Jeremy Ausmus Crowned PGT Player Of The Year, Then Wins Championship

Jeremy Ausmus’ incredible 2024 PokerGO Tour season concluded with a storybook ending when he was officially crowned the 2024 PGT Player of the Year.

Ausmus ended up with 27 PGT cashes totaling $6,491,016 throughout the year, closing out his triumphant run in style thanks to a victory in the season-ending PGT $1,000,000 Championship. Just one day after being handed an oversized check for $50,000 that came with his PGT POY honors, Ausmus was posing with the PGT Championship trophy and heading to the cage to collect the million-dollar freeroll’s top prize of $500,000.

The 45-year-old poker pro based out of Las Vegas was particularly happy to have been able to manage this achievement in his own backyard.

“A lot of the best players in the world are here in Vegas, and this is where we come to battle,” the former Colorado resident said of the PokerGO Studio at ARIA Resort & Casino, which could easily be considered his unofficial office.

“It means a lot because it’s tough, tough competition, and lots of great players. So, to win it is amazing. I love the leaderboard, it just really inspires me. It’s like a video game, you want to try to get to the top.”

Ausmus accumulated 2,966 total PGT leaderboard points across his 27 qualified scores, giving him a healthy final margin of 912 points over second-ranked Daniel Negreanu.

In addition to the championship event, the six-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner also took down a $15,100 buy-in event during the PGT PLO Series II festival in October. A dozen of Ausmus’ qualified scores saw him finish inside the top five, including six runner-up showings.

When asked if there was any frustration following a hugely successful year that was still filled with close calls, Ausmus wasn’t too bothered by his bad luck in closing out events.

“It doesn’t bother me that much to not win. I look at how my year is going overall. Am I winning, or am I losing? How many final tables have I made? Because I was deep in just about everything.”

“Certain players will either have all the chips in the tournament and they’re going to win more often, or they’re going to be out but they’re not going to be there as much. So what makes the most money? That’s what I try to focus on,” continued Ausmus. “I think being there a lot and getting seconds and thirds and fifths and sixths, that all adds up to a lot.”

“It’s not the Super Bowl. It’s not like football or baseball, where the only goal is to win and you get second and you’ve lost. It’s just not like that with poker. When you get second, you win a bunch of money. The titles are nice, but that wasn’t bothering me, they come eventually.”

Back On The Grind In 2025

While some players travel all around the globe chasing high-roller action, Ausmus has been able to balance his work-life balance as a pro thanks to the PGT and all of its offerings in Las Vegas.

“I spend a pretty good amount of time with the family at home,” the father of two said. “It’s not like I’m working 50 hours a week even or anything crazy. I just kind of put my hours in, and it’s intense at times, but then I get two weeks or sometimes three weeks off several times a year.”

“My kids think it’s cool when I bring home the trophies. They watch it,” said Ausmus. “My kids aren’t really into poker, though. They are curious about how I did if I won a trophy or a bunch of money, but they don’t play. My wife is always watching, and my family, my sisters, my mom, stepdad, they’re always watching every event now, which is cool. I always have a lot of people rooting for me.”

When asked about the PGT, Ausmus expressed appreciation for the tour.

“I’m just very grateful for the PGT even existing because it gives me a place to come work. And they add in this extra money, so it’s a big deal for grinding professionals. I just am going to put in a lot of volume here no matter what. I’ve never set financial or monetary goals for poker, I just try to put in that time, play my best, and always improve. Those are my three things. The results take care of themselves eventually.”

“I think my chances every year are good to win this because I play all the games,” he offered when asked about going for another POY title. “I live here, so at the WSOP I get to sleep in my own bed. I go all out at the Series, and those are very heavy for points for the PGT.”

Ausmus cashed for more than $3 million at the WSOP in 2024, with five total cashes and four final-table finishes. Not only did he finish second in the $100,000 high roller for $1.9 million, but he added another $750,000 for his seventh-place finish in the $250,000 high roller, and also another $200,000 in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship.

