Taylor Paur is a highly accomplished poker tournament professional, with two World Series of Poker bracelets and nearly $6.4 million in recorded tournament earnings to his name. While he came up through the online poker streets, he has had plenty of success in the live arena. He was particularly hot in the 2010s, winning his first bracelet in 2013 and the World Poker Tour Bay 101 Shooting Star main event title a couple of years after that.
While Paur has recorded plenty of deep runs in the decade-plus that followed those career-defining victories, he had not closed out a major win on the live scene since January of 2016. His lone recorded title in the intervening decade came in the 2019 WSOP Online $500 Summer Saver.
Paur broke the live title drought in early 2026 thanks to a win at the PokerGO Tour Kickoff series. He defeated a field of 145 entries in event no. 4, a $5,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament, to earn $174,000 and his first PGT trophy.
Paur surged into second place in the season-long PGT points race thanks to this victory. He trails only Andrew Moreno, who won the previous event at the festival and then made a podium run in this tournament. Paur also secured 576 Card Player Player of the Year points. The 2010 Card Player Online Player of the Year award winner now sits within striking distance of the top 50 in the early 2026 standings presented by CoinPoker.
Zaki Goes From Chip Leader To Out In Seventh
A total of $725,000 in prize money was paid out in this event, with 21 players making the money. The second and final day began with seven players still in contention, with Justin Zaki leading and Paur in the middle of the pack. Zaki crashed down the leaderboard after check-jamming the river with third pair. Paur made the call with aces and sevens to surge into the lead. Zaki was soon sent packing in seventh place ($29,000).
.@Justin_Zaki check-jams the river against @taypaur. After a long tank… pic.twitter.com/fOk6yKhIuQ
— PGT (@PokerGOTour) January 30, 2026
Bracelet winner and poker content creator Ethan ‘Rampage’ Yau then eliminated Scott Eskenazi (6th – $36,250) to narrow the field to five. Paul Roy (5th – $43,500) was the next to fall, with his K♦Q♦ unable to overcome the A♠8♣ of Paur in a preflop showdown.
Jeremy Becker’s last chips went in with Q♦10♦ dominated by the A♥Q♣ of Paur, who turned trip aces and faded Becker’s gutshot outs to enter three-handed action with the lead.
Closing Out The Win
Moreno came quite close to winning back-to-back titles at this series, having taken down event no. 3 for $162,300 just one day earlier. His run in this tournament came to an end in third place ($76,125) when his K♣7♣ failed to outrun the A♠4♠ of Paur. Moreno, the champion of the 2021 Wynn Millions main event, now boasts career earnings of nearly $6.7 million.
After winning Event #3, @Amo4sho finishes 3rd in PGT Kickoff Event #4 for $76,125 and 152 PGT points. pic.twitter.com/BLLw1AwxyM
— PGT (@PokerGOTour) January 31, 2026
Paur fared much better with his K♠7♥, which came from behind in the final hand to beat Yau’s K♥9♣. The board ran out 8♠4♦3♠5♣7♣ to give Paur a winning pair of sevens on the end to bring the event to a close. Yau earned $105,125 as the runner-up, growing his career haul to over $4.2 million. This was his second final table of the week, having also placed fifth in the first event offered for another $40,500 payday.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points | PGT Points |
| 1 | Taylor Paur | $174,000 | 576 | 348 |
| 2 | Ethan Yau | $105,125 | 480 | 210 |
| 3 | Andrew Moreno | $76,125 | 384 | 152 |
| 4 | Jeremy Becker | $58,000 | 288 | 116 |
| 5 | Paul Roy | $43,500 | 240 | 87 |
| 6 | Scott Eskenazi | $36,250 | 192 | 73 |
| 7 | Justin Zaki | $29,000 | 144 | 58 |
Photo credit: PGT / Antonio Abrego.
