2019 Poker Masters: Kristen Bicknell, Ryan Laplante and Isaac Baron Among Early Winners

The Poker Masters is back for its third annual running in 2019. The series will play host to ten high stakes poker tournaments held at the PokerGo studios at Aria Las Vegas, with the Poker Masters purple jacket and a $100,000 additional prize awarded to the player who accumulates the most points during the 10-day festival.

Nine of the ten events have already come to a conclusion. Here is a look at the results so far, with the $50,000 no-limit hold’em main event still yet to be decided:

Event #1: $10,500 No-Limit Hold’em

The series kicked off with a $10,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em event. The tournament drew a total of 97 entries to create a prize pool of $970,000. The top 14 finishers made the money, but in the end, the lion’s share was awarded to Isaac Baron. The
2019 World Series of Poker $1,500 no-limit hold’em six-max bracelet winner defeated Chance Kornuth heads-up to secure the title and the top prize of $223,100. The score brought Baron’s career live earnings to just shy of $6.4 million.

Kornuth settled for $164,900 as the runner-up finisher. Card Player Player of the Year contender Jeremy Ausmus finished fourth for $97,000 and 270 points. This was Ausmus’ seventh final table of the year, and it saw him climb into 12th place in the overall POY rankings.

Event #2: $10,500 No-Limit Hold’em

The second event of the series saw 62 entries made in the $10,000 buy-in pot-limit Omaha tournament, building a prize pool of $620,000. After two days of four-card action, Card Player Columnist and WSOP bracelet winner Ryan Laplante came out on top with the title and the $186,000 first-place payout. This was Laplante’s second-largest career cash behind his bracelet win in the WSOP pot-limit Omaha $565 event for $190,328 back in 2016. This latest win brought his lifetime live total to $2,380,751.

Chance Kornuth finished as the runner up for the second time in as many tournaments, adding another $124,000. 2018 Poker Masters purple jacket winner Ali Imsirovic finished fifth for $49,600 to start out his run at retaining the Poker Masters title.

Event #3: $10,500 Short Deck Hold’em

The lone short deck offering of the series saw 37 entries made, each for $10,000. The $370,000 prize pool was paid out among the top six finishers. Jonathan Depa emerged victorious, securing the $133,200 top prize after defeating Alex Foxen heads-up (2nd – $88,800).

Eight-time WSOP bracelet winner Erik Seidel finished third for $59,200, while Sam Soverel secured his second cash of the series by placing sixth for $22,200.

Event #4: $10,500 Eight-Game Mix

The $10,500 buy-in eight-game mix event saw a total of 45 entries made, creating a prize pool of $450,000. Jared Bleznick was the last player standing, earning $153,000 for the win.

Cary Katz cashed for $99,000 as the runner-up finisher. This was his 24th final-table finish of the year. As a result of his incredible consistency throughout the year, Katz has climbed into third place in the 2019 POY race standings, which are sponsored by Global Poker.

Three-time WSOP bracelet winner and World Poker Tour champion Nick Schulman cashed for $67,500, placing third.

Event #5: $10,500 Big Bet Mix

The final $10,500 buy-in event of the series was the ‘big bet mix’ tournament, which featured a rotation of no-limit hold’em, pot-limit Omaha and no-limit deuce-to-seven lowball. A total of 52 entries saw the prize pool grow to $520,000.

France’s Julien Martini came out on top, earning $166,400 for his first title of the year. This was his fifth final-table finish of the year, including finishing second in the $25,000 PokerStars Players Championship for $2,974,000. He currently occupies the 20th-palce spot on the POY leaderboard.

Australian poker pro Kahle Burns finished second for $109,200, while Sam Soverel secured his third cash of the series by finishing fourth for $52,000.

Current Card Player Player of the Year leader Stephen Chidwick helped extend his advantage by placing fifth for $41,600 and 125 points.

Event #6: $26,000 No-Limit Hold’em

The stakes were kicked up a notch starting with event #6. The $26,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament saw 51 total entries made, building a prize pool of $1,275,000. After two days of action, the last player standing was two-time WSOP bracelet winner Kristen Bicknell. The Canadian poker pro secured $408,000 for the win, the largest payday of her career. It brought her lifetime earnings to $4,531,706.

Bicknell beat out Chance Kornuth heads-up for the title, handing him his third runner-up finish of the series. Kornuth cashed for $267,500 in this event, bringing his total haul for the series thus far to $556,400. Ali Imsirovic earned $178,500 as the third-place finisher.

Event #7: $26,000 Pot-Limit Omaha

The second $26,000 buy-in event of the series saw the game switch over to pot-limit Omaha. With 34 entries, the prize pool ended up with $850,000 to be awarded. The largest chunk of that was ultimately won by Sam Soverel, who came out on top for $340,000. This was his fourth cash of the series.

Sean Winter earned $221,000 as the second-place finisher, while George Wolff scored $136,000 for third. For both players, this was their second cash of the series.

Event #8: $26,000 No-Limit Hold’em

The eighth event of the series saw 41 entries made in another $26,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament. The turnout created a prize pool of $1,025,000. The top six finishers cashed, with Spain’s Sergi Reixach ultimately capturing the title and the top prize of $369,000. This was his ninth final-table finish and third title of 2019.

George Wolff scored his third cash of the series by placing second for $246,000. Sam Soverel continued his incredible run by placing fourth for $102,500. This was his fifth cash of the series, and it helped him further his lead in the race for the Poker Masters purple jacket. Sean Winter made his third cash of the series as the sixth-place finisher.

Event #9: $26,000 No-Limit Hold’em

The penultimate event of the 2019 Poker Masters was yet another $26,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament. This one saw 49 total entries made, building a prize pool of $1,225,000. Kahle Burns came out on top, earning $416,500 and his third cash of the series. Burns was also awarded 420 POY points. This was his fourth title and 12th final table of 2019, and it helped him climb into ninth place in the POY race standings.

Several of the top competitors in the race for the jacket made key cashes in this event: Ali Imsirovic earned $269,500 as the runner up, Sean Winter made his fourth cash for $183,750 as the third-place finisher, and Sam Soverel secured another $122,500 for his sixth cash of the series.

Soverel’s fourth-place finish in event nine helped maintain his lead in the Poker Masters points race, keeping him just ahead of the ascendant Burns. Here is a look at the top ten heading into the final event of the series, the $52,000 no-limit hold’em main event:

Winner photos provided by Poker Central.

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