PokerGO Cup Wraps Up With Cary Katz Taking Series Title; Isaac Haxton, Alex Foxen Also Find Victories
After two weeks of action, the PokerGO Cup wrapped up on Friday with Cary Katz emerging as the overall series champion. The win came after he scored four final table appearances and five overall cashes among the series’ eight tournaments.
In total, Katz (pictured in lead image courtesy PokerGO) scored $655,800 to become 2023 PokerGO Cup champion. As a bonus for winning the series title the PokerGO founder also scooped the $50,000 championship bonus. The win brought some accolades from fellow players.
“Cary Katz is a special guy,” Phil Hellmuth noted on Twitter. “He is a great person, and a great man. Generous, kind, polite, world class, sharp, and one of the poker saviors – he invested over $20 million of his own money in PokerGO. Congrats Cary!”
The final four events of the series also saw Isaac Haxton win the $50,000 buy-in finale for a massive score. Alex Foxen and Anthony Hu also chalked up wins. Here’s a look at the second half of the series. For a recap of the first half, click here.
Event 8: $50,000 No Limit Hold’em
The grand finale came with the largest buy-in of the series and produced a field of 25 entries for a $1.3 million prize pool. In the end, longtime poker pro Isaac Haxton grabbed the top spot for $598,000.
Haxton now has $30.5 million in live tournament winnings. He returned as chip leader on the second day of play, battling Katz, Sean Winter, and Daniel Colpoys.
In heads-up play, Haxton battled Katz for the title and was able to ride his chip lead to the win. Katz scored $364,000 for runner-up and secured the PokerGO title with another impressive finish.
Event 7: $25,000 NLHE
Daniel Negreanu looked for a nice finish with a final table appearance in this tournament. However Thailand’s Punnat Punsri came out on top for $310,000. The action brought in 34 entries for a $775,000 prize pool.
Punsri also scored a runner-up finish in the second event of the series for $149,400. He now has $4.9 million in live tournament winnings. Colpoys took runner-up for $201,500 wth Negreanu taking third for $124,000.
Negreanu ultimately scored three chases in the series, pushing his total live tournament winnings to more than $50 million. He becomes one of only three players to accomplish that feat.
And with his 3rd place finish in PokerGO Cup Event #7 for $124,000, @RealKidPoker pushes to over $50,000,000 in live tournament earnings!
🎉🎉🎉 Congratulations Daniel!!! 🎉🎉🎉 https://t.co/GrLZjbnTFP pic.twitter.com/ONuvpl25tO
— PokerGO (@PokerGO) January 20, 2023
Event 6: $25,000 NLHE
High Stakes regular Alex Foxen once again found the winner’s circle in this event. He topped a field of 50 entries that produced a $1.3 million prize pool.
The victory came after a deal with Turkey’s Orpen Kisacikoglu, who scored $345,460 for runner-up. Foxen secured $317,040 and the title as part of the agreement.
The win came after Foxen ran a massive bluff at the final table with only three players left. In a key hand against Oganyan, Foxen faced a pot-sized raise on the river after Oganyan hit a straight. But the river also produced a flush draw, and Foxen put in a Herculean raise with just Ace-high.
Oganyan ultimately folded and the win helped add significantly to Foxen’s chip stack. He now has more than $27.5 million in live tournament winnings.
"Welcome to the studio, bro." pic.twitter.com/OXXbq200sv
— PokerGO (@PokerGO) January 19, 2023
Event 5: $15,000 NLHE
A day after a runner-up finish in the fourth event in the series, Anthony Hu scored the win in this event. The tournament saw 56 entries for an $840,000 prize pool with Hu taking home $268,800 of that.
Erik Seidel took $176,400 for runner-up and also had a nice series as well with two runner-up finishes and a sixth place. He now has more than $42 million in live tournament winnings and was congratulatory toward his opponent.
“Congrats to Anthony, very tough player and fun to play with,” Seidel noted on Twitter. “He kept the pressure on and deserved the trophy.”
Here’s a look at all the event winners.
2023 PokerGO Cup results
Event Tournament Winner Winnings
1 $10,000 NLHE Sean Winter $216,000
2 $10,000 NLHE Aram Zobian $207,500
3 $10,000 NLHE Ed Sebesta $216,000
4 $10,000 NLHE Justin Saliba $195,000
5 $15,000 NLHE Anthony Hu $268,800
6 $25,000 NLHE Alex Foxen $317,040
7 $25,000 NLHE Punnat Punsri $310,000
8 $50,000 NLHE Isaac Haxton $598,000