With five players left in Event #6 of the 2026 Poker Masters, Justin Vaysman was down to just 20,000 chips — a quarter of a big blind. A few hours later he was holding the trophy, $192,000 richer and the owner of his first PokerGO Tour title.
- Event: $10,500 No-Limit Hold’em, the last event at that price on the 2026 Poker Masters schedule, at the PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas.
- Field: 64 entries, a $640,000 prize pool and 10 places paid.
- Comeback: Vaysman fell to 0.25 big blinds five-handed, then overturned a roughly 60-to-19 big blind deficit heads-up against Sean Winter.
- Reward: $192,000, 192 PGT points and a move to fifth on the Poker Masters leaderboard in the race for the Purple Jacket.
A Tight Field From the Start
Sixty-four players bought in for the final $10,500 event on the Poker Masters schedule, building a $640,000 prize pool. Vaysman was already a central figure on Day 1: with 12 players left he scored a double knockout, sending Adrian Mateos and Robert Chorlian to the rail in a single hand and bursting the bubble in the process. For Mateos, the series leaderboard leader, it was a fourth stone bubble in six events.
After a rest day on Sunday, seven players returned on Monday with the stacks bunched together — only around 15 big blinds separated first from last. Winter led with 1,405,000, just 10,000 ahead of Victoria Livschitz, while Vaysman sat third on 1,205,000. Every player at the table was guaranteed at least $25,600.
One Chip Away From the Rail
Livschitz made the early running, eliminating Sam Laskowitz in seventh and Joey Weissman in sixth. The momentum then swung sharply against Vaysman: during the 40,000/80,000 level, Winter left him with just 20,000 chips — a quarter of a big blind — with five players remaining.
“When you’re down to that final chip, it really feels like you’re one foot out the door. Just tried to take it in stride. Won a couple and got super lucky. Kind of feels like you’re freerolling more than anything at that point.”
— Justin Vaysman, speaking to PokerNews
A string of double-ups got him back into contention. Meanwhile Tony Gregg suffered the cruellest exit of the day. After opening, he called off his stack with pocket jacks against a three-bet shove from Winter, who held queen-jack of clubs. Gregg flopped a set on a queen-jack-eight board with one club, but the turn and river were both clubs, completing a runner-runner flush for Winter and sending Gregg out in fifth.
Four-handed, Vaysman won the key pot of his comeback: a three-way all-in in which his ace-nine of clubs beat Winter’s king-three and Brandon Wilson’s ace-king, tripling him up. Wilson, a former Super High Roller Bowl champion, was left with crumbs and busted in fourth soon after.
Livschitz had endured a rough final table, earlier losing pocket aces to Gregg’s queens in a big pot. Her run ended in third when she got king-jack in against Winter’s pocket kings, but the $86,400 payday was her third cash of the series.
Turning Around Heads-Up
Winter started heads-up with around 60 big blinds to Vaysman’s 19. Rather than force the action, Vaysman kept the pots small and waited for his spots.
“I was pretty much playing small ball, a lot of small pots, a lot of pots going his way. But a couple of times when all the chips went in, I had it. Sean’s a great player. Don’t think I did anything special to overcome the deficit. Just got lucky.”
— Justin Vaysman
The turning point came when Vaysman limp-called from the button and then called bets on every street, including a river shove, on an ace-king-nine-queen-two board. He showed king-six and found Winter bluffing, taking the chip lead for the first time.
The final hand followed shortly afterwards. On a ten-nine-seven flop with two diamonds, Vaysman held ten-nine for top two pair, while Winter had jack-three of diamonds for a flush draw plus a gutshot. Winter check-raised the flop and moved all in on the king turn. Vaysman called, and the river improved him to a full house, sealing the title.
Vaysman called it possibly the biggest win of his career: “I didn’t really have a big outright live win like this. Obviously here, you’re playing against the best of the best.”
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize | PGT Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Justin Vaysman | $192,000 | 192 |
| 2 | Sean Winter | $124,800 | 125 |
| 3 | Victoria Livschitz | $86,400 | – |
| 4 | Brandon Wilson | $64,000 | – |
| 5 | Tony Gregg | $48,000 | – |
| 6 | Joey Weissman | $35,200 | – |
| 7 | Sam Laskowitz | $25,600 | – |
| 8 | Cherish Andrews | $25,600 | – |
| 9 | Andrew Lichtenberger | $19,200 | – |
| 10 | Michael Berk | $19,200 | – |
Second place was still a strong result for Winter, whose 125 PGT points extended his lead at the top of the season-long PokerGO Tour leaderboard.
A Series Full of Big Names
Vaysman’s victory continued a run of high-profile winners at this year’s Poker Masters. Joey Weissman, who finished sixth here, had already taken Event #3, Vitalijs Zavorotnijs claimed Event #4, and Adrian Mateos won Event #5 just before this tournament began — which made his early exit on the Event #6 bubble all the more painful. Every final table so far has been packed with regulars from the high roller circuit, which is exactly why Vaysman rated this title so highly.
The Purple Jacket Race
The 2026 Poker Masters runs at the PokerGO Studio through 23 October, with 10 events and buy-ins from $10,500 to $51,000. The player with the most points at the end wins the Purple Jacket and a $25,000 PGT Passport. After Event #6, the top of the series leaderboard looked like this:
| Rank | Player | Prize Money | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Adrian Mateos | $380,700 | 381 |
| 2 | Nick Palma | $339,200 | 339 |
| 3 | Joey Weissman | $301,000 | 300 |
| 4 | Myles Mullaly | $274,800 | 274 |
| 5 | Justin Vaysman | $231,000 | 231 |
What’s Next for Vaysman
The win puts Vaysman firmly in the race for the Purple Jacket. “Now I’ve got somewhat of a sweat for the leaderboard, so definitely be in there for the next couple,” he said.
After the Poker Masters, the PokerGO Studio hosts the PGT Sprint — seven single-day tournaments between 27 October and 4 November, with buy-ins from $5,300 to $10,500. Beyond that, Vaysman’s schedule for the rest of the year is still open, with WSOP Paradise in the Bahamas and tournaments at Wynn Las Vegas among the possible stops. For now, the focus stays on the remaining Poker Masters events, where he will try to build on what may be the defining result of his career so far.
