Cary Katz Earns his First Poker Masters Title and $223,000 in Poker Masters Event #7: $10,100 No-Limit Hold'em

The Poker Masters Event #7: $10,100 No-Limit Hold'em final table looked as if it would go entirely Jared Hyman’s way. Hyman entered the day as the massive chip leader and eliminated three of his final five opponents en route to heads-up play. But Cary “El Jefe” Katz had something to say about it. Katz spent most of the day sitting second in chips, before striking in heads-up play to take down the title. In a masterful display, Katz clawed away the chip lead from Hyman, won a critical flip when it mattered most, and eventually closed out the duel to earn the $223,000 first-place prize.

Hyman was the driving force at today’s final table, as he abused his chip lead with relentless pressure. The first to fall was Matthew McEwan, who moved all in on the button with ace-jack. Hyman woke up with pocket nines, which held to eliminate McEwan in 6th place.

Next out was Dan Sepiol, also at the hands of Hyman. Sepiol set a trap in the small blind with pocket jacks, but Hyman had queens in the big blind. Sepiol failed to improve and exited in 5th place. Quickly following him was John Riordan, who had been short-stacked for much of the day. Masato Yokosawa did the work, flopping two pair against Riordan’s one pair. Riordan couldn’t improve and was eliminated in 4th place.

Hyman then took a big gamble to knock out Yokosawa in 3rd place. Yokosawa jammed with pocket nines, and Hyman called with suited king-seven. The board delivered top pair and a flush draw for Hyman, and he completed the flush on the river to bring play down to heads-up.

There, Hyman held nearly a two-to-one chip lead over Katz, but it didn’t last long. Within a few hands, Katz had Hyman second-guessing himself. Using his trademark table talk, Katz talked Hyman into several ill-timed bluffs and poor calls. The pivotal moment came when the two played a flip for the tournament: Katz picked up ace-king against Hyman’s queens and spiked an ace on the river to seize a commanding lead. Just a few hands later, Katz finished Hyman off.

For the victory, Katz earned $223,000 and 223 PGT points, moving him into 8th place on the series leaderboard with 253 points total. The win marked Katz’s third cash of the series, his 14th Poker Masters cash overall, and his 7th PGT title. He also climbed into 128th place on the 2025 PGT season leaderboard with 415 points.

Event #7: $10,100 No-Limit Hold'em Final Table Payouts

Katz and Riordan Move Into 2025 Purple Jacket Race Top Ten;
Yokosawa and Riordan Climb the Season-Long Leaderboard

While the top positions in the 2025 Purple Jacket race remain unchanged, both John Riordan and Cary Katz cracked the top ten with their finishes in Event #7: $10,100 No-Limit Hold'em. Both players now have three cashes in the series but still have work to do to catch Mitchell Halverson, who remains in the pole position with 330 PGT points.

With his runner-up finish, Jared Hyman moved into the top 20, though he mentioned during today’s final table that he will not be playing any more events in the series. Masato Yokosawa also joined the top 20 with his finish, landing in 20th place with 136 PGT points. Matthew McEwan and Daniel Sepiol both remain outside the top 20 despite their results today.

On the season-long 2025 PGT Leaderboard, Yokosawa climbed into the top 20 with 1,136 PGT points, marking his 12th cash of the season and 5th final table. Riordan also broke into the top 40 with his cash and 73 PGT points. Katz, Sepiol, Hyman, and McEwan remain outside the qualifying top 40 for the PGT Championship, with McEwan sitting the highest at 89th place with 593 points this season.

2025 Poker Master Leaderboard

2025 PGT Season Leadboard - Top 10

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