Inaugural PokerGO Cup Wraps with a Negreanu Win

Written by Jennifer Newell

Last updated on July 19th, 2021

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The first iteration of the PokerGO Cup at the PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas is a wrap. The latest in a series of high-stakes poker tournaments offered a new set of tournaments, a trophy, and a chance for poker pros to shine.

The schedule put players in their seats July 6-14, with a new event starting each day. It all started with three $10K buy-ins, and then it rose to $15K for one event before two $25K buy-ins and a $50K. The finale was a $100K buy-in with only one reentry allowed (all others offered two). But the overall winner of the series didn’t have to win the most titles, only accumulate enough points throughout the eight tournaments to show consistency and effort.

When it was all said and done, a familiar face claimed his first victory in years.

Eight Event Winners

The eight tournament winners didn’t take down the overall prize, but each grabbed some sizeable first-place prizes. Let’s take a look at the results for the first PokerGO Cup.

Event 1: $10K NLHE = 66 entries, $660K prize pool, 10 players paid

–Alex Foxen won for $178,200, Sean Perry finished second for $132K

Event 2: $10K NLHE = 61 entries, $610K prize pool, 9 players paid

–Ali Imsirovic won for $183K, Jason Koon finished second for $122K

Event 3: $10K NLHE = 53 entries, $530K prize pool, 8 players paid

–Dylan Linde won for $169,600, Sam Soverel finished second for $111,300

Event 4: $15K NLHE = 50 entries, $750K prize pool, 8 players paid

–Ali Imsirovic won a second title for $240K, Daniel Weinand finished second for $157,500

Event 5: $25K NLHE = 36 entries, $900K prize pool, 6 players paid

–Jake Schindler won for $324K, David Peters finished second for $216K

Event 6: $25K NLHE = 36 entries, $900K prize pool, 6 players paid

–Jason Koon won for $324K, Thomas Winters finished second for $216K

Event 7: $50K NLHE = 35 entries, $1.75M prize pool, 5 players paid

–Daniel Negreanu won for $700K, David Coleman finished second for $455K

Event 8 $100K NLHE Finale = 23 entries, $2.3M prize pool, 4 players paid

–Cary Katz won for $1,058,000, Sam Soverel finished second for $644K

Negreanu Claims Player of the Series

The preset points system determined the best player of the series based on finishes. For the PokerGO Cup, the race to the finish was tight. Negreanu trailed Imsirovic and Coleman. Negreanu busted in fourth place from the tournament, but the cards fell properly from there as Soverel did not win the event, and Katz saved the overall win for Negreanu.

The backstage moment @RealKidPoker wins The @PokerGo Cup!

Congrats Cary Katz on taking down the $100K event, meaning #DNegs wins this coveted overall prize.

Check it out here 👇#Vegas #Poker #WINNER pic.twitter.com/mRz2DsQRmW

— GGPoker (@GGPoker) July 14, 2021

The final points standings showed Negreanu at the top with $996,200 in earnings for the series, which translated into 537 points. Imsirovic finished second with $545,500 in winnings and 497 points, followed by Katz with $1,161,800 in winnings but only 475 points.

In total, Negreanu claimed his points as follows:

-Event 3: 8^th place = 21 points

-Event 5: 6^th place = 27 points

-Event 7: 1^st place = 420 points

-Event 8: 4^th place = 69 points

PokerGO quoted Negreanu as describing what the win meant to him: “Winning a tournament is awesome, but winning a player of the series is so much more involved. You need to have repeated results and stuff like that, so it’s huge for me.”