The 2026 PokerGO Tour season is now officially underway, with the aptly-named PGT Kickoff series getting the ball rolling. The six-event festival began with a $5,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament that attracted 135 entries. After two days of play, Andrew Lichtenberger emerged victorious, successfully defending his title after winning this same tournament in 2025. The 38-year-old poker pro based out of Las Vegas earned $162,000 and his eighth career PGT title as the first champion of the new season.
Lichtenberger is approaching $25 million in career tournament earnings thanks to this latest deep run. The bracelet winner has now recorded 47 scores of six figures or more, with five of those being for over a million dollars.
In addition to the hardware and the money, this win also came with 528 Card Player Player of the Year points and 324 PGT points. As a result, Lichtenberger is now well-positioned in both the POY and PGT points races, with the outright lead in the latter for the time being.
Grasping The Trophy, Again
The 135-entry turnout for this event was the second largest for a $5,000 buy-in PGT event, trailing only the 177 drawn in a 2025 PokerGO Cup event at the same price point. The prize pool of $675,000 was paid out amongst the top 21 finishers, with plenty of accomplished players among those who ran deep. Cherish Andrews (20th), Brock Wilson (19th), David ‘ODB’ Baker (16th), John Riordan (12th), and 2025 PGT Player of the Year Alex Foxen (10th) were among those to make the money only to fall late on day 1.
Day 2 began with seven remaining and Lichtenberger in the lead. Bracelet winner and poker content creator Ethan ‘Rampage’ Yau scored a double up early that helped him survive to the final five, but his luck soon ran out. He got all-in with pocket aces leading pocket kings for Lichtenberger, but was unable to hold and fell in fifth place ($40,500).
Aces cracked! @rampagepoker out in 5th at the hands of @luckychewy. He takes home $40,500 and 81 PGT points. pic.twitter.com/DlxkZeGIwM
— PGT (@PokerGOTour) January 27, 2026
Yau was soon joined on the rail by bracelet winner and PokerGO founder Cary Katz (4th – $54,000)and two-time bracelet winner Shannon Shorr (3rd – $70,875).
That left Lichtenberger and Jeremy Eyer heads-up for the title. Eyer, a bracelet winner from Gulfport, Mississippi, would ultimately finish as the runner-up. The $97,875 payout was the fourth-largest of his career.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points | PGT Points |
| 1 | Andrew Lichtenberger | $162,000 | 528 | 324 |
| 2 | Jeremy Eyer | $97,875 | 440 | 196 |
| 3 | Shannon Shorr | $70,875 | 352 | 142 |
| 4 | Cary Katz | $54,000 | 264 | 108 |
| 5 | Ethan Yau | $40,500 | 220 | 81 |
| 6 | Peter Mugar | $33,750 | 176 | 68 |
| 7 | Spencer Champlin | $27,000 | 132 | 54 |
Photo credits: PGT / Antonio Abrego.
