Andrew Moreno is having quite the year on the live tournament circuit. The longtime poker pro has won three titles and made 10 final tables so far in 2025. His latest victory was his first yet in a PokerGO Tour major. The 42-year-old based out of Texas outlasted a field of 101 entries in event no. 3 of the ongoing Poker Masters festival, earning $252,000 as the champion of the $10,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em affair.
This was the fourth-largest score yet for Moreno, who now boasts more than $6.2 million in recorded earnings. His largest payday remains the $1.46 million he secured as the champion of the 2021 Wynn Millions main event.
In addition to the money and the hardware, Moreno also secured 600 Card Player Player of the Year points for the win. With 4,500 total points and POY earnings of nearly $1.5 million, he now sits in 27th place in the 2025 POY standings presented by CoinPoker. His two prior victories this year came in the Mission RunGood Million Dollar main event in August and a $1,000 event at The Lodge Winter Championship back in February.
Moreno also secured 252 PGT points with this win. With 760 total points across eight cashes, he is now ranked 62nd on the tour’s high-stakes-centric leaderboard.
Big Names Fall Early On Day 2
The strong turnout for this event built a prize pool of $1,010,000, with the top 15 finishers securing a share. Among those to cash late on day 1 were Krisen Foxen (15th), Nguyen Le (14th), Brock Wilson (13th), Stephen Song (12th), Victoria Livschitz (10th), Aaron Messmer (9th), and Nick Seward (8th).
The second and final day saw six hopefuls return to the PokerGO Studio inside ARIA Resort & Casino Las Vegas, with Sam Laskowitz in the lead and Moreno in the middle of the pack.
The first knockout on day 2 saw two-time bracelet winner John Riordan call off his last seven big blinds with second pair on the turn, only to find himself up against top pair of a fellow two-time bracelet winner in Jeremiah Williams. Neither player connected with the river and Riordan headed to the payout desk to collect $50,500 as the sixth-place finisher.
Bracelet winner and World Poker Tour champion Matthew Wantman then bowed out in fifth place ($65,600). He was down to fewer than eight big blinds and opened for 300,000 of his 465,000 with A♣10♠. Laskowitz called with 9♠9♣ on the button and Moreno three-bet jammed for 2,105,000 from the small blind holding 10♥10♦. Wantman called off his last 165,000 and Laskowitz folded after some time in the tank. The 7♠4♣2♠2♣K♦ runout kept Moreno’s pocket pair best to narrow the field to four contenders. Moreno climbed into second chip position after dragging that pot.
.@MatthewWantman moves all in on the short stack and runs into not one, but two pairs. How will @sam_laskowitz and @amo4sho play it, and will Wantman survive?
Watch the Poker Masters streaming now on https://t.co/2RQh5RNM18. pic.twitter.com/yQHjOdgKFJ
— PokerGO (@PokerGO) September 24, 2025
Four To Two
Four-handed action stretched on for nearly two hours, but the stalemate eventually broke when Williams raised to 700,000 from the button with A♦4♣ and Laskowitz three-bet shoved for his last 1,400,000 with A♠10♥. Williams called off his remaining 350,000 and a runout of 10♠9♥5♦Q♠3♠ ended his run in fourth place. The $90,900 he secured with this deep run grew his recorded earnings to more than $1 million.
Despite scoring that knockout, Laskowitz was the next to fall. He made his final stand in a min-raised button-versus-big blind pot after a flop of 10♦9♠4♦. Laskowitz checked with Q♠J♠ for an open-ended straight draw with overs and the backdoor flush draw. Moreno fired 600,000 with A♦K♦ for the nut diamond draw with two bigger overs. Laskowitz check-shoved for 3,175,000 total and Moreno quickly called. The 7♠ turn gave Laskowitz a fully-fledged flush draw, but the 2♦ gave Moreno the nuts and the elimination. Laskowitz earned $116,700 as the third-place finisher. Laskowitz has won two PGT titles already this month, including victories in the final PGT Bounty Blitz event and one of the PGT Venetian Classic high rollers. He now sits in 77th place in the PGT standings as a result.
Flush With Chips
Heads-up play began with Moreno holding 9,975,000 to Brian Batt’s 2,650,000. He quickly extended his lead, winning another hefty pot with a diamond flush.
The final hand of the tournament also saw Moreno make a flush in diamonds. He raised enough to put Batt all-in from the button with J♦8♦ and Batt called off his last four big blinds with J♥10♦. The board came down 5♦4♦4♣K♦2♥ to give Moreno another flush and the title.
Batt, who won an ARIA High Roller event back in 2022, cashed for $171,700 as the runner-up. This was his largest live score yet.
.@Amo4sho gets his first PGT title at the PokerGO Studio! He takes down Event #3 of the Poker Masters for $252,000. pic.twitter.com/g2qiZR8B6p
— PokerGO (@PokerGO) September 25, 2025
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points | PGT Points |
| 1 | Andrew Moreno | $252,000 | 600 | 252 |
| 2 | Brian Batt | $171,700 | 500 | 172 |
| 3 | Sam Laskowitz | $116,700 | 400 | 117 |
| 4 | Jeremiah Williams | $90,900 | 300 | 91 |
| 5 | Matthew Wantman | $65,600 | 250 | 66 |
| 6 | John Riordan | $50,500 | 200 | 51 |
| 7 | Myles Mullaly | $40,400 | 150 | 40 |
| 8 | Nicholas Seward | $40,400 | 100 | 40 |
Photo credit: PokerGO Tour / Antonio Abrego.
