Ray Qartomy Crushes PokerGO Tour Texas Poker Open High RollersHouston Resident Final Tables Three Out Of Four $5,000 Side Events, With Two Wins And A Third-Place Finish |
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The 2025 PokerGO Tour Texas Poker Open series at Champions Club Texas in Houston featured four $5,000 buy-in high roller side events. The tournaments collectively paid out $515,000 in total prize money, with Houston local Ray Qartomy emerging as the star of the show.
Qartomy (pictured above) made the final table in three of the four events, with two outright wins and one third-place showing. All told, he cashed for $101,400 in the high roller events, and added another $5,500 to his haul at the series with a 72nd-place finish in the $3,300 main event. As a result, Qartomy now has more than $5.3 million in career tournament earnings to his name.
This spree began when Qartomy bested a field of 15 entries in the first high roller to earn $40,500 and a TPO belt buckle trophy. Ed Sebesta was the runner-up ($22,500) while David Chen placed third for $12,000.
| Place | Player | Earnings | PGT Points |
| 1 | Ray Qartomy | $40,500 | 41 |
| 2 | Edward Sebesta | $22,500 | 23 |
| 3 | David Chen | $12,000 | 12 |
Chen and Qartomy swapped roles the following day in high roller no. 2. Chen emerged victorious from a field of 24 entries to earn $54,000 and the title, which was his second in a PGT event. Ernest Bush finished second ($33,600), while Qartomy was awarded $19,200 as the third-place finisher.
This win grew Chen’s career earnings to $886,470. His largest score remains the $217,500 he took home as the champion of a $10,000 event at the 2024 Poker Masters.
| Place | Player | Earnings | PGT Points |
| 1 | David Chen | $54,000 | 54 |
| 2 | Ernest Bush | $33,600 | 34 |
| 3 | Ray Qartomy | $19,200 | 19 |
| 4 | David Evans | $13,200 | 13 |
The third high roller was the largest of the festival, with 39 entries making for a $195,000 prize pool. Elliot Smith came away with the title and the $58,680 top prize after cutting a heads-up deal with Terry Morales (2nd – $58,320).
Smith now has more than $2.7 million in recorded tournament scores.
Several big names ran deep in this event, including reigning World Series of Poker main event champion Jonathan Tamayo (5th – $15,600) and Las Vegas tournament grinder Jeremy Becker (4th – $21,450).
| Place | Player | Earnings | PGT Points |
| 1 | Elliot Smith | $58,680 | 59 |
| 2 | Terry Morales | $58,320 | 58 |
| 3 | Seunghyun Nam | $29,250 | 29 |
| 4 | Jeremy Becker | $21,450 | 21 |
| 5 | Jonathan Tamayo | $15,600 | 16 |
| 6 | Edward Sebesta | $11,700 | 12 |
The fourth and final high roller saw Qartomy win his second title of the series. He bested 25 entries to walk away with $41,700 after a heads-up deal with bracelet winner Brian Green ($49,550).
Smith finished third ($20,000), while Chen placed fourth ($13,750).
Green also finished 11th in the main event at this series, earning $33,000 for that deep run through a field of 699 entries. His career tournament haul now sits at $4.1 million.
| Place | Player | Earnings | PGT Points |
| 1 | Ray Qartomy | $41,700 | 42 |
| 2 | Brian Green | $49,550 | 50 |
| 3 | Elliot Smith | $20,000 | 20 |
| 4 | David Chen | $13,750 | 14 |
Photo credits: PokerGO Tour.
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