Jonathan Little Tops Stacked Final Table In PokerGO Cup Event No. 3

Jonathan Little secured his largest live tournament victory of the last decade on Monday, Jan. 29, 2024. The two-time World Poker Tour champion and Card Player columnist defeated a stacked final table in event no. 3 of the PokerGO Cup, earning $229,500 for the win.

This was the seventh-largest overall score of Little’s career, which includes his pair of million-dollar triumphs on the WPT. Little now has nearly $8.4 million in recorded tournament earnings to his name.

WE DID IT!!!

1st place in the @PokerGO Cup 10k for $230k!

Thanks so much for all the love, it was a blast! pic.twitter.com/RBVK9bX3I9

— Jonathan Little (@JonathanLittle) January 30, 2024

This was the second title won by Little inside the PokerGO Studio at ARIA Resort & Casino in the past few months. In late October he took down the StormX Invitational III for a $130,386 payday.

The PokerCoaching.com founder has already made three final tables in 2024, with two seventh-place finishes and this win. All told he has accumulated 720 Card Player Player of the Year points and $288,600 in to-date POY earnings. As a result, he now sits in a tie for 50th place in the 2024 POY race presented by Global Poker.

This event drew 85 entries to build an $850,000 prize pool. The top 13 finishers made the money, but only seven advanced to the final day. Two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Jesse Lonis held the chip lead to start, with Little sitting in the middle of the pack when cards got in the air for day 2.

Six-time bracelet winner and two-time WPT champion Daniel Negreanu was the first to fall. His stack took an early hit when short stack Brock Wilson’s K-2 outran his A-Q suited. He then committed most of his stack with pocket fives preflop and got the rest in after picking up a flush draw on the flop. He was up against a higher flush draw and top pair for bracelet winner Alex Foxen. The turn improved Foxen to queens and tens, leaving Negreanu in need of a five on the river. The river was no help and he was eliminated in seventh place ($34,000). He now has nearly $51.1 million in lifetime tournament earnings after this, his 468th recorded cash.

Wilson was the next to hit the rail, losing a preflop coin flip to Dan Shak to finish sixth ($42,500). Not long after that, Daniel Weinand got all-in with a flush draw facing the pocket queens of Foxen. The overpair held up and Weinand headed to the cage to collect $59,500.

Little doubled up twice during four-handed play, leaving Lonis short after the second. He then picked up pocket tens against Lonis’ short-stack shove for four big blinds. The pair held up against Lonis’ J-6 to narrow the field to three. Lonis took home $76,500 as the fourth-place finisher. This was his third final table of the year, with more than $503,000 in POY earnings accrued already in 2024. He now ranks eighth in the POY standings as a result.

Shak was left on fumes after a preflop race with A-10 suited against the pocket fours of Foxen failed to go his way. He was soon all-in with Q-8 facing the A-J of Little. Both players paired their high card on the flop, but Little held from there to knock Shak out in third place ($106,250). He now has nearly $14.4 million in lifetime cashes to his name.

Heads-up play began with Little holding 6,425,000 to Foxen’s 4,200,000. Foxen was able to close the gap and move into the lead before Little won a crucial preflop battle with A6 against KJ. His ace high played by the river to give him roughly a 3:1 lead.

In the final hand, Little shoved from the button and Foxen called all-in for 2,475,000 with K2. Little revealed K10. The board ran out 87685 to send the pot and the title Little’s way. Foxen secured $148,750 as the runner-up. This was already his third PokerGO Tour cash of the year. His 265 points in that high-stakes-centric race are good for fourth place in the season-long standings. Foxen has accumulated seven final table finishes so far in 2024, with one title won. His 1,545 POY points are good for third in the standings.

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

Photo credits: PokerGO / Antonio Abrego.

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