Sean Winter Wins Poker Masters Finale for $620,000, Beating Sam Laskowitz Heads-Up on Oct. 23
Updated on October 24, 2026.
Sean Winter won the Poker Masters 2026 finale, Event #10 ($51,000 No-Limit Hold’em), for $620,000 on Friday, Oct. 23, after beating Sam Laskowitz heads-up at the PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas. Jeremy Ausmus finished fourth, so Adrian Mateos won the 2026 Purple Jacket.
Quick summary
- Sean Winter (United States) won the $51,000 finale for $620,000, the top prize of the series.
- Sam Laskowitz (United States) finished second for $387,500.
- Jeremy Ausmus busted in fourth for $170,500, one spot short of the top two he needed.
- Adrian Mateos (Spain) won the Purple Jacket without cashing in any of the last three events.
- The finale drew 31 entries for a $1,550,000 prize pool, and only five places paid.
Who won the Poker Masters 2026 finale?
Sean Winter won it. The American came back for the final day third in chips among the seven players left, according to PokerNews, and closed out a final table full of coolers. A cooler is a hand where both players hold strong cards and someone is bound to lose a big pot.
Winter knocked out Ausmus in fourth, then Igor Yaroshevskyy in third, when his flopped ace-high straight held against Yaroshevskyy’s bottom two pair. Laskowitz pulled even early in heads-up play, but Winter pulled away again. On the last hand, Winter’s two pair beat Laskowitz’s top pair, with the chips going in on the turn.
Winter told PokerNews that skipping one event helped. “I felt pretty locked in this tournament,” he said. “A couple other tournaments I wasn’t feeling the sharpest. I wasn’t executing how I wanted to, and so I took an event off, the 15K, to just reset, and I think it worked out.”
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sean Winter | United States | $620,000 |
| 2 | Sam Laskowitz | United States | $387,500 |
| 3 | Igor Yaroshevskyy | Ukraine | $248,000 |
| 4 | Jeremy Ausmus | United States | $170,500 |
| 5 | Marius Gierse | Austria | $124,000 |
Source: PokerNews.
Who won the Poker Masters 2026 Purple Jacket?
Adrian Mateos won the 2026 Poker Masters Purple Jacket. The jacket goes to the player with the most PokerGO Tour (PGT) points across the 10 events, and it comes with a $25,000 PGT Passport, according to PokerNews.
Mateos busted the finale on Day 1 with 451 points, and only Ausmus could still pass him. As we explained in our Poker Masters 2026 Purple Jacket preview, Ausmus needed to finish first or second. His run ended in a blind-versus-blind hand against Winter: his pocket fives led through the flop, but aces on the turn and river gave Winter’s ace-king the pot.
“I had a big lead all the way, but in the last three events I wasn’t able to cash, so the sweat was real,” Mateos said after Ausmus’ elimination. The Spanish pro won Event #5 earlier in the series. He also suffered five stone bubbles in 10 tournaments, a run he called “completely unbelievable.” A stone bubble means busting in the last unpaid spot.
Ausmus still leaves Las Vegas with a strong series. He won Event #7 for $278,400, his 10th PGT title, which we covered in Jeremy Ausmus wins Poker Masters Event #7.
What’s next for Sean Winter?
Winter hasn’t decided. Many high-stakes regulars are heading to upcoming stops in Cyprus and the Bahamas, but he told PokerNews he hasn’t committed to either trip. “I don’t know. I really don’t,” he said. “I like being around my family, so I hate to be so far away.”
What it means for players in the US
The Poker Masters is a live event at the PokerGO Studio, so you can’t play it online. Many of the pros at this final table also play big online tournaments, something you can do from home in most states.
Outside the six states that license online poker (Nevada, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Michigan and West Virginia), many US players use international rooms. ACR Poker runs high-guarantee events such as the Venom and accepts players from most states, but not from Washington, Kentucky, Delaware, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Nevada or New Jersey. These rooms aren’t licensed by any US state, so state consumer protections don’t apply. Read our US online poker guide before you deposit.
If you play a lot of tournaments, rake adds up. Players who sign up at ACR through us get 35% rakeback, paid monthly. Compare the options on our list of the best online poker sites, and use the poker bankroll calculator to size your buy-ins.
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Frequently asked questions
Who won the Poker Masters 2026 Purple Jacket?
Adrian Mateos of Spain won the 2026 Purple Jacket. He clinched it on Friday, Oct. 23, when Jeremy Ausmus, the only player who could still catch him, busted the $51,000 finale in fourth place.
How much did Sean Winter win at the Poker Masters?
Sean Winter won $620,000 for taking down Event #10, the $51,000 No-Limit Hold'em finale. The event drew 31 entries for a $1,550,000 prize pool, and only the top five were paid.
Where did Jeremy Ausmus finish in the Poker Masters finale?
Ausmus finished fourth for $170,500. He needed a top-two finish to pass Mateos, but his pocket fives lost to Sean Winter's ace-king, according to PokerNews.
Can US players play high-stakes tournaments like this online?
The Poker Masters is a live event in Las Vegas, but international rooms such as ACR Poker run big online tournaments for players in most US states. These rooms aren't licensed by any US state, so check the rules where you live first.
Sources
- PokerNews: Sean Winter Wins Poker Masters Finale for $620,000 as Mateos Claims Purple Jacket
- PokerNews Daily: Sean Winter Wins Poker Masters Event #10 for $620,000
- PokerNews: 2026 Poker Masters Event #10, $51,000 NLH live reporting
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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.
