Andrew Lichtenberger Wins Poker Masters $25,000 No-Limit Hold'em High Roller

The stakes have been raised at the 2022 Poker Masters high roller tournament series. With six events at the $10,000 price point completed, the buy-in increased to $25,000 for event no. 7. A total of 69 entries were made in the no-limit hold’em event, creating a prize pool of $1,725,000. After two full days of high-stakes action, Andrew Lichtenberger emerged victorious with the title and the top prize of $465,750.

The 35-year-old poker pro from East Northport, New York now has nearly $14.1 million in career tournament earnings. This was among his top ten biggest scores, and his 15th recorded title.

This victory also saw Lichtenberger secure a bevy of ranking points. The 504 Card Player Player of the Year points he was awarded were enough to move him into 52nd place in the 2022 POY race standings, which are presented by Global Poker. He has made eight final tables this year, winning twice and accruing nearly $1.7 million in POY earnings along the way.

Lichtenberger also earned 279 PokerGO Tour points. He climbed into 37th place on that year-long leaderboard as a result, and has overtaken the top spot in the race for the Poker Masters Purple Jacket and the $50,000 bonus that will go to the player with the most points earned at the end of the series.

The top ten finishers made the money in this event, but only six advanced to day 2. Bill Klein (10th), Isaac Kempton (9th), nine-time bracelet winner Erik Seidel (8th), and five-time bracelet winner Brian Rast (6th) all fell inside the money late on day 1.

Day 2 began with Kazuhiko Yotsushika in the lead and Lichtenberger in second chip position. Billy Wragg was the first to hit the rail, with his A-K running into the pocket aces of reigning U.S. Poker Open champion Sean Winter. Wragg was drawing dead after the turn. Wrag, a former professional esports player known as ‘Nutri’, earned $103,500 for his largest recorded poker score yet.

Three-time bracelet winner Chance Kornuth was sent home via a classic preflop coinflip, with his pocket queens failing to outrun the A-K of Lichtenberger. A king on the turn left Kornuth a 19:1 underdog with one card coming, and a blank river made him the fifth-place finisher ($138,000). Kornuth has now made eight final tables in 2022, with four titles won including this year’s World Poker Tour Choctaw main event. He now sits in 14th place in the POY race as a result.

Cary Katz also lost a race to bring his run in this event to an end. Katz got all-in with A-Q suited facing the pocket fives of Yotsushika. Katz found no help and was eliminated in fourth place, earning $172,500 for his 13th final-table finish of the year. He is now just a couple of spots outside of the top 30 in the 2022 POY race.

Winter was the short stack for much of three-handed action, but he doubled through Yotsushika with pocket fives against 10-9 suited to swap positions with the Japanese player. Yotsushika dwindled to 12 big blinds by the time his final hand arose. He moved all-in from the small blind with J-9 and received a call from Winter, who held pocket sixes in the big blind. Yotsushika flopped a gutshot to go with his two overcards, but improved no further and was knocked out in third place ($224,250). He increased his lifetime earnings to more than $1.9 million with this deep run.

Heads-up play began with Lichtenberger holding 5,850,000 to Winter’s 4,500,000. He was able to steadily expand his lead as the match wore on, with his advantage being more than 5:1 when the final hand of the tournament was dealt. Winter limped in from the button with 88 and Lichtenberger checked with 94. The flop came down A52. Lichtenberger checked and Winter bet 225,000 with his pocket pair. Lichtenberger called with his gutshot and overcard, which spiked on the 9 turn. Lichtenberger checked again and Winter bet 450,000. Lichtenberger called and the J completed the board. Lichtenberger checked for the third time. Winter moved all-in and Lichtenberger made the call to secure the pot and the title.

Winter earned $345,000 and 420 POY points as the runner-up finisher. This was his 15th final-table finish of the year, with two titles won and nearly $3 million in POY earnings recorded. With this latest deep run, Winter has moved into third place in the POY race. This score also saw him climb into ninth place on the PGT leaderboard.

Here is a look at the payouts and rankings points awarded at the final table:

Photo credits: PokerGO / Antonio Abrego.

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