Dylan Weisman Takes Down PokerGo Cup Event No. 2 For Second-Largest Career VictoryBracelet Winner Bests 89 Entries In $10,500 Buy-In Tournament To Earn $240,300 |
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Dylan Weisman came out on top of an 89-entry field in event no. 2 of the 2024 PokerGO Cup festival, capturing the title and the top prize of $240,300. His victory in this $10,500 buy-in no-limit hold’em affair earned him his second-largest career tournament score.
This was also the biggest no-limit hold’em payday for Weisman. He has found most of his success on the circuit playing pot-limit Omaha events, including his one World Series of Poker bracelet win. Thanks to this two-card title run, Weisman now has more than $2.8 million in recorded earnings to his name.
This was Weisman’s second title of 2024, having also won a $5,300 buy-in event during the PGT Kickoff series. He has already accrued 912 Card Player Player of the Year points this year, good for 21st place in the 2024 POY standings presented by Global Poker. He has also locked up 505 PokerGO Tour rankings points across these two wins and three in-the-money finishes. As a result, he sits in second place on the PGT leaderboard.
This event ran over the course of two days inside the PokerGO Studio at ARIA Resort & Casino Las Vegas. Weisman entered the final day in fifth chip position among the six contenders who survived day 1 action. He worked his way up the leaderboard early, finding a key double-up with poker aces to kickstart his ascent. He then made a big call for his tournament life with pocket nines facing a cutoff shove from chip leader Byron Kaverman. Weisman called off from the small blind and held against the Q-9 suited of Kaverman, who picked up a flush draw on the turn to make it a sweat. A blank on the end saw Weisman overtake the chip lead, while Kaverman slid to second chip position.
Before Weisman had overtaken the lead, short-stack David Coleman was eliminated in sixth place ($44,500). This was already his fifth POY-qualified final-table finish, with two titles won along the way. He remains the outright leader in the POY rankings with 1,724 points and more than $381,000 in to-date POY earnings.
Weisman’s K-3 drew out on the K-J of World Poker Tour winner and two-time European Poker Tour champion Michael Watson (5th – $62,300) to narrow the field to four. Kaverman also won with a dominated hand to score a knockout, with his K-7 besting the K-Q of Anthony Hu (4th – $80,100).
The next big clash saw Kaverman open on the button with AQ. Weisman three-bet shoved from the small blind with 109 and short stack Daniel Smiljkovic got out of the way from the big blind. Kaverman called and the J87 flop gave Weisman a jack-high straight. The 10 turn gave Kaverman outs to some higher straights, but the 2 river sent him packing in third place ($111,250). The bracelet winner now has nearly $19.1 million in lifetime earnings.
Heads-up play began with Weisman holding more than a 10:1 chip lead over Smiljkovic. An early double for Smiljkovic closed that gap a bit, but he was soon all-in and at risk again. This time around his 98 was unable to overcome the AJ of Weisman. The KQQ310 runout gave Weisman an ace-high straight for the win.
Smiljkovic took home $155,750 as the runner-up finisher. The 2023 PGT Championship winner now has more than $6.1 million in recorded cashes under his belt.
Here is a look at the payouts and rankings points awarded at the final table:
Place | Player | Earnings | POY Points | PGT Points |
1 | Dylan Weisman | $240,300 | 480 | 240 |
2 | Daniel Smiljkovic | $155,750 | 400 | 156 |
3 | Byron Kaverman | $111,250 | 320 | 111 |
4 | Anthony Hu | $80,100 | 240 | 80 |
5 | Michael Watson | $62,300 | 200 | 62 |
6 | David Coleman | $44,500 | 160 | 45 |
Photo credit: PokerGO / Antonio Abrego.