Andrew Moreno Earns PGT Kickoff Win For Third PokerGO Title

Andrew Moreno got his 2026 campaign off to a strong start, taking down event no. 3 of the PGT Kickoff series. Moreno won $162,300 and his third career PokerGO Tour title, defeating three-time bracelet winner Jim Collopy heads-up to close out the victory. He also earned 576 points towards the 2026 Card Player Player of the Year race, presented by CoinPoker.

With this victory, Moreno’s career tournament earnings now sit at just shy of $6.6 million. His largest score remains the $1.5 million that came with the trophy in the 2021 Wynn Millions main event.

Moreno’s latest win came with 366 PGT points. That amounts to double the typical total for a PGT event of this size, a special perk for all of the tournaments at this PGT Kickoff festival.

For the third consecutive event of the series, the field set a new high-water mark. A total of 159 entrants put up the $5,300 buy-in, representing the second-largest turnout for this buy-in level in PGT history.

In-the-money finishers in this tournament who went out prior to the final table include Erik Seidel, Chino Rheem, Dan Shak, and Dan Sepiol.

When the final seven players resumed action on Thursday afternoon, Joao Simao and David Coleman stood atop the chip counts, just ahead of Collopy. But that was soon to change.

Nearly A Collopy Runaway

Stephen Song (7th – $31,800) came into seven-handed play severely short-stacked. He soon lost the last of his chips when he shoved the small blind with 10♦4♦ into Jared Jaffee’s pocket tens.

Collopy started his ascent with a key double through Coleman. On a J♣4♦2♥5♦ board, Coleman jammed with 10♦9♦ and Collopy called with his top set of jacks, which held. Despite picking up the first elimination of the final table, Jaffee was the next player to go. Jaffee got his chips in good, with A♠J♦ on a J♣10♠3♥ flop. But Collopy’s Q♣9♦ found a king on the river to make a straight, eliminating Jaffee in sixth place ($39,750).

Brandon Wilson was the next to fall to Collopy’s rush, going out in fifth place ($47,700) when his Q♦10♦ lost a race to Collopy’s pocket eights.

Moreno Rallies

Moreno, who bided his time for much of the final table, doubled through Coleman as his K♦10♠ found trips on the flop to beat Coleman’s pocket sixes. He utilized those newfound chips to knock out Simao (4th – $59,625), whose Q♥J♥ couldn’t catch up to Moreno’s A♥J♦.

David Coleman out 3rd. @Amo4sho jams from the small blind and Coleman calls to put himself at risk from the big blind.

Coleman earns $79,500 and 159 PGT points.

Now heads up:

Jim Collopy 10,425,000
Andrew Moreno 9,450,000 pic.twitter.com/Uoh2mCkvLD

— PGT (@PokerGOTour) January 29, 2026

Another elimination for Moreno came in a clash of blinds. Moreno shoved with 8♠7♣ in the small blind, and Coleman called with K♠J♦. Moreno flopped two pair and turned a full house, eliminating Coleman in third place ($79,500). This was already the third final-table finish of the year for Coleman, who also finished runner-up in two PGT Last Chance events earlier in January. He is now ranked second in the POY standings thanks to his impressive start in 2026.

After a double-up and two knockouts, Moreno pulled his stack nearly even with Collopy’s. The two made a heads-up deal to flatten the payouts. Soon after that, Collopy took a big pot without showdown early on in the heads-up match, but Moreno doubled up three times to pull his way back into contention.

On the final hand, the chips went in on a Q♥7♥3♣ flop. Moreno called Collopy’s shove with Q♣6♥, and had to fade Collopy’s flush draw with 10♥2♥.

.@Amo4sho wins PGT Kickoff Event #3! He earns $162,300 and 366 PGT points.

Jim Collopy finishes runner-up for $135,775. pic.twitter.com/SEAHvfW8vK

— PGT (@PokerGOTour) January 29, 2026

The board paired sevens on the turn, and then paired queens on the river to give Moreno the winning full house.

In the earliest stages of the 2026 PGT season, Moreno now sits atop the PGT season-long leaderboard. The six-event PGT Kickoff series runs through Jan. 31, with the PGT Mixed Game Series kicking off in its immediate wake on Feb. 3.

Final Table Results

Photo credit: PGT / Antonio Abrego.