Jim Collopy Captures Poker Masters Purple Jacket

Many PokerGO Tour series points races come down to the wire. That was not the case in the 2024 Poker Masters, though. Jim Collopy had officially secured this year’s Purple Jacket before the final day of the festival-closing $25,000 high roller began.

“This run was incredible. No-limit hold’em is definitely a game I’ve played a lot of, but I play a lot of games, so it’s nice to perform well on a big stage against a lot of guys who specialize in specifically this format,” Collopy told PokerGO’s Jeff Platt after locking up the win.

“Purple will suit me really well,” the three-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner offered when asked about the sartorial spoils of his victory at this festival, which featured eight events and ran from Sept. 10-19 inside the PokerGO Studio at ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.

In addition to the velvet coat, Collopy was also awarded a $25,000 PGT Passport, and the PokerStars Gold Pass for the upcoming North American Poker Tour Las Vegas stop at Resorts World.

Collopy made four consecutive final tables from events 3-6, closing his streak with back-to-back runner-up showings. All told, Collopy cashed for $521,600 across those four scores, the most of any player who participated in this festival. His 522 total PGT points along the way gave him a final margin of 64 points over second-ranked Isaac Haxton, who had four cashes and one win.

Collopy kicked off his spree with a sixth-place showing from a field of 94 entries in event no. 3, a $10,100 buy-in tournament. He earned $47,000 and 47 PGT points for that initial score.

The very next day, Collopy navigated his way through a field of 81 entries in event no. 4, which was another no-limit hold’em affair at the same price point. Collopy picked up another $105,300 and 105 points after hitting the rail in third place.

The final $10,100 event of the series attracted 75 entries. Collopy made it down to heads-up play, only to fall one spot short of the title, adding $142,500 and 146 points.

The finishing blow for Collopy was another runner-up finish, this time in a $15,100 no-limit hold’em event. There were 84 entries, which resulted in a $226,800 payday for Collopy, who added another 227 points to give him the jacket.

Collopy now sits in seventh place on the season-long PGT leaderboard, with 1,574 points accrued across 15 total cashes. He also sits in sixth place in the 2024 Card Player Player of the Year standings, which are presented by Global Poker.

The Battle For The Jacket Begins

This series, which consisted entirely of no-limit hold’em tournaments, featured a kickoff event at the $5,100 price point, followed by four consecutive $10,100 buy-ins. Then, the final three events featured elevated stakes, with two $15,100 buy-ins and the $25,200 buy-in finale.

The first event on the schedule was ultimately won by Spencer Champlin. The lone $5,100 buy-in offering drew 131 entries, with Champlin earning $160,475 as the last player standing.

This was the Scarborough, Maine native’s first PGT title, and his second-largest recorded tournament score. The two-time WSOP Circuit ring winner now has nearly $3.2 million in lifetime earnings accrued across 387 in-the-money finishes. 2024 WSOP Circuit Commerce Casino main event champion Jessica Vierling finished as the runner-up, earning $98,250.

Jeremy Becker was the next to triumph. The rising tournament star had accumulated more than $1.5 million in career tournament earnings across more than 234 in-the-money finishes before ever recording a six-figure score. He finally crossed that accomplishment off his to-do list in the first $10,100 event, besting a field of 100 entries to earn $255,000 and his first PGT title.

The triumph also awarded Becker 600 POY points. He went on to make two more POY-qualified final tables during this series, bringing his total on the year to 23, which is the most of any player on the circuit. He now sits in 16th place in the rankings as a result, with 4,355 total points. Becker ended up finishing third in the race for the jacket.

The next event was won by Justin Zaki. The Floridian poker pro overcame 94 entries to bank $244,400 and his second win at a PGT major, having also taken down a $10,500 buy-in event at this year’s PokerGO Cup.

Zaki would finish seventh on the final leaderboard, continuing a solid year which also saw him finish second in the race for the PokerGO Cup in February. He now has nearly $6 million in career earnings.

Two-time World Poker Tour champion and Card Player columnist Jonathan Little added another trophy to his collection, beating out a field of 81 entries in event no. 4, which was another $10,100 buy-in. Little earned $226,800 as the champion, growing his career haul to nearly $9.3 million.

This was his 18th recorded cash of six figures or more. Little’s two largest paydays remain his victories in the 2007 WPT Mirage Poker Showdown for $1,091,295 and the 2008 WPT World Poker Finals for $1,120,310. Little knocked out each and every opponent on the final day, including Collopy in third place. This latest win ranks as his ninth-largest tournament score and continues a great 2024 campaign that also saw him win the PokerGO Cup.

