Dylan DeStefano scooped event #4 of the PokerGO Tour Last Chance series late last night, pocketing $195,000 as the race for the final seats to the season-ending PGT Championship in Las Vegas heats up.
The 78 runners in the fourth of six $10k buy-in NLH tournaments produced a $780,000 prizepool with 12 places paid and $195k sitting up top, with a matching 195 PGT points for the winner.
While the money is always welcome, the points are key to this week’s series as a top 40 leaderboard finish guarantees players a seat in next week’s PGT Championship $1,000,000 Freeroll. Even if that top 40 finish proves to be out of reach, the top two highest-placed finishers in the Last Chance series who don’t make it will each bag Dream Seats to the grand finale of the 2023 PGT season.
LuckyChewy bubbles
Daniel Negreanu, GPI female Player of the Year Kristen Foxen, Stephen Chidwick, and David Peters all fell just short of the money last night, with DNegs – who picked up the opening event of the Last Chance series – running kings into aces.
The money bubble burst when Andrew “Lucky Chewy” Lichtenberger ran out of his eponymous good fortune, his pockets sixes unable to hold up against Aram Oganyan’s AJs, leaving the remaining dozen in the money.
Artur Martirosyan couldn’t repeat his success of event #2 midweek, falling in ninth spot. Though still outside the top 40, Martirosyan – second in the all-time Russian moneywinners list – is still in line to win a Dream Seat entry.
When Erik Seidel’s pocket deuces fell to Masashi Oya’s fives, the final table was set, with event 3 winner Samuel Laskowitz looking to go back-to-back.
No back-to-back for Laskowitz
That wasn’t to be as he was first to hit the rail, his AJ versus the AQ of Joey Weissman and unable to improve. Laskowitz was out in seventh for $39,000 and 39 PGT points.
Japan’s leading moneywinner, Masashi Oya, was next to go, his race with pocket sevens against Weissman’s big slick rather one-sided when the latter flopped a Broadway straight.
When Oganyan and Lin fell in fifth and fourth respectively, we had our podium trio, all of whom were guaranteed six-figure paydays.
Collopy, who had produced aces to dispose of Lin, fell victim to the same hand, DeStefano ousting him in third, good for a $101,400 cash for the three-time WSOP bracelet winner known as “Mr. Big Queso.”
Heads-up saw DeStefano continue apace with the big hands, crippling Weissman when his kings made a full house and then finishing off the job with the other two kings to lift the title – his first recorded tournament win.
PGT Last Chance 4 results
| Place | Player | Points | Prize |
| 1 | Dylan DeStefano | 195 | $195,000 |
| 2 | Joey Weissman | 133 | $132,600 |
| 3 | Jim Collopy | 101 | $101,400 |
| 4 | Ren Lin | 78 | $78,000 |
| 5 | Aram Oganyan | 62 | $62,400 |
| 6 | Masashi Oya | 47 | $46,800 |
| 7 | Samuel Laskowitz | 39 | $39,000 |
