PokerGO Cup Sees Joey Weissman and Texas Mike Battle for Glory

A thrilling weekend of No Limit Hold’em action saw wins for Joey Weissman, Adam Hendrix and Eric Blair, as other stars such as Aram Zobian and Cherish Andrews came close but left without trophies. The PokerGO Cup action was red hot throughout a busy three days of action as some of the biggest poker professionals in the world arrived in Las Vegas to compete for millions of dollars in prizepools.

Event #2 Won by Joey Weissman for $295,000

Event #1 of the 2025 PokerGO Cup set new records for attendances as 177 entries in the $5,100-entry event built an incredible prizepool. In the second event of the series, the buy-in was almost doubled to $10,100 and once again, a superb turnout of 118 entrants made the top prize worth an eye-watering amount of $295,000.

Only 17 players made profit, with stars of the felt such as Patrick Leonard (15^th), Kristen Foxen (14^th) and Justin Saliba (13^th) all won $23,600 as they made profit but not the latter stages of the second event. Others, such as Anthony Hu (7^th for $47,200) and Andrew ‘Chewy’ Lichtenberger (6^th for $59,000) did get closer to the top prize but missed out, along with American professional Sam Laskowitz, who lost in fifth place for $76,700 with ace-queen against the ace-king of WSOP Main Event runner-up player Erik Seidel.

Soon, Seidel took out the popular Las Vegas tournament regular Andrew Moreno, who became the 10-time WSOP bracelet winner’s victim in fourth place for $100,300 when his pocket jacks were committed pre-flop against Seidel’s ace-queen. A queen on the river did for Moreno’s chances of victory, but soon, Seidel himself was on the rail, cashing for $129,800 in third place when his ace-king made a top pair of kings on the flop, only for the chips to go in and Seidel to lose out to Joey Weissman’s pocket aces in the hole.

Heads-up, Weissman won the top prize of $295,000 after doubling through the Event #1 winner Michael Moncek with ace-ten beating king-four. Soon, Weissman’s king-jack won against Texas Mike’s king-deuce, as a jack on the flop won Event #2 for Weissman’s, relegating Texas Mike to runner-up, for a score of $182,900.

Event #3 Won by Adam Hendrix for $316,050

In Event #3, Adam Hendrix went from a short stack at the start of the final table to holding the trophy as it ended after a rollercoaster ride in the third event of the 2025 PokerGO Cup. Once again costing $10,100 to play, 129 entries meant 19 players reached the money, including Victoria Livschitz (18^th for $19,350), Aram Zobian (13^th for $25,800) and Jim Collopy (8^th for $51,600).

Harvey Castro was the overnight chip leader as seven-handed play began on the last day of the event, and Landon Tice was one of the short stacks to bust early, crashing out in seventh place for $51,600 when his ace-king lost to Austrian Manuel Fritz’s ace-jack. The reigning two-time GPI Female Player of the Year Cherish Andrews busted for $64,500 in sixth, her ace-nine unable to hit against the pocket eights belonging to Hendrix.

Hendrix then went on a tear, his ace-king bettering Daniel Sepiol’s ace-ten, as Sepiol eventually left in fifth $77,400. The aforementioned Fritz departed in fourth for $103,200 before Brazil’s Joao Simao was ousted in third place for $141,900 when his ace-king fell to Castro’s pocket jacks. Heads-up bragging rights belonged to Hendrix, though, as a stunning three-barrel bluff when the chips were level gave him a 3:1 chip lead, which he put to immediate use when his pocket sevens stood up against Castro’s queen-jack. While the latter won  $193,500 as runner-up, it was Hendrix who took the $316,050 top prize and the PGT trophy.

Event #4 Won by Eric Blair for $254,800

The 2025 PokerGO Cup Event #4 field was also strong, with 98 players putting up the $10,100 buy-in, including some of the world’s best players. One of those was among the early players to reach the early payouts, as 14 players made money. Finishing 14^th was PokerGO commentator and Nick Schulman, who cashed for $24,500, while others such as Matthew McEwan (11^th for $29,400) and Kristen Foxen (9^th for the same amount) also missed out on the final table.

When the six-handed final table began, Justin Saliba led, and he quickly reduced the field to five when his ace-king bettered Justin Sternberg’s king-ten, leaving the latter to collect $49,000. Aram Zobian lost in fifth place for $68,600 when his pocket fives couldn’t hold against Saliba’s ace-jack, a straight coming on the turn to end Zobian’s interest in the hand.

Darren Elias was short stack when he left for $88,200 in fourth, his queen-nine losing to Eric Blair’s suited eight-four, another four cards to a turn dooming the at-risk player. Play moved heads-up after Saliba went from hero to zero, his king-four toppled by Joey Weissman’s ace-jack. Weissman had a chip lead going into the final battle but couldn’t win the war, as Blair doubled up with almost all the chips on the line a few hands later, his king-queen hitting against Weissman’s pocket eights to all but win the title, Weissman’s single remaining big blind going in the next hand. Eric Blair’s victory was worth $254,800 as Weissman, the series leader by far, had to be content with a runner-up score of $161,700. With one outright win and two runner-up results in the first half of the series, there is no doubting that Joey Weissman is the player to beat in the 2025 PokerGO Cup.

Photography courtesy of the 2025 PokerGO reporting team. Subscribe to PokerGO and watch the second half of the 2025 PokerGO Cup live from Las Vegas.