Alex Foxen wins the PokerGO Cup $26,000 High Roller

Alex Foxen has been one of the most consistent performers on the live tournament circuit in recent years, with five consecutive top-ten finishes Card player Player of the Year finishes, with his lowest finish in that span being eighth in 2020. His campaign to continue that incredible streak got off to a good start in 2023, as he’s already picked up a pair of big scores this year GO Poker Cup.

Foxen finished second in the opening event of the eight-tournament series, and then surpassed that to win the title in event #2. 6, a $26,000 buy-in high roller. That win saw Foxen outrun a field of 50 entries to earn $317,040 and his first trophy of the year.

Foxen’s two deep runs at this festival saw him amass $470,040 in earnings and 870 POY extension indicates just a few weeks into the new year. As a result, he has already re-established himself in the top ten in the standings POY extension ranking sponsored by Global Poker.

Foxen was also awarded 190 Tour of PokerGO points for the win. It now sits in second place in both GO Poker Cup points race and general classification PGT extension Ranking.

This latest deep run marked Foxen’s 55th grossing for six figures or more. The 31-year-old poker pro now has more than $27.8 million in earnings to his name.

This event took place January 17-18 at the PokerGO Studio at AIR Resort & Casino. Day 1 was scheduled to end with just six players remaining. Bracelet winner Brian Kim was eliminated by e-time bracelet Nick Schulman on the bubble. Six-time bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu secured his second cash of the series by finishing eighth ($50,000). Schulman also made money for the second time in this series, ultimately placing seventh for $62,500.

Day 2 started with Orpen Kisacikoglu in the lead and Foxen in third place. Bracelet winner Sam Soverel started the day with the shortest stack, and was finally sent out in sixth place when his a-9 ran into Cary Katz’s pocket queens.

Not long after, the ever talkative Sean Perry was eliminated in fifth place when his pocket tens ran into Aram Oganyan’s pocket jacks. Neither player improved with an ace runout, and Perry settled for $100,000. This was Perry’s first live win since last September. Based on the final table speeches, he has focused on sports betting rather than poker for the past few months. The latter score increased his tournament earnings to nearly $6.8 million.

A classic coin flip ended Katz’s run in this event, with his pocket fives unable to get past Oganyan’s AJ (4th – $125,000). Payday saw Katz’s career earnings grow to nearly $35.9 million, a good finish for 13th on the all-time money list.

While Kisacikoglu started the final day of this event clearly ahead of the rest of the field, he gave up much of that lead early on. During the three-way game, however, he started to withdraw again. He ended up going heads-up with a 3:1 chip lead after his A-8 held against Oganyan’s A-7 (3rd – $175,000).

Heads-up was a see-saw affair. Foxen fought to a par, and then took a sizable lead on his behalf. Indeed, at one point he had a more than 10:1 chip lead before Kisacikoglu managed to double up a couple of times to get himself out of the danger zone. He took the lead in time for the negotiations between the two finals on a cut, probably motivated in part by the imminent closure of entries in the next event scheduled at GO Poker Cup. Ultimately they agreed to redistribute the remaining prize money on a ICM, with Kisacikoglu taking home $345,460 while Foxen earned $317,040. The pair decided to go for the title, with Foxen suited’s QJ to Kisacikoglu’s J-6. The pair then hurried to the registration window to sign up for event #1. 7, the penultimate high-stakes festival tournament.

This second-place finish was the seventh-highest score of Kisacikoglu’s career. He has increased his total earnings to nearly $10.7 million.

Here’s a look at the prizes and ranking points awarded at the final table:

Winner photo credit: PokerGO / Antonio Abrego.