The return of high roller tournament action to the PokerGO Studio brought pot-limit Omaha specialists together for the PGT PLO Series, which culminated in a major milestone for Cesar Garcia.
The Spanish pro already had a World Series of Poker bracelet and a $1.2 million Onyx High Roller Series victory his name. With this triumph in the $26,000 championship event, he added his first-ever PGT title at the festival’s close.
Garcia walked away with the trophy and the $420,000 first-place prize, pushing his total recorded earnings to $5,710,817. He also earned 420 Card Player Player of the Year points, which moved him just outside the top 100 in the yearlong POY race presented by CoinPoker. With the exception of seventh-place finisher Brevin Andreadis, everyone else who made the final table of this tournament sits within the top 100 of those standings.
With 252 PGT points for his win, Garcia finished third in the series-long points race, behind two-time 2026 PGT PLO Series winners Jonas Kronwitter and Sam Soverel, with the latter finishing second in those standings. Kronwitter earned a $10,000 PGT passport towards future PGT tournament buy-ins thanks to his winning performance across the eight-event schedule.
In terms of the season-long PGT leaderboard, Robert Cowen, who finished second in this tournament for his second runner-up result of this series, did the most to improve his standing. He’s in 63rd place after the PGT PLO Series, ostensibly one significant win away from cracking the top 40 for a seat in the season-ending $1 million PGT Championship.
The PGT PLO Finale
The final event of the 2026 PGT PLO Series drew 48 entries for its $26,000 buy-in PLO championship. That built a $1.2 million prize pool, to be shared by the top seven finishers.
By the close of day 1 action, 12 players remained, and a big bubble loomed early on day 2. Christopher Frank, Eelis Parssinen, Chino Rheem, and Joni Jouhkimainen hit the rail near the beginning of day 2, putting the field on an eight-handed bubble. The final player to leave empty-handed was two-time bracelet winner Alex Livingston, who ran into Youness Barakat’s flopped trip deuces, falling in eighth place.
At the start of final table play, Garcia and Barakat were essentially tied in the lead, each holding more than three times as many chips as anyone else in the hunt. But from the start of final table play, things went sideways in a hurry for Barakat. He ran into Garcia’s full house almost immediately, and then doubled up both Matthew Wantman and Cowen, falling back to the pack.
Brevin Andreadis played a wild pot on his final hand. He got all-in with J♠J♥2♥2♦ against Wantman’s A♠A♣A♦K♦, and both players smashed the Q♠J♦10♠ flop. Andreadis did not find a board pair on the turn or river, though, and his run ended in seventh place ($48,000).
Sean Rafael lost a battle of pair and flush draw hands to Lautaro Guerra to fall out in sixth place ($72,000), as Guerra made a move towards Garcia’s chip lead.
Robert Cowen
Barakat’s slide concluded when his wrap straight draw ran into Garcia’s flopped set of sevens. The board paired on the turn, sealing Barakat’s fate in fifth place ($96,000).
Guerra And Wantman Fall
Cowen made his charge at this moment, taking two big pots off of Garcia to wrest away the chip lead. Cowen pulled further ahead at the expense of Guerra. The chips went in on a K♣10♠8♥ flop, with Cowen tabling A♣8♣8♦7♦ against Guerra’s A♠Q♣J♥8♠.
Despite being up against a set, Guerra still had a 41.1% chance of winning the pot, according to the Card Player Omaha odds calculator. But the 10♣ turn instantly gave Cowen a full house, guaranteeing Guerra’s exit in fourth place ($126,000). He remains the second-highest-earning PLO tournament player in the game’s history, with over $11.8 million in recorded scores. Only Parssinen ($12.1 million) has cashed for more playing the variant.
With that knockout, Cowen had a significant lead over Garcia, and Wantman sat around 15 big blinds as the short stack. Wantman called off most of his chips with a rivered straight against Garcia’s flopped full house, and despite one double back, was unable to mount a further comeback. Garcia made another full house, tens full of aces, to eliminate Wantman in third place ($174,000). The bracelet winner and World Poker Tour champion now has $13.8 million in lifetime earnings.
Garcia Seals The Deal
Cowen had a nearly 2:1 heads-up lead at his peak, but everything came down to one massive pot. Garcia and Cowen played to the river of an 8♥5♦2♥A♦6♥ board. Cowen checked, Garcia bet 850,000, and after two time extension chips, Cowen re-raised for more than half of his stack. Garcia raised all-in, and after more time extensions, Cowen called, tabling a set of aces. Garcia turned over the rivered nut flush and took a lead of 10.3 million to 1.7 million.
What a spot for Cesar Garcia!
Watch the @PokerGOTour PLO Series presented by @official_glp on https://t.co/l4l4onsRIp. https://t.co/kgBa1gELNB
— PokerGO (@PokerGO) October 4, 2026
On the final hand of the series, Cowen flopped the nut queen-high straight on a rainbow unpaired board, but Garcia turned a king-high straight to take the lead. Garcia improved to Broadway on the river and officially secured his victory. Cowen settled for $264,000 as the runner-up. The two-time bracelet winner increased his lifetime haul to over $8.9 million with this performance.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points | PGT Points |
| 1 | Cesar Garcia | $420,000 | 420 | 252 |
| 2 | Robert Cowen | $264,000 | 350 | 158 |
| 3 | Matthew Wantman | $174,000 | 280 | 104 |
| 4 | Lautaro Guerra | $126,000 | 210 | 76 |
| 5 | Youness Barakat | $96,000 | 175 | 58 |
| 6 | Sean Rafael | $72,000 | 140 | 43 |
| 7 | Brevin Andreadis | $48,000 | 105 | 29 |
Photo credits: PGT / Antonio Abrego
