Isaac Haxton Wins PokerGO Cup Finale; Cary Katz Named Overall Champ
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The final event of the 2023 PokerGO Cup wrapped up with Event #8: $50,000 No-Limit Hold'em and saw Isaac Haxton defeating heads-up opponent Cary Katz to win $598,000 and deny Katz the victory. However, the runner-up finish still gave the PokerGO founder enough points to squeak past Anthony Hu to win the overall PokerGO Cup race, in addition to the $364,000 tournament payout.
Katz and fellow final tablists Dan Colpoys and Sean Winter all had shots at winning the overall PokerGO Cup. But it was Haxton who topped them all in the final event for his only cash of the series to add to his $30 million in Hendon Mob-reported earnings, while Katz takes home the $50,000 bonus prize and the magnificent silver trophy.
Katz joins previous PokerGO Cup champions Daniel Negreanu (2021) and Jeremy Ausmus (2022) and is already well on his way to qualifying into the PokerGO Championship Million Dollar Freeroll at the end of the PGT Season.
Event #8: $50,000 No-Limit Hold'em Final Table Results
| PLACE | PLAYER | COUNTRY | PRIZE (IN USD) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Isaac Haxton | United States | $598,000 | |
| 2 | Cary Katz | United States | $364,000 | |
| 3 | Sean Winter | United States | $208,000 | |
| 4 | Dan Colpoys | United States | $130,000 |
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Strong Series for Katz, Hu & Foxen
Katz is proving that he is not only the guy who owns the studio, he is a force to be reckoned with on the felt. The mild-mannered businessman began the series with a tenth-place finish in Event #1: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em for $27,000, which he followed up with a sixth-place finish in Event #2: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em for $49,800.
Katz was just warming up as he then finished fourth in the next event for $90,000 and his third consecutive cash. Katz pumped the brakes a bit until Event #6: $25,000 No-Limit Hold'em, which he finished fourth in for $125,000.
There were several strong performances across the eight events that made up the 2023 PokerGO Cup. Alex Foxen took down the $25,000 event for the trophy and $317,040 after a heads-up deal with Orpen Kisacikoglu.
That's after Foxen started the series with a runner-up finish in Event #1 for $153,000 against Winter, who himself had quite the series as he went on to finish third in the finale for $208,000.
But only Katz had a better series than Hu, who took down Event #5: $15,000 No-Limit Hold'em for $268,800 after finishing runner-up to the on-fire Justin Saliba in Event #4: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em for $140,400. Hu led the race with 454 points up to the end until Winter's third-place elimination gave Katz a lock on the race.
Haxton entered the four-handed final table with the chip lead and dominated his opponents before reaching heads-up play with a sizable lead against Katz, according to the PokerGO live stream.
Haxton only grew his lead until the final hand where he moved all in with J♦4♦ before Katz called with K♠7♣ to be ahead. The board proceeded to run out 2♠A♦J♠Q♣A♣ to give Haxton the best hand to take down the event.
2023 PokerGO Cup Final Standings
| PLACE | PLAYER | WINS | CASHES | WINNINGS | POINTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Cary Katz | 0 | 5 | $655,800 | 460 | |
| 2nd | Anthony Hu | 1 | 3 | $454,200 | 454 | |
| 3rd | Alex Foxen | 1 | 2 | $470,040 | 393 | |
| 4th | Isaac Haxton | 0 | 1 | $598,000 | 359 | |
| 5th | Sean Winter | 1 | 2 | $424,000 | 341 | |
| 6th | Punnat Punsri | 1 | 2 | $459,400 | 335 | |
| 7th | Aram Zobian | 1 | 2 | $291,500 | 292 | |
| 8th | Ed Sebesta | 1 | 2 | $258,000 | 258 | |
| 9th | Orpen Kisacikoglu | 0 | 2 | $399,460 | 212 | |
| 10th | Erik Seidel | 0 | 2 | $223,200 | 223 |
Read how Jeremy Ausmus won the 2022 PokerGO Cup
Other Winners
Other players who picked up trophies at the 2023 PokerGO Cup include Aram Zobian (Event #2: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em - $207,500), Punnat Punsri (Event #7: $25,000 No-Limit Hold'em - $310,000) and Ed Sebesta (Event #3: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em - $216,000), who opted to donate his winnings to the Holy Cross in honor of his son, a Catholic priest, who passed away in 2012.
PokerNews highlighted the early winners of the 2023 Poker GO Cup in an article that you can read here.
A full list of winners at the 2023 PokerGO Cup is available in the table below.
2023 PokerGO Cup Winners
| DATE | EVENT | ENTRANTS | PRIZE POOL | WINNER | COUNTRY | PRIZE (IN USD) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan. 12 | Event #1: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em | 90 | $900,000 | Sean Winter | United States | $216,000 | |
| Jan .13 | Event #2: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em | 83 | $830,000 | Aram Zobian | United States | $207,500 | |
| Jan. 14 | Event #3: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em | 90 | $900,000 | Ed Sebesta | United States | $216,000 | |
| Jan. 15 | Event #4: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em | 78 | $780,000 | Justin Saliba | United States | $195,000 | |
| Jan. 16 | Event #5: $15,000 No-Limit Hold'em | 56 | $840,000 | Anthony Hu | United States | $268,800 | |
| Jan. 17 | Event #6: $25,000 NL Hold’em | 50 | $1,250,000 | Alex Foxen | United States | $317,040* | |
| Jan. 18 | Event #7: $25,000 No-Limit Hold'em | 31 | $775,000 | Punnat Punsri | Thailand | $310,000 | |
| Jan. 19 | Event #8: $50,000 No-Limit Hold'em | 26 | $1,300,000 | Isaac Haxton | United States | $598,000 |
*Photos courtesy of PokerGO
