Keith Lehr Rivers a Full House to Win Poker Masters Event #8 for $277,200
Updated on October 22, 2026.
Keith Lehr won Poker Masters Event #8, a $15,700 No-Limit Hold’em tournament, on Wednesday, Oct. 21, at the PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas, taking $277,200. The two-time WSOP bracelet winner beat Latvia’s Vitalijs Zavorotnijs heads-up by rivering a full house, according to PokerNews. The event drew 56 entries and an $840,000 prize pool.
Quick summary
- Winner: Keith Lehr (United States), $277,200, his second PokerGO Tour (PGT) title, according to PokerNews.
- Runner-up: Vitalijs Zavorotnijs, $176,400. He started the final day as the chip leader.
- Field: 56 entries at $15,700 each, for an $840,000 prize pool.
- Final hand: Zavorotnijs made a straight on the turn, and Lehr hit a full house on the river.
- Purple Jacket: Adrian Mateos still leads the series standings, with 451 points and two events left.
How Keith Lehr won Poker Masters Event #8
Five players came back for Day 2 on Wednesday. Nicholas Palma had busted on the last hand of Day 1, in sixth place for $50,400.
Sam Soverel went out first. The 17-time PGT champion doubled up once through Nicholas Seward, but his run ended when his king-queen ran into Lehr’s ace-king before the flop. It was Soverel’s 15th Poker Masters final table, a record, according to PokerNews. He took $67,200 for fifth.
Seward followed in fourth place for $84,000. In a blind-versus-blind hand, he called off his chips with king-ten against Justin Vaysman’s pocket aces. He flopped top pair and a straight draw, but the aces held.
Vaysman, who won Poker Masters Event #6 earlier in the series, was next. His tournament ended with ace-six from the small blind, all in for about 25 big blinds, against Zavorotnijs’ pocket tens. The tens held, and Vaysman took $117,600 for third.
A river full house decided the heads-up match
Zavorotnijs started heads-up play with almost a 2-to-1 chip lead and a shot at becoming the first two-time winner of this year’s Poker Masters. He won Event #4 earlier in the series, according to Card Player.
Lehr turned the match around. He got all in with pocket kings against Zavorotnijs’ pocket fours, the kings held, and the double-up gave him the chip lead. On the final hand, in a three-bet pot, Zavorotnijs turned Broadway, the ace-high straight, against Lehr’s top two pair. All the chips went in on the turn, and Lehr made a full house on the river.
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Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Keith Lehr | United States | $277,200 |
2 | Vitalijs Zavorotnijs | Latvia | $176,400 |
3 | Justin Vaysman | United States | $117,600 |
4 | Nicholas Seward | United States | $84,000 |
5 | Sam Soverel | United States | $67,200 |
6 | Nicholas Palma | United States | $50,400 |
7 | Daniyal Gheba | United States | $33,600 |
Who is Keith Lehr?
Lehr has played poker at the highest levels for more than two decades. He won WSOP bracelets in 2003 and 2015 and is also a high-stakes cash-game player, according to PokerNews. He sits first on Louisiana’s all-time money list, and this win takes him past $6 million in career live tournament earnings, according to The Hendon Mob, as cited by PokerNews.
The victory was his first tournament win since 2024. He also has history at this series: in 2018, he won the $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha event at the Poker Masters for $333,000, according to PokerNews.
Purple Jacket race: Mateos still leads
The Poker Masters awards the Purple Jacket to the player with the most PGT points across the series. Lehr’s win kept Adrian Mateos in front. A win for Zavorotnijs would have moved him within five points of the Spaniard, and a win for Vaysman would have given him the outright lead, according to PokerNews.
The top five after Event #8, according to the PGT leaderboard:
- Adrian Mateos: 451 points
- Nicholas Palma: 407
- Vitalijs Zavorotnijs: 365
- Joey Weissman: 338
- Justin Vaysman: 325
Lehr moved up to eighth, with 265 points and $319,700 in series earnings. Jeremy Ausmus, who won Event #7 a day earlier, is sixth. Two events remain, starting with Event #9, a $26,000 No-Limit Hold’em tournament.
What it means for players in the US
The Poker Masters is a live series at the PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas, with buy-ins of $10,500 and up, so you can’t play it online. If you want to play big tournaments from home, international rooms run their own series. ACR Poker’s Venom, for example, offers satellites that cost a fraction of the Venom buy-in.
Those rooms are not licensed by any US state, so state consumer protections don’t apply. Only a few states license online poker, and some, such as Washington, prohibit online gambling. Read our guide to real money online poker in the USA before you sign up. ACR doesn’t accept players from Washington, Kentucky, Delaware, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Nevada or New Jersey.
Many US players at international sites deposit with crypto because banks often block card payments to poker sites. See the poker sites that accept Bitcoin. If you sign up through the button in our ACR Poker review and message us on Telegram, you can get 35% rakeback, paid monthly, plus ACR’s 100% first-deposit bonus up to $2,000. You can compare your options in our ranking of the best online poker sites.
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Frequently asked questions
Who won Poker Masters Event 8 in 2026?
Keith Lehr won the $15,700 No-Limit Hold'em event on Oct. 21, 2026, for $277,200. He beat Vitalijs Zavorotnijs of Latvia heads-up at the PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas.
How much did Keith Lehr win at the Poker Masters?
He won $277,200 for first place in Event #8, from an $840,000 prize pool built by 56 entries. According to The Hendon Mob, as cited by PokerNews, the win takes him past $6 million in career live tournament earnings.
Who is leading the 2026 Poker Masters Purple Jacket race?
Adrian Mateos leads with 451 PGT points after eight events, ahead of Nicholas Palma (407) and Vitalijs Zavorotnijs (365), according to the PGT leaderboard. Two events remain.
Can I play the Poker Masters online?
No. The Poker Masters is a live series at the PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas. Online, international rooms such as ACR Poker run their own big tournament series, but they are not licensed by any US state, so check the rules where you live first.
Sources
- PokerNews: Keith Lehr rivers full house to win Poker Masters Event #8 for $277,200
- PokerGO Tour: Poker Masters 2026 leaderboard
- Card Player: Vitalijs Zavorotnijs wins Poker Masters Event No. 4
- PokerNews: Keith Lehr wins Poker Masters Event #3, $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha (2018)
Play responsibly. 18+ only, and check the legal age where you live.
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The RakebackPokerWorld team: professional poker affiliates since 2017, more than 20,000 players helped. We test rooms, payments and rakeback before recommending them.