Collopy closed out the $10,100 buy-ins with his deepest run yet, finishing second to move into the top spot in the series points race. That event was won by 21-year-old David Chen, the youngest player to ever win a PGT title. The Vienna, Virginia resident overcame a field of 75 entries to earn $217,500 for the win, the first six-figure score on his tournament résumé.

According to the PokerGO broadcast, Chen is a former U.S. Nationals Math Champion who graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a degree in Computer Science. He has written several articles for poker training company GTO This was just the sixth recorded live cash for the youngster, but is a perhaps a glimpse of more to come.

Haxton And Wilson Triumph In $15,100 Buy-Ins

After just one cash in the first three events, Isaac Haxton went on a streak of his own during the middle section of this festival. He closed out a run of back-to-back-to-back final table showings by taking down event no. 6. The 39-year-old American poker pro topped 84 entries, adding $352,800 to his career totals.

With $51.5 million in cashes, Haxton now sits in eighth place on poker’s all-time money list. He is one of just nine players in the history of the game to accumulate more than $50 million in earnings. Haxton now has 13 final-table finishes in 2024, with two titles won along the way. His 3,706 POY points are good for 27th place in the POY standings.

Haxton defeated Collopy heads-up for the title. The two moved into the two top spots on the series leaderboard, and managed to maintain those positions throughout the rest of the festival.

The penultimate event of the series saw 76 entries made at $15,100 a piece. Brock Wilson was the last player with chips, earning $330,600 and his second PGT title as the champion.

This score grew Wilson’s career earnings to more than $9.7 million. This was Wilson’s third title and 13th final-table finish of the year. The 504 POY points he was awarded for this latest victory increased his point total to 3,992, which is good for 24th place in the POY standings. Wilson also ended up finishing fifth in the series points race, with one other cash.

‘Texas Mike’ Moncek, who finished second in event no. 2, managed another runner-up showing in this event. He earned $216,600 this time around, bringing his total earnings for the festival to $381,600. He wound up placing fourth in the final series standings as a result.

Tollerene Takes Down $25,000 Finale

Ben Tollerene had not cashed in any of the first seven events but managed to show up big in the final tournament on the schedule. The longtime high-stakes player was best from a field of 68 entries in the $25,200 high roller to earn $510,000 and his tenth recorded tournament title.

Tollerene now has more than $16.1 million in career earnings accrued across 126 in-the-money finishes. This was his fourth final-table finish of the year, including a runner-up finish in the $250,000 buy-in event at the WSOP this summer for a career-best score of $3.5 million.

Collopy had already officially locked up the Purple Jacket by the final day, with none of the remaining seven contenders able to overcome him regardless of how things played out.

Bracelet winner Andrew Lichtenberger held the chip lead when cards got back in the air for day 2. Victoria Livschitz (7th – $68,000), Filipp Khavin (6th – $93,500), and Aram Zobian (5th – $127,500) were among the early eliminations.

Zobian met a particularly brutal end, losing back-to-back preflop all-ins with overpairs beaten by smaller pairs that flopped sets. The bracelet winner and 2018 WSOP main event sixth-place finisher now has more than $7.2 million in lifetime earnings. He also climbed to 18th place in the POY standings thanks to this, his 13th final-table finish of the year.

2019 Poker Masters series champion Sam Soverel was the next to go, with 10-8 suited losing to A-J held by WPT champion Taylor von Kriegenbergh. Soverel’s career earnings now sit at $23.7 million after factoring in the $170,000 he added with his fourth-place showing in this tournament.

Lichtenberger slid down to the bottom of the chip counts as three-handed play continued. He got all-in with pocket aces on a K 10 9 flop. He was leading the pocket queens of Tollerene, but the Q rolled off on the turn to leave Lichtenberger in need of help on the river. The 7 completed the board and Lichtenberger settled for $229,500 as the third-place finisher. He now has more than $21.9 million in lifetime cashes to his name.

Heads-up play began with Tollerene holding a nearly 2:1 advantage. The gap was narrowed in the early going, and the two hung around even for a bit before von Kriegenbergh picked off a big bluff to give himself a healthy lead.

A classic preflop race turned things around yet again. von Kriegenbergh raised to 250,000 from the button with A K. Tollerene three-bet shoved for 3,975,000 (just shy of 40 big blinds) with pocket sevens. The board ran out 9 6 6 4 5 to give Tollerene the double-up into a 3:1 lead.

von Kriegenbergh was able to chip up a bit, but soon was all-in with K J trailing the A 6 of Tollerene. The flop came down Q 8 to give von Kriegenbergh a king-high flush draw to go with his two live cards. The 5 turn improved neither player, though, leaving von Kriegenbergh in need of help heading into the last card. The 10 changed nothing, and von Kriegenbergh was eliminated in second place for $331,500. This payday increased his lifetime earnings to nearly $6.8 million. ♠

*Photos by PokerGO