shy of 32 massive blinds whole going through a three-bet shove from Moncek, who held A4. The A75J7 runout gave Moncek aces up for the win. Andrews earned $88,500 for her efforts, rising her lifetime haul to almost $3.1 million within the course of.
Heads-up play started with Moncek holding greater than a 3.5:1 chip lead over Weissman. The ultimate showdown didn’t final very lengthy. A number of fingers into the match, Weissman raised with QQ on the button and snap-called when Moncek three-bet shoved with A10. The flop got here down A63 to see Moncek surge into the lead. The two on the flip left Weissman in want of a queen on the river to be able to lengthen the battle. As a substitute, the ultimate card was the ten, giving him aces up and the title. Weissman was awarded $123,900 because the runner-up. The bracelet winner’s profession earnings are actually only a bit shy of $8 million.
Here’s a have a look at the payouts and POY factors awarded on the remaining desk:
Place
Participant
Earnings
POY Factors
PGT Factors
1
Michael Moncek
$185,850
624
186
2
Joey Weissman
$123,900
520
124
3
Cherish Andrews
$88,500
416
89
4
Michael Brinkenhoff
$66,375
312
66
5
Stephen Music
$53,100
260
53
6
Danny Ayman Qutami
$44,250
208
44
7
Eric Baldwin
$35,400
156
35
Picture credit: PokerGO / Antonio Abrego.
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