David Coleman, Dylan Weisman, and Justin Young Win Early PokerGO Tour Kickoff EventsA Look At The Results From The First Trio of PGT Tournaments To Wrap Up In The New Season |
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The day after the 2023 PokerGO Tour season officially wrapped up with the PGT Championship, the new season got underway with the 2024 PGT Kickoff. The five-event series features four $5,300 buy-in no-limit hold’em events and one $10,500 buy-in affair, all held inside the PokerGO Studio at ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. The first three tournaments are already in the books, and the top performer so far has been recent Card Player Poker Tour Venetian champion David Coleman. The former online grinder from New Jersey has made the final table in all three of the events that have played down to a winner so far, accumulating $221,000 and 442 PGT points along the way to take the early lead in the PGT standings for both the series and the season. Below is a look at the full results from the first trio of results.
PGT Kickoff #1 – $5,300 No-Limit Hold’em
The first event of the new season drew 89 entries, creating a prize pool of $445,000 that was split amongst the top 13 finishers.
Coleman began his dominant performance at this festival with an outright win, converting his start-of-day chip lead on day 2 into the title and the top prize of $120,150. He now has nearly $4 million in career tournament earnings to his name.
This was only the second live tournament title of his career, with his first coming in the aforementioned CPPT Venetian $1,600 buy-in just a handful of days before he closed out this victory. That win and his hat trick of final-table finishes in this series have seen Coleman earn $336,989 so far in 2024. With 1,564 Card Player Player of the Year points and 442 PGT points, he currently sits atop the leaderboards of both points races heading into the second half of January.
Coleman overcame plenty of stiff competition on his way to hoisting the trophy, including two-time bracelet winners John Riordan (11th) and Eric Baldwin (9th), 2013 World Series of Poker main event champion Ryan Riess (8th), six-time bracelet winner Jeremy Ausmus (4th), two-time Card Player POY award winner Stephen Chidwick, and bracelet winner Aram Zobian (2nd).
| Place | Player | Earnings | POY Points | PGT Points |
| 1 | David Coleman | $120,150 | 384 | 240 |
| 2 | Aram Zobian | $77,875 | 320 | 156 |
| 3 | Stephen Chidwick | $55,625 | 256 | 111 |
| 4 | Jeremy Ausmus | $40,050 | 192 | 80 |
| 5 | Nikita Kalinin | $31,150 | 160 | 62 |
| 6 | Clemen Deng | $22,250 | 128 | 45 |
| 7 | Viktor Ustimov | $17,800 | 96 | 36 |
| 8 | Ryan Riess | $17,800 | 64 | 36 |
PGT Kickoff #2 – $5,300 No-Limit Hold’em
Coleman backed up his win with a fifth-place showing in the second event on the schedule. The prize pool grew to $450,000 in that tournament after 90 entries were made. After two days of play, Dylan Weisman emerged victorious with the title and the top prize of $121,500. This was the sixth-largest tournament score yet for the bracelet winner, and the biggest payday of his career to come in a no-limit hold’em tournament. Most of Weisman’s success on the circuit has come in pot-limit Omaha variations and mixed-game offerings.
Weisman now has nearly $2.6 million in lifetime tournament earnings to his name. He went on to follow this victory up with a 10th-place finish in event no. 3. As a result, he climbed to second in the PGT standings with 265 total points.
Plenty of high-stakes regulars ran deep in this event, including two-time bracelet winner Joao Simao (11th), Ausmus (10th), Sean Winter (8th), Victoria Livschitz (7th), two-time bracelet winner Jesse Lonis (7th), and Coleman.
Sergey Kislinsky, who finished 16th in the CPPT Venetian main event less than a week earlier, took home $78,750 as the runner-up.
| Place | Player | Earnings | POY Points | PGT Points |
| 1 | Dylan Weisman | $121,500 | 432 | 243 |
| 2 | Sergey Kislinsky | $78,750 | 360 | 158 |
| 3 | Jeremy Becker | $56,250 | 288 | 113 |
| 4 | Matthew Mcewan | $40,500 | 216 | 81 |
| 5 | David Coleman | $31,500 | 180 | 63 |
| 6 | Jesse Lonis | $22,500 | 144 | 45 |
| 7 | Victoria Livschitz | $18,000 | 108 | 36 |
| 8 | Sean Winter | $18,000 | 72 | 36 |
PGT Kickoff #3 – $5,300 No-Limit Hold’em
Justin Young came out on top in event no. 3, besting a field of 73 entries to take home $105,850. The World Poker Tour champion based out of Las Vegas now has nearly $6.6 million in recorded tournament scores after this latest win. This was his 17th live title and 304th in-the-money finish.
Young also earned 212 PGT points for the win, moving him into third place in the PGT standings.
Young closed out this tournament in exciting fashion, scoring a double knockout with pocket eights against two higher pairs held by David Coleman and four-time bracelet winner Kristen Foxen. Young flopped a set of eights and held from there to bring the event to a sudden conclusion.
HOLY CRAP!
Justinyoung07</a> is the PGT Kickoff Event #3 Champion after this absolutely RIDICULOUS hand!<br><br>He eliminates both David Coleman and <a href="https://twitter.com/krissyb24poker?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">krissyb24poker in one swift blow to earn the title and $105,850!! pic.twitter.com/PHcWXF2uXa— PokerGO (@PokerGO) January 14, 2024
Coleman took home $69,350 as the runner-up thanks to having more chips than Foxen (3rd – $49,275) to start that wild final hand. Foxen surpassed $7.7 million in earnings thanks to this deep run. She remains the second-highest-earning female tournament player in poker history, trailing only Vanessa Selbst ($10,899,027) on that leaderboard.
| Place | Player | Earnings | POY Points | PGT Points |
| 1 | Justin Young | $105,850 | 336 | 212 |
| 2 | David Coleman | $69,350 | 280 | 139 |
| 3 | Kristen Foxen | $49,275 | 224 | 99 |
| 4 | Dylan Destefano | $34,675 | 168 | 69 |
| 5 | Adekunle Olonoh | $25,550 | 140 | 51 |
| 6 | Viktor Ustimov | $18,250 | 112 | 37 |
| 7 | Ryan Riess | $14,600 | 84 | 29 |
| 8 | Dylan Linde | $14,600 | 56 | 29 |
Photo credits: PokerGO / Antonio Abrego.
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