Winner Winner! Shannon Shorr And Brandon Wilson See Double At PGT Last Chance

The latest PokerGO Tour season extended slightly past the new year, with one final festival slated to give contenders another shot at qualifying for the PGT $1,000,000 Championship.

The fittingly titled PGT Last Chance series sported a schedule comprised of six $10,000 no-limit hold’em tournaments held inside the PokerGO Studio at ARIA Resort & Casino Las Vegas. A total of $7 million in prize money was paid out across the tournaments as players scrambled to secure their spot in the million-dollar freeroll for the top 40 players in the final season-long PGT points standings. This festival also featured a series leaderboard that awarded three ‘Dream Seat’ entries to players who fell short of the cutoff.

The first event of the series was won by six-time bracelet winner Nick Schulman, who had secured his latest World Series of Poker victory just weeks earlier at the end of the 2024 WSOP Paradise series.

The 40-year-old poker pro overcame a field of 111 total entries to earn $283,050, which brought his career haul to nearly $22.1 million. He also earned 283 PGT points, which helped him secure a top-10 final ranking and a spot in the freeroll. Brazilian pro Joao Simao earned $177,600 as the runner-up and is now approaching $8 million in career earnings thanks to this latest deep run.

Shannon Shorr came out on top in event no. 2. The 39-year-old two-time bracelet winner bested a field of 119 entries to secure the $297,500 top prize. Bracelet winner Stephen Song held the lead heading into the final day, but a huge coinflip saw Shorr’s pocket jacks best Song’s A-K to rearrange the leaderboard. Song ultimately finished fourth for $101,150.

Shorr eliminated 2024 WSOP main event eighth-place finisher Joe Serock heads-up to close out the title. This would not be his final appearance in the winner’s circle at this festival, though.

Before Shorr could get his second win, however, it was Brandon Wilson who took down back-to-back events to surge into the lead in the series standings. The rising high-roller star bounced back from being down to his last few big blinds to win event no. 3, besting the field of 119 entries to earn $297,500. He overcame plenty of stiff competition down the stretch, including Mid-States Poker Tour Venetian champion Landon Tice in second.

After finishing off his match with Tice, Wilson quickly hopped into event no. 4. The following day, he emerged victorious from the field of 114 with another trophy and an additional $285,000 in prize money, bringing his total haul for the series to $582,500.

Wilson now has more than $3.9 million in lifetime earnings, with six high-stakes titles won since the end of last summer. The majority of those have come at Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood festivals, where he topped two $50,000 buy-ins and two $25,000 buy-in high rollers.

Wilson came into the final day in event no. 4 with the lead but was trailing six-time bracelet winner Jeremy Ausmus when heads-up play began. The final showdown hinged on a massive hand that began with Wilson raising on the button with 10 10.

Ausmus called from the big blind with Q 5 and the flop came down K 8 4. Ausmus checked and Wilson continuation bet. Ausmus check-raised as a bluff and Wilson hung around. The 7 turn drew another barrel from Ausmus, who had picked up a gutshot straight draw. Wilson called and the 4 river paired the board. Ausmus moved all-in and Wilson, who was barely covered, went into the tank before eventually picking off the bluff and ultimately winning it all.

Wilson earned 583 PGT points with his two wins, locking up a spot in the championship via his performance on this series’ leaderboard in the process. He also accrued a total of 1,200 Card Player Player of the Year points across his two wins, enough to move him into third place in the 2025 POY standings presented by Global Poker.

The runner-up finish was Ausmus’ 26th qualified score of the PGT season, which helped secure his hold on the top spot in the standings heading into the championship freeroll.

The penultimate title of the festival was captured by two-time bracelet winner Martin Zamani. He beat out a field of 121 entries, which was a new record for this price point at the PokerGO Studio, to earn $302,500. The score pushed Zamani’s career earnings to nearly $7 million.

He earned 303 PGT points for this triumph, which turned out to be enough to see him join Wilson as one of the three ‘Dream Seat’ winners.

Zamani defeated five-time bracelet winner Kristen Foxen heads-up. She earned $187,550 as the runner-up, growing her lifetime total to nearly $10,500,000. Foxen is just the second female player in poker history to rack up eight figures in tournament scores. She now trails female all-time money leader Vanessa Selbst ($10,899,027) by just $440,000.

Five days after winning event no. 2 for $297,500, Shorr was once again posing with the PGT trophy in hand. This was his second win and third cash of the series, with his $611,700 total being the highest of any player during the festival.

Shorr earned $290,000 as the champion of the final event of the series. With 612 total points, the Alabama native wound up at the very top of the series standings. As a result, he officially booked a spot in the championship alongside Wilson and Zamani.

The final event drew 116 entries, with Shorr defeating 2024 WSOP main event fifth-place finisher Boris Angelov heads-up to bring the series to a close.