Jonathan Jaffe Wins Poker Masters $50,000 Buy-In Finale Event

The 2023 Poker Masters saw 60 unique players make the money across its 10-event schedule of high-roller tournaments. Half of those who cashed during the series did so multiple times. Jonathan Jaffe was among those who recorded a single cash during the festival, but his lone score saw him secure the largest payday offered during the high-stakes 12-day affair. The 36-year-old poker pro earned $756,000 as the champion of the $50,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em event that brought the series to its conclusion.

This was the third-largest score yet for Jaffe, trailing only the $1.5 million he earned as the winner of the $111,111 buy-in World Poker Tour Alpha8 for One Drop this summer and the $766,890 he was awarded for a third-place finish in a $30,000 buy-in at the Triton Poker festival in Vietnam this spring.

Jaffe now has nearly $9.8 million in recorded tournament earnings to his name, with more than $3.5 million of that coming from nine cashes he’s recorded this year. He has recorded four final-table finishes in events that qualify for Card Player Player of the Year points, accruing 2,020 and two titles across those scores. As a result, he now sits in 154th place in the 2023 POY standings presented by Global Poker.

This win also conveyed 454 PokerGO Tour points to Jaffe, enough to catapult him inside the top five in the final Poker Masters points race standings. His heads-up opponent in this event, Stephen Chidwick, ultimately captured the Poker Masters Purple Jacket and the $50,000 championship bonus as the player of the series. Chidwick cashed for a total of $1,109,000 across the festival, with one title won and four total top-six finishes.

The final day of the $50,000 buy-in event began with eight players remaining from the 42-entry turnout. Only the top six would earn a share of the $2,100,000 prize pool. Jaffe was second in chips to start, with Chino Rheem just a handful of blinds ahead of him on the leaderboard. Ren Lin fell in eighth place to set up a $105,000 money bubble.

Nearly three hours after cards got in the air, the bubble finally burst when PokerGO founder Cary Katz’s pocket tens lost a preflop race against the A-J suited of bracelet winner Alex Foxen.

The first knockout inside the money saw Chidwick’s pocket sixes outrun the A-10 suited of two-time bracelet winner Nick Petrangelo. Petrangelo earned the aforementioned six-figure payout, increasing his career total to $32.2 million.

Rheem’s run in this event came to an end when he got all-in preflop with A-J trailing the pocket aces of Jaffe. Rheem picked up a jack on the flop to give him a glimmer of hope, but blanks on the turn and river saw him sent packing with $168,000 for his fifth-place showing. This was his fifth cash of the series, including a win in event no. 4. All told, he cashed for $602,650 during the festival and finished third in the points race.

A classic preflop coin flip set up the next elimination. Bracelet winner Brian Kim got all-in with A-K facing the pocket tens of Chidwick. Neither player improved by the river and Kim was knocked out in fourth place ($231,000). This was his 12th final-table finish of the year. With 4,231 total POY points and nearly $2.9 million in to-date POY earnings, he has moved into 20th place in the 2023 standings.

It would take another two hours for a champion to be decided. Jaffe pulled away from the pack in the early going thanks to a big pot won with a set of deuces against the top pair of aces held by Chidwick.

Foxen was ground down to an extremely short stack during three-handed play. He picked up A-2 suited when he was forced in from the big blind but was unable to hold up against the 10-9 suited of Jaffe. Foxen flopped an ace to take a big lead, but running cards gave Jaffe a queen-high straight and the knockout. Foxen secured $336,000 as the third-place finisher. He now has more than $30.8 million in career earnings. This was his 20th final-table finish of the year, with three titles won. The upshot of all that is that he now occupies the seventh-place spot on the POY leaderboard heading into the final quarter of the year.

Heads-up play began with Jaffe holding 6,995,000 to Chidwick’s 1,395,000. That gap was narrowed a bit in the early going, but Jaffe remained well out in front when the final hand was dealt. Jaffe limped in from the button with A3 for 60,000 total and Chidwick raised to 270,000 out of the the big blind holding A9. Jaffe moved all in and Chidwick called for 1,960,000
total.

The K1078 flop and turn meant that Chidwick would earn at least half the pot as long as a three didn’t appear on the river. The 3 did roll off on the end, though, giving Jaffe a pair of threes and the pot. Chidwick earned $504,000 as the runner-up, along with 425 POY points and the Poker Masters Purple Jacket. He has made 21 final tables this year, capturing five titles and cashing for more than $7.1 million in POY earnings along the way. As a result, he has climbed into second place in the POY rankings. With 8,019 points, he now trails current leader Bin Weng (9,198) by just 1,179 points.

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

A look at the top ten in the final Poker Masters points race standings:

Photo credits: PokerGO / Antonio Abrego.

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