He picked up $3.4 million via his 22 other PGT cashes throughout the season, including a third-place showing in the $300,000 Super High Roller Bowl IX for $1.2 million. Ausmus now has more than $24.6 million in recorded tournament earnings to his name.

Going Out On Top: Ausmus Uses Chip Advantage To Win Championship

The PGT $1 million championship freeroll features a unique format that determines each player’s starting stack based on how high they finished in the top 40 of the rankings.

As the highest points earner throughout the year, Ausmus entered the finale with the largest chip stack in the field, which consisted of not only the top 40 players, but also 10 Dream Seat winners, which secured a spot via a number of PGT contests and promotions.

But despite the small head start, Ausmus didn’t feel any added pressure to perform in the tournament.

“I started with five more big blinds than Negreanu, 10 more big blinds than Seth Davies, 15 more big blinds than Michael Rocco. Inexperienced players will be in a tournament with someone who has all the chips. Then later they’re like, ‘You busted. What happened?’ They can’t believe that [the chip leader] didn’t win the tournament. Even when you’re the chip leader with 10 left or five left, you don’t go on to win 80 percent of the time or even the majority of the time. So with 50 players and not even a huge chip lead, it’s anyone’s game. I’m favored, but I’m not likely to win, so I didn’t put too much pressure on myself. I just tried to play my best.”

The two-day tournament started on Jan. 10. By the end of day 1, the final table of six was set. Five-time bracelet winner Kristen Foxen and her three-time bracelet winning husband Alex Foxen were in contention late, but ultimately both went out just outside of the money. Kristen was eliminated by Chris Hunichen, the player who just happened to put a nasty beat on Ausmus to win the $100,000 high roller at the WSOP six months prior.

Two-time bracelet winner Dylan Weisman held the chip lead among the final six, with Ausmus starting day 2 as the short stack. A classic preflop race resulted in the first knockout of the day. Three-time bracelet winner and reigning Poker Masters series champion Jim Collopy got all-in with pocket sevens facing the A-K of six-time bracelet winner Nick Schulman. A king-high runout saw Collopy sent to the rail in sixth place for $40,000.

Hunichen soon followed, losing a three-way all-in against Schulman and five-time bracelet winner Calvin Anderson. Hunichen’s K-10 was unable to overcome the ace highs of both Anderson and Schulman, who chopped the pot when the board double-paired. Hunichen earned $60,000 for his fifth-place showing.

Weisman was the next to fall, with his pocket sevens outrun by the A 5 of Anderson, who flopped a five and turned trips. The PLO specialist banked $80,000 as the fourth-place finisher.

Ausmus took the lead thanks to a big cooler, getting all-in on the river with nines full of jacks and beating the nines full of tens held by Anderson. Schulman then doubled up through Anderson to leave him on fumes.

Anderson got the last of his stack in with J 5 shoved from the small blind. He was quickly called by Ausmus, who woke up with pocket kings in the big blind. Ausmus made kings full of queens to win the pot and eliminate Anderson in third place for $120,000.

With that, Ausmus took a 4:1 lead into heads-up play over Schulman and didn’t take too long to close it out. In the final hand, Schulman limped from the button with 8 5. Ausmus checked from the big blind with K 9 and the flop came down J 9 7. Ausmus checked and Schulman fired with his double-gutter straight draw.

Ausmus called with his middle pair and the 2 rolled off on the turn. Ausmus check-called again. The 7 on the river paired the board and Ausmus checked a third time. Schulman shoved for 1,145,000 with his missed draw and Ausmus went into the tank. He eventually found the call with his nines and sevens to lock up the pot and the title.

Schulman earned $200,000 as the runner-up, giving the 40-year-old five-time bracelet winner more than $22.3 million in lifetime scores to his name.

Final 2024 PGT Player Of The Year Standings