Chad Eveslage took advantage of the many mixed games events offered on the PokerGO Tour’s schedule during the 2025 season, winning the inaugural $100,000 Super High Roller Bowl Mixed Games event and the $25,000 H.O.R.S.E. event at the World Series of Poker to secure his fourth career bracelet.
The two PGT-qualified victories helped propel him inside the top 20 in the final standings for the high-stakes-centric points race. As a result, he earned a seat in the $1 million PGT Championship that capped off the season, and took full advantage of that opportunity.
Eveslage beat out a field of 54 in the seven-figure freeroll, comprised of the 40 highest point earners on the season-long leaderboard and 14 dream seat winners. The $500,000 top prize that came with the massive trophy propelled his career earnings over $12 million.
This win put a bow on a successful season for Eveslage. The Indiana native cashed for more than $3.2 million across eight PGT cashes, with three titles and four final-table finishes. His SHRB Mixed Games win came with $1.2 million, while he took home another $883,841 for his latest triumph at the WSOP.
The win further cements Eveslage’s reputation as one of the top all-around players in both mixed games and no-limit hold’em. Two of his previous bracelets came in the dealer’s choice format, having won both the $1,500 and $10,000 buy-in versions of the event in 2023. The previous year he took down a $25,000 no-limit hold’em high roller. His two World Poker Tour main event titles came in the 2022 WPT Five Diamond and 2021 WPT Venetian main events.
Setting The Tournament Field
Eveslage had to outlast a stacked roster of PGT stars on his way to the title. One unique detail of this tournament is that the 40 players who won their way in via the standings began with different starting stacks depending on their placement on the leaderboard.
PGT Leaderboard champion Alex Foxen started with the biggest stack at 350,000, while Ben Tollerene in 40th place started with 130,000. As the 20th-ranked player, Eveslage began with 245,000, which was good for 245 big blinds when play got underway.
In addition to PGT regulars in the mix, there were also several big names and some fresh faces among the 14 dream seat winners. Five players won their way in with stacks of 125,000 thanks to the PGT Last Chance leaderboard, while two-time bracelet winner Nick Petrangelo secured a spot thanks to his performance at the NAPT Las Vegas festival.
The other dream seat winners started with 100,000 in chips. Aaron Kupin joined thanks to his success at WSOP Paradise, and David Shaw did the same as the winner of a year-long leaderboard at Champions Club Texas. Ed Miller won the RunGood Poker Series Dream Seat Invitational after qualifying with a victory in an RGPS ring event.
There were also five seats awarded to PokerGO fans. Travis Hague, David Friedler, and Timothy Tuveson were drawn from a list of PokerGO annual subscribers. Daniel VanDyke won a social media promotion, while Matthew Petry took a seat thanks to a PokerGO Podcast promotion.
Blair Bubbles, Riordan Tripped Up
While some players were just happy to get an invite to the freeroll, and others used the event as an excuse to gamble on black-and-red props, the $500,000 first-place prize had plenty of players in a serious mood. Although Foxen started with a chip advantage and was able to build a stack to start the tournament, he ultimately went out with two tables remaining at the hands of Andrew Lichtenberger. Lichtenberger would be the only player from the top 10 of the leaderboard to make the final table.
Eveslage barely survived day 1 action, moving on to day 2 as the second-shortest stack among the remaining seven contenders.
Michael Wang was out in front when play resumed, with only one elimination needed to burst the bubble. It came via classic preflop coin flip, with Eric Blair’s A♦Q♣ unable to outrace the pocket nines of Aaron Kupin. Blair flopped a gutshot straight draw to go with his overcards, but blanks on the turn and river saw him sent to the rail empty-handed.
The first knockout inside the money saw two-time bracelet winner and reigning SHRB Pot-Limit Omaha champion John Riordan sent packing with trips thanks to kicker trouble. He defended his big blind with 5♠4♠ facing a button raise from Eveslage, who held K♥5♥. The flop came down A♣5♦5♦ and Riordan could not get away by the river. Eveslage’s king kicker earned him the pot and the knockout, while Riordan settled for $40,000.
Aaron Kupin finished fifth for $60,000 when his A♥8♠ failed to hold against the 10♦9♦ of Lichtenberger, which was open-jammed from the small blind. Kupin called off the rest of his 15-big blind stack and the two saw a J♠10♣5♥K♥9♥ runout. Lichtenberger’s two pair gave him the chip lead heading into the final four.
Seven-time bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu’s run came to an end in fourth place. In his final hand he raised from under-the-gun with A♣6♣. Eveslage looked down at pocket jacks and three-bet from the small blind. Negreanu called, leaving himself with two big blinds behind. The flop came down 5♠4♦3♠ and Eveslage put Negreanu all-in. After a quick call, the cards were on their backs.
The Poker Hall of Famer was looking for an ace, seven, or deuce. Instead the 10♣ turn and 3♥ river kept pocket jacks best. Negreanu earned $80,000 for his efforts, surpassing $57 million in career earnings in the process.
The next elimination hand saw Wang get all-in on a 10♦9♣8♠ flop with his 10♥9♥ leading the pocket kings of Eveslage, who had three-bet Wang’s preflop button open from the big blind. Wang was still ahead with two pair after the 2♣ turn, but the 8♦ river gave Eveslage kings up to earn the pot. Wang, a WPT champion and three-time bracelet winner, secured $120,000 for his latest deep run.
With that, Eveslage took a more than 4:1 lead into heads-up play with Lichtenberger, and it didn’t take long for him to convert that advantage into the title. The final hand of the tournament gave Lichtenberger 8♣6♣ on the button. He jammed for just over 13 big blinds and Eveslage quickly called with pocket jacks. The board came down Q♦4♠2♦J♥3♠ to bring the tournament to a close.
Lichtenberger was awarded $200,000 as the runner-up. The bracelet winner now boasts over $24.8 million in career cashes, which puts him just inside the top 50 of the all-time money list.
Final Table Results
| 1 | Chad Eveslage | $500,000 | |
| 2 | Andrew Lichtenberger | $200,000 | |
| 3 | Michael Wang | $120,000 | |
| 4 | Daniel Negreanu | $80,000 | |
| 5 | Aaron Kupin | $60,000 | |
| 6 | John Riordan | $40,000 |
- Photos by PokerGO