Bryce Yockey has seized the lead in the 2025 PokerGO Tour Pot-Limit Omaha Series II points race thanks to earning his second title of the four-card festival. His most recent triumph saw him best 65 entries in event no. 9, the third and final $15,000 buy-in of the festival. He earned $290,000 for the win, which came just three days after he took down event no. 6, a $10,000 buy-in with 88 entries.
Yockey’s earlier victory came with $237,600 in prize money. He also cashed in event no. 2, placing 12th out of 133 entries in that $5,000 quattro bounty affair. All told, he has already cashed for $537,600.
The two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner added 232 PGT points with his second victory, bringing his total to 487 on the series. That’s good for a 32-point lead over second-ranked Sean Winter in the standings heading into the $25,000 buy-in finale.
This triumph also came with 432 Card Player Player of the Year points. With 3,388 for 2025, Yockey now sits in 67th place in the overall standings presented by CoinPoker.
Big Names Bust Early
The prize pool for this event closed at $975,000, with the top ten finishers earning a piece. The money bubble burst late on day 1, with notables like Bruno Furth (9th) and Chino Rheem (8th) busting before play was halted for the night.
The final day began with three-time bracelet winner Artur Martirosian leading the remaining seven contenders. Sean Rafael was the first to fall, with Isaac Haxton’s seven full of kings sending him packing in seventh place ($40,000).
Matthew Wantman recorded his third final-table showing of the festival, finishing sixth in this event for $53,000. He was also the runner-up in event no. 6 and placed fifth in event no. 7. He has now cashed for $297,300 so far this series. His latest ouster saw him commit most of his stack preflop with K♥Q♥Q♠J♥ from the cutoff. Haxton called the 175,000 raise with 10♥8♣6♣2♠ from the big blind and the flop came down Q♠9♥6♥ to give Wantman top set, a flush draw, and a gutshot. Haxton shoved for Wantman’s last 55,000 and, of course, received a call. The J♣ turn gave Haxton a queen-high straight and the lead. Wantman missed on the 5♠ and headed to the rail to collect his latest payout inside the PokerGO Studio.
Despite starting the day with the top stack, Martirosian was the next to be eliminated. He got all-in after a flop of A♣4♠3♠ with A♥6♠5♠5♥ for top pair and an open-ended straight flush draw. He was up against K♠K♦J♠4♣ for Yockey. The J♣ turn and 10♥ saw Yockey make jacks up to win the pot and send Martirosian packing in fifth place ($73,000). The Russian professional player now sits in fourth place in the POY standings with 8,314 total points.
Top pair and an open-ended straight flush draw for Artur
Watch the @PokerGOTour PLO Series on https://t.co/2RQh5ROjQG. pic.twitter.com/Oyr7fmXqTq
— PokerGO (@PokerGO) October 24, 2025
Yockey Picking Up Steam
Veselin Karakitukov made an impressive run at winning back-to-back titles. One day removed from taking down event no. 8 for $348,300, the Bulgarian battled his way down to the final four in this event. His quest was cut short by Yockey, though. The two got all the chips in after a 9♦7♣5♣ flop with Karkitukov holding A♥Q♣10♥8♣ for the nut flush draw and an open-ended straight draw. Yockey had K♥Q♦9♥8♦ for top pair and a different straight draw. The 10♠ turn filled Yockey’s draw, and his ten-high straight remained best on the K♠ river. Karakitukov earned $99,000 as the fourth-place finisher. He climbed to third in the series points race thanks to his impressive one-two punch in the final two $15,000 events.
Haxton was the next to fall. The two-time Super High Roller Bowl champion slid to the bottom of the counts early in three-handed action. He made his final stand with top two on a 9♣6♠4♥ flop. Haxton’s 9♥7♦6♦3♥ remained best through the 8♦ turn, but the 7♣ river improved Yockey’s K♠J♣5♠4♦ an eight-high straight and the knockout. Haxton secured $130,000 for his efforts. The bracelet winner’s career earnings surpassed $63.2 million with this score, the 250th of his storied career. He now sits in seventh place on poker’s all-time money list.
Closing Out The Win
With that, Yockey entered heads-up play with 5,225,000 to the 2,900,000 of Ben Tollerene. The gap between the final two narrowed slightly to start, but Yockey soon managed to build his advantage to better than 2:1 ahead of the final hand of the tournament. He raised t0 240,000 with Q♣9♥9♣8♣ on the button and Tollerene three-bet to 720,000 with A♥Q♦8♥3♦. Yockey called and the flop came down J♠10♣5♥. Tollerene shoved with his double gutter and Yockey called. The K♣ turn gave Tollerene Broadway and the lead, but also saw Yockey pick up a flush draw. The A♣ on the end filled that flush, earning Yockey the pot and the title.
Tollerene locked up $190,000 as the second-place finisher. This was his 16th final-table showing of the year, with two titles won along the way. He now has nearly $11.9 million in POY earnings and 6,917 points, which places him eighth in the POY standings.
What a run to the winner’s circle for Bryce Yockey! He wins Event #9 of the @PokerGOTour PLO Series for $290,000 and takes the top spot on the series leaderboard. pic.twitter.com/oSjCc5BHFZ
— PokerGO (@PokerGO) October 24, 2025
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points | PGT Points |
| 1 | Bryce Yockey | $290,000 | 432 | 232 |
| 2 | Benjamin Tollerene | $190,000 | 360 | 152 |
| 3 | Isaac Haxton | $130,000 | 288 | 104 |
| 4 | Veselin Karakitukov | $99,000 | 216 | 79 |
| 5 | Artur Martirosian | $73,000 | 180 | 58 |
| 6 | Matthew Wantman | $53,000 | 144 | 42 |
| 7 | Sean Rafael | $40,000 | 108 | 32 |
PGT PLO Series II Standings
| Rank | Player | Points | Titles | Final Tables | Main Prize Pool Earnings |
| 1 | Bryce Yockey | 487 | 2 | 2 | $537,600 |
| 2 | Sean Winter | 459 | 1 | 4 | $320,800 |
| 3 | Veselin Karakitukov | 358 | 1 | 2 | $447,300 |
| 4 | Taylor Wilson | 355 | 1 | 2 | $284,400 |
| 5 | Frederic Normand | 353 | 0 | 3 | $313,400 |
| 6 | Ben Lamb | 293 | 1 | 1 | $292,500 |
| 7 | Chino Rheem | 291 | 0 | 3 | $288,900 |
| 8 | Matthew Wantman | 268 | 0 | 3 | $297,300 |
| 9 | Jesse Lonis | 264 | 1 | 2 | $228,700 |
| 10 | Sam Soverel | 216 | 0 | 1 | $195,400 |
Photo credit: PokerGO Tour / Antonio Abrego.
