The scramble for a spot in the PGT $1,000,000 Championship is coming down to the wire, and Brandon Wilson took full advantage of one of the final opportunities at hand.
Wilson won event no. 3 of the PGT Last Chance series, a $10,100 buy-in no-limit hold’em event. Along with his first-place prize of $275,400, Wilson earned 275 crucial PGT points. Wilson’s third PGT title of the season has him one min-cash away from a top-40 position on the season-long leaderboard and automatic qualification.
His odds of making the season-ending $1,000,000 championship freeroll are strong. Wilson currently occupies the top qualifying spot on the PGT Last Chance leaderboard, with dream seats awaiting the top five players for this series who have not already locked up a seat via being inside the top 40.
Wilson defeated Sergio Aido heads-up to secure his victory. In addition to the cash, and the key PGT benefits, Wilson began his 2026 Card Player Player of the Year campaign with 600 POY points. That put him among the early leaders in the POY standings presented by CoinPoker.
As for Aido, he, Chino Rheem (who finished fourth in this event), and Joey Weissman (6th) are all secure in their PGT $1,000,000 Championship spots. Jeremy Becker (3rd) and Phil Hellmuth (5th) are both well-positioned for Last Chance dream seats with three more tournaments to be played.
Making The Most Of A Last Chance
Phil Hellmuth
When action kicked off Thursday afternoon, much of the attention was focused on Hellmuth. The record-holding 17-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner hasn’t won inside the PokerGO Studio since 2023, when he took down a $10,000 event at the U.S. Poker Open.
Of the six players who returned for day 2 of this tournament, Hellmuth sat fifth in the chip counts. The perilously short-stacked Weissman got all in quickly, falling in sixth ($54,000) to Aido when his 7♦2♦ flopped a diamond flush draw but couldn’t complete it.
Hellmuth soon followed Weissman out the door. On the river of an A♥K♦3♥Q♣4♠ board, Rheem put Hellmuth at risk with a bet that covered the Poker Hall of Famer’s remaining stack. Hellmuth ultimately called with K♥Q♥, but Rheem had trip aces and knocked Hellmuth out in fifth place ($70,200). This was Hellmuth’s second final table of the series, having also finished fourth in the kickoff event.
The chips moved around a lot during four-handed play. Becker took over the chip lead, only for Aido to surge to the top. Aido knocked Rheem out in fourth place ($97,200), as pocket nines fended off Rheem’s A♥6♠. Wilson moved to the top of the leaderboard during a lengthy three-handed session, and then spiked a timely A♠ on the river against Becker. He put Becker all in for 2,150,000, a little more than half of the pot, and Becker couldn’t let go of his pocket jacks (3rd – $124,200).
Wilson never relinquished the lead during heads-up action. On the final hand of the tournament, he limped in with pocket queens and then quickly called an Aido shove. Aido’s 5♠4♠ flopped a pair of fours and turned a wheel draw, but Wilson spiked a Q♣ river to cap his victory off with a flourish. Aido earned $172,800 as the runner-up. The Spanish bracelet winner now has more than $25.8 million in career earnings.
Final Table Payouts
| Place | Player | Payout | Points | PGT Points |
| 1 | Brandon Wilson | $275,400 | 600 | 275 |
| 2 | Sergio Aido | $172,800 | 500 | 173 |
| 3 | Jeremy Becker | $124,200 | 400 | 124 |
| 4 | Chino Rheem | $97,200 | 300 | 97 |
| 5 | Phil Hellmuth | $70,200 | 250 | 70 |
| 6 | Joey Weissman | $54,000 | 200 | 54 |
| 7 | Erik Seidel | $43,200 | 150 | 43 |
Photo credits: PokerGO / Antonio Abrego.
