Jim Collopy wasn’t among the 10 players who cashed in the 2024 Poker Masters Presented by PokerStars NAPT series finale. But it didn’t matter as he’d locked up the Purple Jacket, awarded to the top performer throughout the series, before the $25,200 No-Limit Hold’em final table concluded when Aram Zobian, his final challenger, busted in fifth place.
Ben Tollerene, however, took down the eighth and final tournament of the PokerGO Tour series in Las Vegas for $510,000, beating out a field of 68 entrants at the PokerGO Studio.
Collopy had a banner series despite not winning a tournament. He cashed four times, finishing runner-up in consecutive events, including a heads-up defeat at the hands of Isaac Haxton in the $15,100 No-Limit Hold’em event earlier this week. The Purple Jacket winner also booked third and sixth place finishes, and he now has over $9.7 million in lifetime live tournament cashes, according to The Hendon Mob, $521,600 of which was earned over the past week.
Tough Final Table
The final table was quite a battle, as was to be expected when six high-stakes crushers were competing for a sizable payout. Andrew Lichtenberger entered Thursday’s Day 2 session in the chip lead with seven players left. He’d remain at the top, narrowly most of the time, but it wasn’t an easy task, nor could he get much separation from his nearest competitors, and he inevitably busted in third place for $229,500 when pocket aces were cracked by Tollerene’s pocket queens.
Poker Masters Event #8 Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ben Tollerene | $510,000 |
| 2 | Taylor von Kriegenbergh | $331,500 |
| 3 | Andrew Lichtenberger | $229,500 |
| 4 | Sam Soverel | $170,000 |
| 5 | Aram Zobian | $127,500 |
| 6 | Filipp Kavin | $93.50 |
When heads-up play began between Tollerene and Taylor von Kriegenbergh, the former, who busted “Lucky Chewy,” held nearly a 2-1 chip lead. Both players, however, had plenty of dancing chips with the blinds at 40,000/80,000 (80,000 big blind ante) and over 10 million chips in play.
The chip lead quickly shifted in the opposite direction when von Kriegenbergh picked off a bluff with ace-high against eight-high. But Tollerene would then pull off a solid bluff with 10-high to get back within striking distance.
And then it was time to race as Tollerene put his stack in with 7♠7♣ against A♦K♣. Big Slick didn’t pair up on the board, and that put Tollerene into his biggest chip lead of the day.
The heads-up players would then play the most crucial pot of the match when von Kriegenbergh raised from the button to 200,000 with K♦J♥. Tollerene then jammed all in for 2.5 million effective with A♠6♠ and received a quick call.
There was quite a sweat on the 3♦Q♦8♦ flop as the player who needed the double-up to stay alive had two live cards and a flush draw. But he had too many outs as the turn and river bricked, putting an end to the eighth and final 2024 Poker Masters event. Tollerene won $510,000 for first place, and von Kriegenbergh settled for $331,500 and a second place finish.
All 2024 Poker Masters Winners
| EVENT | ENTRANTS | PRIZE POOL | WINNER | COUNTRY | PRIZE (IN USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event #1: $5,100 No-Limit Hold’em | 131 | $655,000 | Spencer Champlin | United States | $160,475 |
| Event #2: $10,100 No-Limit Hold’em | 100 | $1,000,000 | Jeremy Becker | United States | $255,000 |
| Event #3: $10,100 No-Limit Hold’em | 94 | $940,000 | Justin Zaki | United States | $244,400 |
| Event #4: $10,100 No-Limit Hold’em | 81 | $810,000 | Jonathan Little | United States | $226,800 |
| Event #5: $10,100 No-Limit Hold’em | 75 | $750,000 | David Chen | United States | $217,500 |
| Event #6: $15,100 No-Limit Hold’em | 84 | $1,260,000 | Isaac Haxton | United States | $352,800 |
| Event #7: $15,100 No-Limit Hold’em | 76 | $1,140,000 | Brock Wilson | United States | $330,600 |
| Event #8: $25,200 No-Limit Hold’em | 68 | $1,700,000 | Ben Tollerene | United States | $510,000 |
*Lead image courtesy PokerGO