PGT Championship Won by Jason Koon as West Virginian Takes Home $500k

The final table of the PokerGO Tour (PGT) Championship saw just six players from yesterday Day 1 survive as Jason Koon followed up on his High Stakes Duel victory over Phil Hellmuth to win this year’s PGT Championship for a top prize of $500,000.

With no other player cashing, it was winner takes all in Las Vegas as the city where the 2023 World Series of Poker will be held welcomed 21 players on Day 1 and just half a dozen to play down to a winner on Day 2.

Chidwick Chipped Out of Contention

It took no time at all for the first player to bust on finals day, with the World Poker Tour’s Player of the Year, Chad Eveslage, taking that dubious honor. Eveslage was all-in on the river which had been checked by both Jason Koon and Nick Petrangelo. By that stage, Eveslage felt his five-deuce of diamonds which had flopped a flush were good enough, but Petrangelo had been trapping with jack-nine of the same suit and caught his victim, chipping up in the process.

British player Stephen Chidwick isn’t just a highly respected player with one of the best reputations in the game among his peers, but he was a former chip leader of this event. That was until he exited the tournament in fifth place, the victim of a bad beat against a chip leader who couldn’t resist the call.

All-in with king-ten, Chidwick was called by Koon with queen-eight and the West Virginian’s two live card both paired up on the flop, with a board of Q-8-6-5-4 sending Chidwick home in fifth place just four places short of glory. Koon had a huge stack of 1.8 million chips and was the clear favorite ahead of the final push for glory.

Glaser’s Week of Glory Finally Ends

It’s hard to imagine the many emotions rattling around Benny Glaser’s head right now after a stunning week at the felt in Las Vegas. Coming second in the WPT World Championships, the British player won $2.8 million when he ultimately fell just short of the title, ending that record-breaking event as runner-up to Eliot Hudon.

Glaser’s points accrued this year put him in a position to play the 21-man PGT Championship finale, therefore, and he arrived determined to take it down. In the end, however, Glaser fell just three places short of glory, cashing for nothing but again earning the respect and admiration of poker fans – and his fellow elite players – around the world.

Glaser’s end came when he shoved with king-queen and was called and defeated by Sean Winter with ace-four. The A-T-3 flop gave Glaser a mountain to climb but a Broadway straight gutshot draw. However, a six on the turn and deuce on the confirmed that Glaser’s intense week at the poker felt was finally over.

Koon is King as Winter Freezes Over

Three players remained and all of the last trio hailed from the United States. Nick Petrangelo was the unfortunate player to bust next, leaving with nothing after losing a flip against Sean Winter. Petrangelo’s king-ten couldn’t hit against Sean Winter’s pocket sixes, as the board came A-J-2-8-3 to skittle Petrangelo’s chances and Winter a vital pot.

That win gave Winter the chip lead going into the final duel for all the money, with his stack of 2,035,000 dominating Koon’s 1,185,000 stack going into the heads-up battle. Koon is a fearsome heads-up competitor, however, and hot on the heels of beating Phil Hellmuth for $1.6 million, added another $500,000 to his profit line – actually being able to withdraw these winnings – when he got ahead of Winter and closed it out.

The final hand saw Koon shove with eight-ten and Winter called with the dominating jack-eight but with the short stack. The board rewarded Koon’s bravery as it came T-6-5-3-3 to give Koon top pair on the flop and two pair by the river to see off the challenge of Sean Winter. The latter left with nothing, the victim of the harshest bubble of the year, but for Jason Koon it was yet another victory and a great way to close out 2022.