Chad Eveslage Wins PGT $1m Championship Freeroll for $500,000 in Las Vegas

A thrilling denouement saw the $1m PGT Championship Freeroll end with Chad Eveslage on top as he outlasted the popular high roller Michael Wang, Octopi Poker co-creator Andrew ‘LuckyChewy’ Lichtenberger and Poker Hall of Famer Daniel Negreanu in grabbing the glory.

Playing to the Money

Day 1 of the two-day PGT Championship event saw plenty of drama at the tables inside the PokerGO Studio at ARIA in Las Vegas. With 54 players in seats and only six of them going to make any money, the battle for early chips saw the PGT Player of the Year Alex Foxen begin with the largest stack of 350,000 chips. Everyone else had progressively fewer chips the further down the leaderboard they began, meaning players such as the 2025 world champion Michael Mizrachi, high stakes crusher Jesse Lonis and the 2024 season winner Jeremy Ausmus all had catching up to do.

Ultimately, none of those players, including Foxen, made the final table or the money, and there were plenty of other high-profile exits too. Richard Gryko was the first player to bust when his pocket aces lost to the pocket kings Dream Seat qualifier Ed Miller. WSOP Main Event runner-up John Wasnock soon departed, as did the defending champion Ausmus, who lost with pocket fours to the ace-jack belonging to Stephen Chidwick.

Jesse Lonis lasted a little longer before his ace-king fell to Chad Eveslage’s pocket queens. Jason Koon was knocked out in 35^th place soon after, his pocket kings toppled by Philip Sternheimer’s ace-queen that flopped an ace to triumph. Schulman (32^nd), Mizrachi (29^th) and Kristen Foxen (24^th) all left the party before the final table was in sight, and PGT regulars Chino Rheem (16^th), David ‘ODB’ Baker (14^th) and Alex Foxen (13^th) all followed suit. Wang’s ace-king flipped him into the lead, one that he had until seven players called it a night, coming back to play through the stone bubble to kick-start the last day of action.

Kupin Busts from Final Dream Seat

When the final day of the PokerGO Tour $1m Championship Freeroll kicked off, seven players were in seats, but only six of them would take any money home. As it happened, Eric Blair was the unfortunate player to miss out on any return for his day’s work and second day of attendance. All-in with the hand that allegedly cost Doyle Brunson the most money – ace-queen – Blair was shot down by Aaron Kupin’s pocket nines.

Kupin, the WSOP Paradise Dream Seat winner, was still short himself but wasn’t the next player to leave. John Riordan bore that legend, calling off his stack with five-four on a board showing A-5-5-T-9 for trips fives. It was the best hand but not the best kicker, as Riordan’s opponent Eveslage had shoved with king-five to send Riordan to the rail with a consolation prize of $40,000.

Down to five, the last Dream Seat winner in the field finally busted. Aaron Kupin called off his stack pre-flop with ace-eight and was current to do so, Andrew Lichtenberger having shoved from the small blind with ten-nine. A ten on the flop and nine on the river saw Kupin ousted for $60,000 and play moved four-handed with ‘LuckyChewy’ thanking his lucky stars.

Kid Poker Feels the Force  

“It’s like social media, except better, because we’re playing poker and doing it!” ~ Poker Hall of Famer Daniel Negreanu

The seven-time WSOP bracelet winner and Poker Hall of Famer Daniel Negreanu was the next player to head to the rail. All-in pre-flop with ace-six of clubs, Kid Poker ran into the pocket jacks of Chad Eveslage. Despite flopping an open-ended straight draw to give himself a 40% chance of doubling back into contention, no more help came for the Canadian and he busted for $80,000 just outside the podium places.

“You learn all kinds of things here,” Negreanu eulogised about the table dynamics and discussion points. “It’s like social media, except better, because we’re playing poker and doing it! This is a show, ladies and gentlemen, an informative, educational show.”

Asked about a stunning call on Day 1 where he rivered a set of eights only to resist the raise against an opponent’s flopped set of kings, Negreanu was modest.

“I chose not to!” he replied. “I just called him. He had three kings. I’d have been out of here!”

While Negreanu was unable to run that play all the way to the final showdown for six figures, free money at the start of 2026 is never a bad thing, and $80,000 goes a fair way in $10,000 tournament buy-ins. Negreanu will likely take time off now, returning to action in PGT events to bump his early leaderboard position before training for six weeks prior to the 2026 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas this summer.

Eveslage Wins After Epic Three-Way

Down to the final three, the chip leader at the start of the day, Michael Wang, had regained the lead. But it didn’t last long. Dropping to short stack after a long time without an elimination, Wang’s race was run when he shoved with two-pair and was overtaken by Chad Eveslage on the river, a pair of eights on the board adding to the pocket kings in his hole cards to counterfeit the luckless Wang.

As Wang left to collect $120,000 for his third-place finish, both Eveslage and Lichtenberger stacked up their chips ready for one final battle. Eveslage had 80% of the chips in play and when he found pocket jacks yet again Lichtenberger’s shove with a suited eight-six was snapped off. No help came for Lichtenberger’s drawing hand and a jack on the turn ended the tournament in Eveslage’s favor.

While Lichtenberger cashed for $200,000 as runner-up, Eveslage had the top prize of $500,000 and couldn’t believe it.

“I made a lot of good hands,” Eveslage told PokerGO’s Jeff Platt after victory. “These guys are really good. I didn’t feel like [I was] the best player at the table – I had a high pocket pair about every hand at the end!”

The ever-modest Eveslage was a fitting champion after a brilliant year at the felt on the PokerGO Tour. Check out all the action below, as Daniel Negreanu, Michael Wang and Andrew Lichtenberger all tried and failed to stop the 2025 PGT Freeroll Championship winner inside the PokerGO Studio at ARIA.