Poker Masters Race Heats Up as Negreanu Leads $25,000 Event

After Jeremy Ausmus won Event #7 yesterday, Keith Lehr conquered the eighth event of the Poker Masters series, winning the $277,200 top prize as he outlasted legends of the felt such as Nick Seward, Sam Soverel and the current title-chasing Nick Palma. Sitting second on the leaderboard, Palma’s cash in sixth place wasn’t quite enough to overtake Adrian Mateos at the top of the overall series leaderboard.

Dwan Bubbled Event Eight

Keith Lehr (below) is known in the poker industry as a Pot Limit Omaha (PLO) specialist, but the mixed game man will be delighted with a valuable win in No Limit Hold’em, as he banked $277,200 and his first PGT title in some time in Event #8. The tournament cost $15,700 to play and welcomed a total of 56 entries, meaning just eight players made the money.

It was the British WSOP bracelet winner Jamie Dwan who bubbled the event. The Englishman endured and enjoyed a rollercoaster ride at the felt on Day 1, but eventually fell short and got his chips in the middle with ace-seven only to run into Nick Palma’s eight-six as a six landed on the flop to take out the British tournament pro.

After Jeremy Ausmus cashed in eighth place, Daniyal Gheba also took home $33,600 in seventh place. The elimination of PokerGO favorite Sam Soverel in fifth for $67,200 then saw leaderboard challenger Nick Seward bust in fourth for $84,000.

Vaysman Threatens but Lehr Shines

Justin Vaysman won Event #6 despite having been down to a quarter of a big blind at the final table at one time. He cashed in third place for $117,600, leaving the experienced Lehr to take on the Latvian Vitalijs Zavorotnijs who was going for his second title of the series. He was leading heads-up but when he committed his chips with pocket fours, he lost the lead to Lehr’s kings and never recovered it.

When Zavorotnijs made a Broadway straight on the turn, he must have thought he had his own route back into the lead. Instead, Lehr rivered a full house and claimed a victory worth over a quarter of a million dollars and yet another major title in a career that has yielded $6m in tournament results alone. The two-time WSOP bracelet winner, who won gold in 2003 and 2015 will be a threat to the Poker Masters leaders throughout the remainder of the series.

Latest Event Sees Mateos Bubble for Fifth Time

No-one has ever bubbled more poker tournaments in one series than the Spanish player Adrian Mateos. That’s because the 50-entry Event #9, which cost $26,000 to play, saw the six-time WSOP bracelet winner bubble his fifth event of the Poker Masters series. After falling short, Mateos shoved with jack-four and couldn’t hold against the ten-three belonging to Matthew Wantman.

The exit of Mateos might have led to a change at the top of the series leaderboard if it had come a little earlier but with Nick Palma chasing hard for top spot, the ebullient New Yorker also busted outside the money places. All-in with ace-queen on a board of J-3-2-2, Palma was called by Daniel Negreanu with pocket sixes, who more than held through the six on the river to win with a full house.

After David Coleman lost a coinflip to bust, the final table of seven was set, with Negreanu in charge. Holding 2,205,000 chips, the Canadian legend and Poker Hall of Famer leads from Nick Seward (1,700,000) and Daniyal Gheba (1,120,000) in the top three, with Brandon Wilson still a threat on 755,000 chips.

Leaderboard Up for Grabs as Mateos Clings On

The race to win this year’s Poker Masters Purple Jacket looks certain to go all the way to the later stages of the final event.  With a win and runner-up spot, Adrian Mateos leads the field with 451 PGT Points. Nick Palma is within reach of a deep run win on 407 points, with Vitalijs Zavorotnijs on 365 points.

A little further back, Joey Weissman (338 points) and Justin Vaysman (325 points)  know that by winning the final event, they will more than likely take the overall title, while Jeremy Ausmus (below, 321 points), Myles Mulally (295 points), Event #8 winner Keith Lehr (265 points) and Daniyal Gheba (243 points) will all know that if they can win the tenth and final event and things go their way, they could be wearing the famous jacket.

With one final table to conclude and the 10^th event to play out, the destination of this year’s Purple Jacket is still unknown. It could make for one of the most entertaining conclusions to the Poker Masters series ever.