PokerGO Cup: Cary Katz Emerges Victorious In Event No. 4

Cary Katz secured his first PokerGO Tour series title in 2023, cashing in five of eight events to capture last year’s PokerGO Cup. Now, thanks to a win in event no. 4 of the 2024 PokerGO Cup, he is well positioned for a run at back-to-back series championships.

The 53-year-old businessman and poker player defeated a field of 81 entries in the $10,500 buy-in no-limit hold’em event for his latest tournament victory, earning $226,800 for the win. The PokerGO founder surpassed $40 million in career tournament earnings with this win, becoming just the 15th player in poker history to top that milestone. He now sits in 15th place on the game’s all-time money list as a result.

In addition to the trophy and the money, Katz also locked up 480 Card Player Player of the Year points and 227 PGT points for coming out on top in this event. This was Katz’s first qualified score of 2024, but it was enough to move him within striking distance of the top 100 in the POY rankings presented by Global Poker. He also climbed to eighth place in the season-long PGT standings, while moving into third place in the race for this year’s PokerGO Cup.

The strong turnout at the PokerGO Studio at ARIA Resort & Casino Las Vegas resulted in an $810,000 prize pool, with the top 12 finishers making the money. Just six contenders moved on to the second and final day, with 2020 World Series of Poker Online main event champion Stoyan Madanzhiev leading the way and Katz in fourth chip position.

Madanzhiev added to his lead thanks to an early cooler, with his pocket aces holding against the pocket queens of two-time bracelet winner Jesse Lonis (6th – $40,500). This was already the fourth final-table finish of the year for Lonis, with more than $543,000 in to-date POY earnings piled up along the way. As a result, he now sits in fourth place in the POY rankings.

Six-time bracelet winner Jeremy Ausmus fell in fifth place ($56,700) to 2018 WSOP main event sixth-place finisher Aram Zobian. Katz then scored his first knockout of the day when his A-Q held up against the A-10 of three-time World Poker Tour champion Chino Rheem (4th – $76,950).

Katz and Madanzhiev traded the lead a few times during three-handed play. Madanzhiev was the one who scored the next elimination, picking up pocket jacks against the pocket fives of Zobian and holding to take a slight lead into heads-up action. Zobian earned $105,300 as the third-place finisher. The bracelet winner now has more than $5.7 million in career earnings.

It took less than 40 minutes for the heads-up match to play out. Katz overtook the lead and was able to stretch his advantage to more than 5:1 by the time the final hand of the tournament was dealt. Katz moved all in from the button for just over 10 big blinds effective with KJ and Madanzhiev called with K5. The board ran out J1028Q and Katz faded Madanzhiev’s backdoor flush draw to lock up the title. Madanzhiev earned $145,800 as the runner-up, the largest live score of his career. He now has over $4.8 million in recorded cashes, with more than $3.9 million of that coming from his big win in the WSOPO main event.

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

Photo credit: PokerGO / Antonio Abrego.

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