Three years after Justin Saliba won his first PokerGO Tour trophy at the PokerGO Cup, Saliba struck again at the same festival. The two-time bracelet winner took down event no. 3, a single-day, $5,300 buy-in no-limit hold’em event, to earn his third career PGT title.
Saliba earned $96,400 after a heads-up ICM deal with James Carroll, who took home $94,950. The victory came with 384 Card Player Player of the Year points for Saliba, as well as 174 PGT points towards both the series leaderboard and the season-long PGT standings. Saliba, who lives in Las Vegas, has been back home for less than a week, following three cashes at the EPT Paris festival.
This latest victory is Saliba’s second notable live title of 2026, joining a $236,925 win in a $10,000 WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open event in South Florida. Between those two results, Saliba now has over 800 POY points on the year, putting him inside the top 150 on the 2026 leaderboard presented by CoinPoker.
James Carroll
This is Carroll’s largest live tournament finish since his controversial ‘runner-up’ result in the 2025 WSOP Millionaire Maker. He began that heads-up match against Jesse Yaginuma with a massive chip lead, only to eventually lose. Many speculated that the outcome was impacted by the $1 million bonus that Yaginuma would earn as the champion via an unaffiliated ClubWPT Gold promotion.
After an investigation, no bracelet was awarded, and the top two prizes were split evenly between Carroll and Yaginuma. Both players were allegedly banned from Caesars properties and the WSOP as a result. Yaginuma reportedly still received the seven-figure bonus.
A Whirlwind Day
Registration closed with 86 entrants, making for a $430,000 prize pool. A few hours later, John Riordan had the unfortunate distinction of going out on the bubble for the second consecutive day inside the PokerGO Studio. Saliba did the dirty work, with his A♦2♦ pairing an ace to crack Riordan’s pocket jacks.
Saliba held the chip lead as the field whittled itself down from 13 players to the official final table of seven. He personally knocked out both Matthew Wantman in 13th and Neil Warren in 12th. Jeremy Becker fell at the hands of Chino Rheem in 11th, and Jeremy Ausmus busted Cherish Andrews in 10th with a set of aces.
Joao Simao exited in ninth, and Justin Zaki went out on the official final table bubble. With seven players left, Saliba was out in front, followed close behind by Rheem, Carroll, and Sam Laskowitz.
Carroll struck the first blow of the final table, turning A♠2♥ into trip aces to beat Eric Blair’s K♣Q♦, eliminating Blair in seventh place ($17,200). Ausmus followed soon thereafter, the next to fall at Saliba’s hands. The six-time WSOP bracelet winner ran pocket sixes into Saliba’s pocket kings, and the board offered no relief, ending Ausmus’ run in sixth place ($21,500).
Carroll then sent Rheem packing courtesy of a runner-runner heart flush. The chips went in preflop, as Carroll shoved with 7♥6♥ and Rheem called with ace-jack. The 10♥ on the flop was followed by the J♥ on the turn and Q♥ on the river. Rheem, the three-time WPT champion and nine-time PGT winner, settled for $30,100 as the fifth-place finisher.
Saliba Closes It Out
With that, Carroll took over the chip lead. Saliba soon closed the gap by knocking Timothy Capretta out in fourth place ($38,700). Saliba’s A♥K♥ had Capretta’s A♦4♣ in bad shape, and while Capretta turned a wheel draw, Saliba’s hand held through the river.
Laskowitz’s stack fell below 10 big blinds before he got his last chips in with J♥9♥ against Saliba’s A♦7♠. Laskowitz flopped top pair on a 9♣5♥3♠ flop, but the 2♣ turn and 4♣ river made Saliba a winning straight.
With Laskowitz out in third ($53,750), and Carroll slightly ahead, a heads-up ICM deal was quickly reached. Carroll and Saliba left $10,000 and the trophy to play for.
Saliba quickly doubled into a commanding chip lead. His A♣J♠ outkicked Carroll’s Q♠J♦ after both flopped top pair. By the river, Saliba’s ace side card was still enough to earn him the pot and the sizable chip advantage.
Carroll got his last blinds in with K♥5♣ leading against Saliba’s Q♠5♠. But the Q♣ on the flop made Saliba a tournament-winning pair, which held through the river to bring the event to a close.
🏆 Justin Saliba has conquered a tough field of 86 entries to claim victory in the @PokerGo Cup Event #3: $5,000 NLH! An impressive win at the PokerGO studio —congratulations, Justin! pic.twitter.com/HBwfECanUA
— PokerNews (@PokerNews) March 6, 2026
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout | Points | PGT Points |
| 1 | Justin Saliba | $96,400 | 384 | 174 |
| 2 | James Carroll | $94,950 | 320 | 113 |
| 3 | Sam Laskowitz | $53,750 | 256 | 81 |
| 4 | Timothy Capretta | $38,700 | 192 | 58 |
| 5 | Chino Rheem | $30,100 | 160 | 45 |
| 6 | Jeremy Ausmus | $21,500 | 128 | 32 |
| 7 | Eric Blair | $17,200 | 96 | 26 |
Winner photo credit: PGT / Antonio Abrego.
