Isaac Haxton wins $50,000 PokerGO Cup final for $598,000

2023 GO Poker Cup the festival of high-stakes tournaments reached its exciting conclusion on Friday 20 January inside the PokerGO Studio in AIR Resort and casino in Las Vegas. The final $50,000 no-limit hold’em tournament was won by longtime high roller competitor Isaac Haxton, who earned $598,000 to outlast a 26-entry field.

This was the 12th biggest payday of Haxton’s career and his 10th recorded live tournament title. The win lifted the 37-year-old poker pro to $32.4 million in live tournament earnings, a good finish for 15th on the all-time poker list. He is one of only 17 players in the history of the game to have amassed more than $30 million on the circuit. His highest score ever also came in this same place. In that event, he bested a field of 36 in the $300,000 buy-in Super High Roller Bowl V for more than $3.6 million.

In addition to the title and the money, Haxton has also secured many points in the standings with this latest win. The 306 Card player Awarded Player of the Year points put him in the top 100 in 2023 POY extension tender presented by Global Poker. The 359 Tour of PokerGO the points he took home for his first prize money of the year catapulted him to fourth place in that league.

Haxton also finished in the top five of the standings GO Poker Cup player of the points race in the series due to his title run in event no. 8. The tournament was played over the course of two days, with Day 1 concluding after the six-figure prize bubble burst. Bracelet winner Brian Kim ran into K-10 against Cary Katz’s pocket aces to finish in fifth, setting up the last four for day 2.

That hand saw Katz pick up the second largest stack on day 2, behind only Haxton. Daniel Colpoys, fresh off a second place in event no. 7 for $201,500, was the first to drop. Colpoys’ pocket nines couldn’t beat Haxton’s suited A-5, who raised from under the gun and then four-bet all-in against Colpoys’ three-bet. Haxton flopped an ace and held on to eliminate Colpoys with $130,000 for fourth place.

2022 U.S. Poker Open And Poker masters series title winner Sean Winter could have added one more PGT extension player of the series rewards his collection with a win in this event, but finished third for $208,000. He lost a big pot with kings on the river to Haxton’s flopped trip sevens. Winter bet half his remaining short stack on the river, but folded to Haxton’s raise which would put him all-in. Winter committed 240,000 of his 245,000 preflop stack with K-7 from the small blind and Haxton called with A-9. The pair checked and Haxton made a straight to win the pot on the river, leaving the winter up in smoke. He was sent home on the next hand when Katz made a straight.

Heads-up play began with Haxton holding 3,550,000 to Katz’s 1,650,000. The latter two battled on for over an hour, with Haxton maintaining the lead throughout. By the time the final hand was dealt, Haxton had extended his lead to more than 14:1. Haxton raised all-in from the button for about 9 big blinds with J4 and Katz called all-in with K7. The board is out of Aj2QA and Haxton showed aces and jacks to secure the pot and the title. Katz earned $364,000 as a runner-up, bringing his career total to $36,243,910.

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

Cary Katz wins the PokerGo Cup series title

With his second-place finish in the series finale, Katz is officially secured for 2023 GO Poker Cup title in the series and $50,000 in additional prize money that comes with it. The 52-year-old businessman, high-stakes poker player and founder of Poker GO he cashed in five of the eight events comprising this series, more than any other contender. Daniel Negreanu, Adrian Mateos and Anthony Hu tied for the next most cashes with three each.

Katz amassed $655,800 in earnings during his five in-the-money finishes at the festival, the most of any player. Katz went into the final day of the $50,000 buy-in event needing to win the tournament outright or finish second to Haxton to take the series title. Sean Winter and Daniel Colpoys would both have won the series title had they been the last players standing. Anthony Hu, who was the leader in the clubhouse with three cashes and a title, would have locked out player of the series honors if Haxton won and any player other than Katz finished second.

After Colpoys finished fourth, Winter’s elimination in third secured the series title for Katz. Hu finished second in the standings, with Alex Foxen third, Haxton fourth and Winter rounding out the top five.

The PGT extension the points that players accumulate in this series will count towards the annual leaderboard that will determine the invitee list for 2023 PGT extension Championship. This year, the top 40 will qualify for the $1,000,000 freeroll event with a $500,000 grand prize.

Here are the top ten in the final PokerGO Cup standings:

Photo credits: PokerGO / Antonio Abrego.