Justin Zaki Triumphs In Poker Masters Event No. 3

Justin Zaki emerged victorious in event no. 3 at the 2024 Poker Masters high roller tournament festival. The Floridian poker pro overcame a field of 94 total entries in the $10,100 buy-in no-limit hold’em affair to earn $244,400 and his first title in a Poker Masters event.

This was Zaki’s second win at a PokerGO Tour major, having won a $10,500 buy-in event at this year’s PokerGO Cup. He now has nearly $5.9 million in career earnings on the circuit.

In addition to the money and the hardware, Zaki also earned 540 Card Player Player of the Year points as the champion of this event. This was his second title and seventh final-table finish of the year. As a result, he climbed to 147th place in the 2024 POY rankings presented by Global Poker. This victory also rewarded Zaki with 244 PokerGO Tour points. His 706 total points have moved him inside the top 50 in that high-stakes-centric leaderboard.

Zaki came into the final day as the chip leader amongst the seven who survived day 1 action. Plenty of big names cashed but fell short of making day 2, including David Coleman(12th), four-time bracelet winner Kristen Foxen (11th), bracelet winner Aram Zobian (10th), and seven-time bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu (9th).

Short stack Ren Lin was the first to fall, losing a flip with pocket sixes against the K-Q of six-time bracelet winner Jeremy Ausmus. Lin earned $37,600 as the seventh-place finisher. This was his 13th final-table finish of the year. With 4,576 POY points, he now sits in 13th place in the overall standings.

Three-time bracelet winner Jim Collopy’s run came to an end in sixth place. He shoved from the button for 14 big blind with J-10 suited and received a swift call from Michael Brinkenhoff, who held A-K. Collopy flopped a pair to take the lead, but an ace on the river sent him packing with $47,000.

PokerGO founder Cary Katz got his last handful of big blinds in with A10 leading the A3 of Zaki. The flop of 642 left Katz in rough shape. The 4 turn gave Katz some extra outs, but the 9 on the end confirmed his elimination in fifth place ($65,800). He now has nearly $40.4 million in lifetime earnings after this latest strong showing on the high roller circuit.

Victoria Livschitz went out in fourth place. With four diamonds on board she bet 425,000 of her 925,000 chips with K10. Zaki moved all-in with KJ, which was the nuts with the ace of diamonds coming on the end. Livschitz called and was shown the bad news. She cashed for $84,600, the fifth-largest score of her burgeoning tournament career. She now has nearly $2 million in recorded earnings to her name.

Brinkenhoff also secured one of his biggest tournament paydays yet with a strong showing in this event. The 75-year-old doctor based out of Ventura, CA cashed out for $112,800 as the third-place finisher. This was his fourth-largest cash yet, bringing his total to nearly $1.2 million. A classic preflop race pitted his pocket threes against the A-K of Zaki. There were two kings on board by the river, giving Zaki trips and sending Brinkenhoff home in third place.

Heads-up play began with Zaki holding 9,150,000 to Ausmus’ 2,600,000. Ausmus managed a double up with K-9 holding against K-2 to close the gap a bit in the early going. That progress was soon undone when Ausmus’ top pair was beaten by Zaki’s rivered flush. Ausmus check-called roughly a third of his stack on the end to find himself left with just 12 big blinds.

Ausmus extended the match, doubling again with A-4 against Zaki’s K-9. On the very next deal, Zaki shoved from the button with 44 and Ausmus made the call with AQ. The board ran out 642510 and Zaki made a set to win the pot and the title.

Ausmus earned $155,100 as the runner-up. This was his 18th final-table finish of the year, with one title won along the way. His 6,037 points is good for fifth place in the 2024 POY race. The 450 PGT points he secured extended his advantage on that leaderboard. With 2,315 points, he now sits 480 points ahead of second-ranked Michael Rocco.

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

Photo credits: PokerGO / Antonio Abrego.

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