Nguyen Le came into 2025 with about $233,000 in recorded poker tournament earnings to his name. The Vietnam-born resident of Cambridge, Massachusetts now has more than $4.6 million in cashes after one of the most impressive breakouts in recent memory.
Le has cashed 17 times so far this year, accumulating more than $4.4 million along the way. He’s made eight final tables and won three titles in this stretch, including taking down a $50,000 high roller at the World Series of Poker for his first gold bracelet and $2.7 million. A week before that win, he took down the Aria Poker Classic BetMGM Championship $3,500 main event for $777,777.
His latest triumph came at the Poker Masters, where he took down event no. 8, a $15,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament, for $301,000 and 432 Card Player Player of the Year points. With 5,575 total points, he now sits in 15th place on the POY leaderboard presented by CoinPoker.
Le also climbed to 18th in the PokerGO Tour standings thanks to this victory.
Narrowing The Field
This event attracted 67 entries, building a prize pool of $1,005,000 that was split amongst the top ten finishers. The bubble burst late on day 1, with five players falling inside the money before play concluded. Several big names were among them, including seven-time bracelet winner Nick Schulman (9th), Dan Shak (8th), Neil Warren (7th), and current POY race leader Jesse Lonis (6th).
The final day began with just five players remaining and Jeremy Ausmus in the lead. Le was in the middle of the pack when cards got in the air inside the PokerGO Studio at ARIA Resort & Casino Las Vegas.
Brian Batt was the first to fall on day 2. The event no. 2 runner-up defended his big blind to a min-raise with J♥2♣ and hit top pair on a J♣9♥8♣ flop. Ausmus checked with 7♥7♦ from the small blind and Batt shoved his last nine big blinds. Le, who was the initial raiser, called with A♣J♠ and Ausmus got out of the way. The 3♦ turn and K♥ river changed nothing and Batt was eliminated in fifth place ($75,500).
Bracelet winner Joey Weissman bowed out in fourth place ($100,500) after losing a classic race. He min-raised to 120,000 from the button with A♠K♦ and called Alex Foxen’s three-bet shove for a total of 970,000. Foxen’s 10♠10♦ held through a 8♣ turn and 4♣ river to narrow the field to three. Weissman now has more than $9.2 million in recorded scores to his name.
Le Surges Across The Finish Line
Ausmus fell to the bottom of the leaderboard as three-handed action continued. In his final hand, he shoved with K♥7♥ from the small blind and ran into K♣J♠ for Le in the big blind. Ausmus was in rough shape, but the K♠Q♠7♣ flop gave him two pair and the lead. The 6♥ kept him ahead, but the Q♣ on the end counterfeited his two pair, giving Le kings and queens with a winning jack kicker to take the pot. Ausmus, a six-time bracelet winner and the reigning PGT Player of the Year, earned $135,500 for his efforts. This was his 16th final-table finish of the year, with three wins along the way. He now sits inside the top ten in the POY standings as a result.
.@JeremyAusmus out in third place.
Watch the 2025 Poker Masters on https://t.co/2RQh5RNM18. pic.twitter.com/iAHF30B0ww
— PokerGO (@PokerGO) September 30, 2025
Heads-up play began with Le holding 5,830,000 to Foxen’s 2,545,000. It didn’t take long for him to convert that lead into the title. He min-raised to 200,000 from the button with K♥9♠ and Foxen called with a dominated K♠8♥. Both players hit top pair on a K♣J♠6♠ flop. Foxen check-raised Le’s 200,000 continuation bet to 550,000 and Le moved all-in. Foxen made the call and the 7♠ gave him a flush draw to go with his other outs. The 4♦ kept Le’s hand best, though, and Foxen was eliminated in second place ($196,000). This marked the 100th PGT cash for Foxen, a three-time bracelet winner and the current PGT points race leader. He also moved into first place in the race for the Purple Jacket, having also won event no. 6 for $272,000.
Foxen climbed to second place in the POY standings, with four titles and 18 final-table finishes so far in 2025. He now trails top-ranked Jesse Lonis by just 550 points.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points | PGT Points |
| 1 | Nguyen Le | $301,000 | 432 | 241 |
| 2 | Alex Foxen | $196,000 | 360 | 157 |
| 3 | Jeremy Ausmus | $135,500 | 288 | 108 |
| 4 | Joey Weissman | $100,500 | 216 | 80 |
| 5 | Brian Batt | $75,500 | 180 | 60 |
| 6 | Jesse Lonis | $55,500 | 144 | 44 |
| 7 | Neil Warren | $40,300 | 108 | 32 |
| 8 | Dan Shak | $40,300 | 72 | 32 |
Photo credit: PokerGO Tour / Antonio Abrego.
