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Dan Shak Scores His First Poker Tournament Win In PokerGO Studio

High-Stakes Businessman Takes Down $10,000 Big Bet Event At Mixed Games Series

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Despite all of his scores on the high roller circuit, including numerous final tables at the PokerGO Cup, Poker Masters, and U.S. Poker Open, Dan Shak had never won an event at the PokerGO studio. The hedge fund manager and part-time poker player changed that on Thursday by taking down the $10,000 big bet mix event at the PokerGO Mixed Games series.

The 64-year-old picked up $133,200 for the win, bringing his career totals to more than $14.5 million. Shak topped a field of 37 entries, taking more than a third of the $370,000 total prize pool.

The win comes after a series of close calls for Shak, who final tabled the massive $1,000 Mystery Millions Bounty at the WSOP last summer before finishing runner-up in the $10,000 Stud Championship. He then narrowly missed out on his first bracelet yet again in December, taking second in the $25,000 pot-limit Omaha high roller at WSOP Paradise in the Bahamas.

This win was unlikely, however, with Shak entering the final table with the short stack and surviving multiple all-ins despite drawing slim. To make things even tougher, he had to contend with previous event winner Jerry Wong, Poker Hall of Famer Daniel Negreanu, and Jeremy Ausmus, who would go on to record his second runner-up finish of the series.

Wong not only won the $10,000 Triple Draw event a few days earlier, but he also took seventh in the $10,000 Dealer’s Choice before adding the fifth-place showing in this event.

Negreanu banked $55,500 for third place, his seventh final table of 2024 and fourth of the series. He had previously taken fifth in the $5,000 H.O.R.S.E., fourth in the $10,000. H.O.R.SE., and finished runner-up in the $10,000 Dealer’s Choice. With 1,660 Card Player Player of the Year points, he has moved into 10th place overall.

Ausmus was looking good to improve on his second-place showing in the $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. and had Shak on the ropes holding a pat 10-8-6-4-2 against a one-card draw to an eight in no-limit 2-7 single draw. Shak hit a nine, however, and doubled into the lead before closing it out a short while later.

The tournament featured a rotation of big bet games (non-limit) that includes no-limit hold’em, pot-limit Omaha, pot-limit Omaha eight-or-better, five-card pot-limit Omaha eight-or-better, no-limit five-card draw, pot-limit 2-7 triple draw, and no-limit 2-7 single draw.

Final Table Results

Place Player Earnings POY Points PGT Points
1 Dan Shak $133,200 240 133
2 Jeremy Ausmus $88,800 200 88
3 Daniel Negreanu $55,500 160 55
4 Walter Chambers $40,700 120 40
5 Jerry Wong $29,600 100 29
6 John Racener $22,200 80 22

Photo credit: PokerGO / Antonio Abrego