Poker Masters 2026: Justin Vaysman Wins Event #6 for $192,000 From a Quarter of a Big Blind
Updated on October 20, 2026.
Justin Vaysman won Event #6 of the 2026 Poker Masters on Monday, Oct. 19, beating Sean Winter heads-up for $192,000 at the PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas. With five players left, the Horsham, Pennsylvania, pro was down to 20,000 chips, a quarter of a big blind, before he came back to win his first PokerGO Tour (PGT) title.
Quick summary
- Winner: Justin Vaysman took $192,000 and 192 PGT points in his second cash of the series.
- Field: The $10,500 no-limit hold’em event drew 64 entries and a $640,000 prize pool, with the top 10 paid.
- Comeback: Vaysman fell to 20,000 chips with five players left, then won three all-ins in a row to get back in the game.
- Runner-up: Sean Winter took $124,800. Victoria Livschitz finished third for $86,400, and Brandon Wilson fourth for $64,000.
- Purple Jacket race: Adrian Mateos leads with 381 points. Vaysman moved up to fifth with 231 points, with four events left.
From 20,000 chips to the title
The hand that nearly ended Vaysman’s run came against Winter. According to Card Player, Winter raised to 660,000 from the small blind with eight-seven, and Vaysman called with ace-nine from a stack of 680,000. The two checked the hand down, and Winter caught a seven on the river. Vaysman had 20,000 chips left.
At that level, five big blinds were 400,000 chips, so his stack was a quarter of a big blind. Vaysman won three all-ins in a row to get back to 400,000. Then he won a three-way all-in with ace-nine of clubs against Wilson’s ace-king and Winter’s king-three, making a nine-high straight to climb to 2,050,000. Soon after, he made a jack-high straight to knock out Wilson in fourth.
Winter then busted Livschitz with pocket kings and started heads-up play with about a 3-to-1 chip lead. Vaysman doubled up with ace-seven, then took the lead by calling a river shove with second pair. Winter had only ten-high.
In the final hand, Vaysman flopped top two pair with ten-nine on a ten-nine-seven board. Winter check-raised with jack-three of diamonds, a flush and straight draw, and moved all in for 2,975,000 on the king turn. Vaysman called, and the ten on the river gave him a full house.
PokerGO shared the moment on its official X account:
Final table results
Place | Player | Prize | PGT points |
|---|---|---|---|
1st | Justin Vaysman | $192,000 | 192 |
2nd | Sean Winter | $124,800 | 125 |
3rd | Victoria Livschitz | $86,400 | 86 |
4th | Brandon Wilson | $64,000 | 64 |
5th | Tony Gregg | $48,000 | 48 |
6th | Joey Weissman | $35,200 | 35 |
7th | Sam Laskowitz | $25,600 | 26 |
Source: PGT. Cherish Andrews (8th, $25,600), Andrew Lichtenberger (9th, $19,200) and Michael Berk (10th, $19,200) also cashed.
According to Card Player, this was the third-largest score of Vaysman’s career, behind $350,000 for 25th place in the 2024 WSOP Main Event and $257,400 for a $5,300 WSOP Online six-max title. The three-time bracelet winner now has more than $2 million in career tournament earnings.
Winter, who has nearly $42 million in lifetime earnings according to Card Player, moved into first place in the PGT season standings with 1,975 points.
The Purple Jacket race
Mateos had a rough day. With 12 players left, Vaysman’s pocket sevens knocked out Mateos and Robert Chorlian in the same hand, both just short of the money. PGT reports that it was Mateos’ fourth bubble in six events. He still leads the series standings, thanks to a win in Event #5 and a runner-up finish in Event #2.
Rank | Player | Wins | Cashes | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Adrian Mateos | 1 | 2 | 381 |
2 | Nick Palma | 1 | 2 | 339 |
3 | Joey Weissman | 1 | 4 | 300 |
4 | Myles Mullaly | 1 | 3 | 274 |
5 | Justin Vaysman | 1 | 2 | 231 |
Source: PGT standings after Event #6.
The player with the most points after Event #10 wins the Purple Jacket and a $25,000 PGT Passport. The series runs through Friday, Oct. 23, with buy-ins from $10,500 to $51,000. Next on the PGT calendar is the PGT Sprint, seven single-day tournaments from Oct. 27 to Nov. 4.
What it means for players in the US
The Poker Masters is a live series in Las Vegas, and its $10,500 minimum buy-in puts it out of reach for most players. If you want big guaranteed prize pools from home, ACR Poker just ran its October Venom, with $6.86 million in prize pools.
Only a few states license online poker: Nevada, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Michigan and West Virginia. ACR Poker is an international room, not licensed by any US state, so state consumer protections don’t apply. It accepts players from most states, but not from Washington, Kentucky, Delaware, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Nevada or New Jersey. Read our guide to real money online poker in the USA before you sign up. At international rooms, most US players deposit with crypto, such as Bitcoin.
If you sign up through the button in our ACR Poker review and message us on Telegram, you get 35% rakeback, paid monthly. You can compare ACR with other rooms in our ranking of the best online poker sites.
Swings like Vaysman’s are part of tournament poker. To see how far results can move over a sample of tournaments, try our poker variance calculator.
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Frequently asked questions
Who won Poker Masters Event 6 in 2026?
Justin Vaysman, of Horsham, Pennsylvania, won the $10,500 no-limit hold'em event on Monday, Oct. 19. He beat Sean Winter heads-up and took $192,000 and 192 PGT points for his first PokerGO Tour title.
Who leads the 2026 Poker Masters Purple Jacket race?
After six of the 10 events, Adrian Mateos leads with 381 points, ahead of Nick Palma (339) and Joey Weissman (300), according to PGT. The overall winner gets the Purple Jacket and a $25,000 PGT Passport.
When does the 2026 Poker Masters end?
The series runs through Friday, Oct. 23, at the PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas. Buy-ins range from $10,500 to $51,000.
Can US players play big poker tournaments online?
The Poker Masters is a live event in Las Vegas. Players in states that license online poker can use regulated sites. International rooms such as ACR Poker run large guaranteed tournaments and accept players from most states, but they are not licensed by any US state, so check the rules where you live first.
Sources
- PGT: Justin Vaysman Wins Event #6 of 2026 Poker Masters
- Card Player: Justin Vaysman comes back from 0.25 big blinds to win a Poker Masters title
- PokerGO on X: Justin Vaysman’s comeback
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Who writes this
The RakebackPokerWorld team: professional poker affiliates since 2017, more than 20,000 players helped. We test rooms, payments and rakeback before recommending them.
