Isaac Haxton Wins Poker Masters Event for $352k; Bad Beat Crushes Jeremy Becker

Isaac Haxton continued his dominance of the toughest tournaments in the world with a Poker Masters Presented by PokerStars NAPT victory on Tuesday.

Event #6: $15,100 No-Limit Hold’em played down to six on Monday, and the remaining players returned to the PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas for Day 2, which saw the legend of Jeremy Becker grow. But the local grinder would lose a bad beat to bust shortly after he bluffed off half his stack.

Dylan Linde was first to go at the final table ($63,000), followed by Sean Winter ($88,200), and then Aram Zobian ($119,700). That caused three-handed play to begin between a few crushers — Becker, Haxton, and Jim Collopy. And the battle for the title took some thrilling twists and turns.

Poker Masters Event #6 Final Table Results

Becker Goes for a Massive Bluff

Becker, during three-handed play, had nearly a 2-1 chip advantage over both of his final opponents. He’d use that big stack to make what can be best described as the gutsiest bluff attempt of the tournament.

The blinds were at 50,000/100,000 (100,000 big blind ante) at the time, and Becker raised from the small blind to 275,000 with Q♥3♦. Collopy, in the big blind with K♠8♥, called to see a flop of 2♣4♥K♦.

Becker, sitting on just queen-high, continued for 225,000, which of course didn’t convince top pair to fold. The 5♦ on the turn gave some hope to the preflop raiser. He checked, however, and Collopy bet 375,000.

Becker brought some serious aggression when he check-jammed enough to put his opponent all in (1,875,000). But the player with the best hand made the call. Both players turned their cards over and then watched the 7♠ brick card on the river, sending Collopy the biggest pot of the tournament to that point, a hand that propelled him into the chip lead.

Bad Beat for Becker

Collopy had taken a chunk of Becker’s stack. But he had an opportunity to get all those chips back soon after.

Haxton, in the small blind and 10♠6♠ in the hole, put Becker all in for his 2,300,000 stack. Becker paused briefly before calling off with A♦6♦.

The flop came out Q♠2♠K♥, giving Haxton a flush draw, which didn’t arrive on the 7♣ turn card. But the 9♠ on the river completed the flush and sent Becker home in third place on a bad beat. He received $163,800, his second six-figure score of the series, but a rough end to his multiple title bid.

Becker had never earned a six-figure score before the 2024 Poker Masters series began. He booked his first one, a $255,000 score, when he took down Event #2: $10,100 No-Limit Hold’em. The Wynn Las Vegas daily grinder now has over $2.4 million in lifetime live tournament cashes, according to The Hendon Mob, despite a ho-hum 2024 World Series of Poker (WSOP). But he did finish his WSOP with a prop bet victory against Landon Tice as both sides lost money throughout the series.

Jeremy Becker Earns First Six-Figure Score

Fair Fight Between Collopy and Haxton

Haxton and Collopy would then begin heads-up play with nearly identical stacks, the latter holding a tiny chip advantage. The player who began the match slightly behind would bring some early aggression, leading to a handful of small pot wins that brought Haxton quickly back out in front.

Collopy would then begin to grind away at his opponent’s stack. He’d jump out ahead 6 million chips to 4.5 million chips with the blinds at 75,000/150,000 (150,000 big blind ante). Both players still had plenty of big blinds at that point to feel comfortable making plays.

Haxton then turned the match in his favor with a pot-sized bet of 900,000 on a board of 8♠7♣9♦9♥9♠ with K♦7♦, and he received a call from ace-high. The match hadn’t seen any big hands or pots throughout the first half hour, but then Collopy would bluff off a decent amount with a missed flush draw before folding to a raise against Haxton’s full house.

That hand gave Haxton a 3-1 chip lead, but he’d squander it quickly and fall well behind. And then it all turned back around for him when he jammed with AxKx and was called by Ax10x, the best hand holding up.

The tournament would come to its conclusion when Collopy, down to three big blinds, went all in blind preflop and turned over 10♠9♠, ahead of 6♦2♣. But Haxton would pair up on the flop and hold on to win the hand and Event #6 of the 2024 Poker Masters for $352,800. He now has just under $50 million in lifetime live tournament cashes.

Collopy, on the other hand, finished second place for the second consecutive event. He is still in search of his first Poker Masters tournament win, and he had to settle for the $226,800 consolation prize.

Event #7: $15,100 No-Limit Hold’em also kicked off Tuesday from the PokerGO Studio. The series will wrap with the $25,200 No-Limit Hold’em event, which starts Wednesday. After that tournament concludes, a Purple Jacket winner will be crowned. Becker and Collopy are both in solid position for the overall series crown.

2024 PGT Poker Masters Winners So Far

_{*Lead image courtesy PokerGO}