Big Bluff Propels Adam Hendrix To Victory In Latest PokerGO Cup Event

Roses are red, violets are blue. Adam Hendrix had air, but his big bluff got through.

Hendrix was able to get a multi-street move by his heads-up opponent in event no. 3 at the 2025 PokerGO Cup, taking down a huge pot that helped him close out the win on Valentine’s Day. The bluff saw him shove the river with king high, eventually forcing his opponent off of two pair. The Alaskan poker pro closed out the victory from there, besting a field of 129 entries in the $10,000 no-limit hold’em affair to earn $316,050. This was the fourth-largest score of Hendrix’s career, and it increased his lifetime haul to $8.2 million.

This event awarded plenty of rankings points to its champion, including 660 Card Player Player of the Year points for what was already his third final-table finish of the year. Hendrix now sits in 31st place in the 2025 POY race standings presented by Global Poker. He also secured 316 PokerGO Tour points, enough to move him into seventh place in the PGT season-long standings.

The 129-entry field built a prize pool of $1,290,000 for this event, with the top 19 finishers making the money. Just seven players advanced to day 2 action inside the PokerGO Studio, with 2023 World Series of Poker Circuit Choctaw main event winner Harvey Castro in the lead and Hendrix toward the bottom of the chip counts.

Landon Tice was the first to fall, with his A-K being outrun by the A-J suited of Manuel Fritz. Tice was bested by a rivered queen-high straight for his opponent after the chips went in preflop. He earned $51,600 for his seventh-place showing.

A classic race ended Cherish Andrew’s run in this event. The bracelet winner got all-in with A-9 suited facing the pocket eights of Hendrix. Neither player connected with the board and Andrews was sent packing in sixth place ($64,500). This was her second final-table finish of the series, having placed third in the kickoff event for $88,500. These two scores have pushed her career earnings past $3.2 million.

A second series final table for @CherishAndrews results in a sixth-place finish.

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— PokerGO (@PokerGO) February 14, 2025

After an extended stretch of five-handed action, 2023 World Poker Tour World Championship main event winner Daniel Sepiol ran pocket nines into the pocket aces of Castro to head home with $77,400. He is now approaching $9.3 million in lifetime cashes, with the majority of that total coming from his $5.3 million windfall in the aforementioned WPT season-ending event.

The next elimination saw Hendrix open-shove from the small blind with K3. Fritz woke up with AQ and called off his last 16 or so big blinds from the big blind. Fritz flopped a pair of queens to extend his lead, but Hendrix drilled a king on fourth street to turn the tables, and another on the river for good measure. Fritz collected $103,200 as the fourth-place finisher. This was the second-largest live score yet for the Austrian, who now has more than $1.2 million in total scores to his name.

With that, Hendrix had overtaken the lead heading into three-handed action. Castro was demoted to second in chips for the time being, but soon got involved in a massive coin-flip that propelled him back in front. Hendrix opened from the button for a 400,000 min-raise with K4 and was three-bet to 1,100,000 by two-time bracelet winner Joao Simao, who held AK. Castro four-bet to 2,000,000 out of the big blind and Hendrix bowed out. Simao five-bet shoved for 3,950,000 total and Castro made the call. The board came down Q22102 and Simao was eliminated in third place ($141,900). The score grew his lifetime earnings to more than $8.3 million.

Heads-up play began with 9,350,000 for Castro and 6,775,000 for Hendrix. The gap had been erased, with Hendrix taking a slight lead by the time the hand of the day arose. Castro limped in from the button for 250,000 total with 106 and Hendrix raised to 900,000 from the big blind with KQ. Castro made the call and the flop came down 532. Hendrix bet 500,000 as the first to act and Castro made the call with his gutshot straight draw. The turn brought the 10 to give Castro top pair. Hendrix, who had king high and no draw to speak of, fired 1,700,000. Castro came along and the river brought the 6 to improve Castro to tens and sixes, while putting four to a straight on board. Hendrix kept on firing, moving all-in for an effective bet of 4,800,000. Castro asked for a count and then went deep into the tank. After several minutes, Castro finally decided to fold his tens up, sending the massive pot Hendrix’s way.

Somehow, @AdamHendrix10 finds a way.

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— PokerGO (@PokerGO) February 15, 2025

That successful bluff gave Hendrix more than a 2:1 chip lead. He was able to further extend his advantage ahead of the final hand of the tournament. Castro limped with QJ from the small blind and Hendrix shoved for around 9 big blinds effective with 77. The 54338 runout brought the event to a close.

Castro was awarded $193,500 as the runner-up finisher. This was the second-largest payday yet for the Texan, growing his overall earning to nearly $881,000.

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

Photo credits: PokerGO / Enrique Malfavon.

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