PokerGO President Mori Eskandani Wins PGT Mixed Games $10,200 H.O.R.S.E. Title

Mori Eskandani has made a massive impact on the poker world. The PokerGO President was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2018 due to his instrumental role in the production of many of the most celebrated poker television programs in the game’s history.

But while Eskandani is best known for his work in that capacity on shows like High Stakes Poker and Poker After Dark, the 68-year-old Las Vegas resident is also an experienced player with more than $1 million in career tournament earnings to his name. The largest score on Eskandani’s resume was earned on Saturday, after topping a field of 63 entries in the 2024 PGT Mixed Games $10,200 H.O.R.S.E. event to secure his seventh career title and the top prize of $201,600.

Prior to this victory, which was his first on the PokerGO Tour, Eskandani’s largest payday was a $128,000 cash as the champion of a $10,500 high roller at ARIA back in 2019.

Eskandi was awarded 360 Card Player Player of the Year points as the champion, along with 202 PGT rankings points. This was his first qualified score of 2024, but it alone was enough to move him into 20th place on this year’s PGT leaderboard. He is also the current leader in the series-long points race after this win.

The road to victory was far from an easy one for Eskandani. He had to contend with some of the most accomplished players in the game down the stretch. The other eight players to make this money in this tournament have combined for 24 World Series of Poker bracelets and more than $107 million in career tournament earnings.

The second and final day of this event began with five players remaining and five-time bracelet winner Benny Glaser leading. Eskandani was in third chip position when cards got in the air inside the PokerGO Studio at ARIA Resort & Casino Las Vegas.

Six-time bracelet winner Jeremy Ausmus scored the first knockout, making a 7-6-4-3-A in Razz to best the J-8-6-5-3 of bracelet winner and 2016 WSOP main event eighth-place finisher Jerry Wong (5th – $47,250).

Six-time bracelet winner and two-time World Poker Tour champion Daniel Negreanu was the next to fall, with his tens up bested by the queens up of Glaser in a hand of stud eight-or-better. Negreanu took home $63,000 as the fourth-place finisher. This was his fifth POY-qualified cash of the year, including a win in a PGT Last Chance series just a few days into 2024. He now sits in 28th place in the POY standing presented by Global Poker with 1,250 total points and $450,850 in to-date POY earnings. He climbed to eighth in the 2024 PGT standings, with five qualified cashes so far this season. The 49-year-old’s career tournament earnings are approaching $51.2 million.

Eskandani was the short stack for much of three-handed play, but Glaser was ultimately the next to be eliminated. He lost a big pot to Eskandani playing hold’em, and then committed the last of his chips in Razz with 10-4-5-2 in his first four cards. He was up against 8-7-4-3 for Ausmus. Glaser hit an ace on fifth street to make a ten low, but Ausmus also caught an ace for an eight low. Glaser was unable to improve any further and was knocked out in third place ($88,200).

This was Glaser’s second podium finish of the series, having placed second in the $5,100 buy-in H.O.R.S.E. event just days earlier. He is now ranked second in the series points race, behind only Eskandani.

Heads-up play began with Ausmus holding 5,525,000 to Eskandani’s 3,925,000. The lead soon changed hands’ thanks to a big scoop in Omaha eight-or-better. The final blow came in the same game. All of the chips went in preflop with Ausmus holding A1098 against the 5432 of Eskandani. The board came down 7543J to give Eskandani a scoop with two pair for the high and a live deuce on the low side. Ausmus earned $126,000 as the runner-up.

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

Photo credits: PokerGO / Antonio Abrego.

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