.jpg "Vladas Tamasauskas")
A record 114 entrants were made in the first event of the 2023 Poker Masters series at the PokerGO studio, crushing the previous high of 97. The prizepool swelled to $1,140,000, with the top 17 players banking at least $17,100.
In the end, the title went to Lithuania’s Vladas Tamasauskas, who is having a great month of September so far. The 28-year-old earned $239,400 and his first PokerGO trophy.
Just two weeks ago Tamasauskas finished third in the EPT Barcelona €10,000 high roller for $439,650. His biggest score remains the $451,112 he pocketed for fourth place in the 2022 WSOP Europe main event. He now has more than $2.2 million in recorded tournament earnings.
Tamasauskas came into the final table as one of the short stacks but found timely double ups to get back into contention. He eventually beat Aram Zobian after about an hour of heads up play, overcoming an initial 3:1 chip disadvantage.
Zobian was looking for his second PokerGO title of the year, having already won event no. 2 of the PokerGO Cup in January. The 2018 WSOP main event final tablist settled for second place and $171,000, bringing his career totals to more than $5.1 million.
Ren Lin finished third for $125,400, marking his 20th final table of the year. The Chinese player now sits in fifth place in the Card Player Player of the Year race, with nearly $3.5 million in winnings in 2023 alone.
Notables who finished in the money included for POY winner Anthony Zinno (17th), current POY frontrunner Bin Weng (16th), and WSOP main event champion Ryan Riess (15th). Other high-stakes regulars included Pin Liu (13th), Byron Kaverman (12th), Dylan Linde (11th), Ben Yu (9th), Jesse Lonis (8th), and Victoria Livschitz (5th).
There are 10 events in total at the Poker Masters, which runs until Sept. 26 and features buy-ins ranging from $10,000 to $50,000. The best performing player throughout the series will be awarded the Purple Jacket.
The high-stakes festival began in 2017 and has been won by Steffen Sontheimer (2017), Ali Imsirovic (2018), Sam Soverel (2019), Michael Addamo (2021), and Sean Winter (2022).
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout | POY | PGT |
| 1 | Vladas Tamasauskas | $239,400 | 600 | 239 |
| 2 | Aram Zobian | $171,000 | 500 | 171 |
| 3 | Ren Lin | $125,400 | 400 | 125 |
| 4 | Filipp Khavin | $102,600 | 300 | 103 |
| 5 | Victoria Livschitz | $79,800 | 250 | 80 |
| 6 | Sam Laskowitz | $68,400 | 200 | 68 |
| 7 | Scott Jacewicz-O’Kelly | $57,000 | 150 | 57 |
| 8 | Jesse Lonis | $45,600 | 100 | 46 |
*Photos by PokerGO – Antonio Abrego
