Daniel Lee Wins PGT Venetian Las Vegas Classic for $250,000

The first-ever PGT Venetian Las Vegas Classic concluded on Monday with Daniel Lee emerging victorious, overcoming the short stack at the final table to capture the $250,000 top prize. Lee bested the 418-entrant field and will earn 250 PGT points, the Venetian Golden Lion trophy, and the PGT Gold Cup.

This was Lee's second-largest career score following his 2024 victory in the Asian Poker Tour Manila Main Event for $258,645. With this win, Lee's lifetime tournament earnings exceed $836,000, according to The Hendon Mob. This is also Lee's second career PGT cash following an 83rd-place finish in the 2025 WSOP $10,000 Super Turbo Bounty for $13,581.

"When you play a tournament, you never expect to win," Lee said about being the first-ever PGT Venetian Las Vegas Classic winner. "You always bust and keep trying. But after all those efforts, it feels great for it to finally pay off."

From elite PGT regulars to satellite qualifiers and players of all experience levels, the PGT Venetian Las Vegas Classic showcased a truly diverse field across the Day 1 flights. Up until the final hand, Lee faced tough opponents, including 2024 PGT Player of the Year Jeremy Ausmus and three-time WSOP bracelet winner Ryan Leng, at the final table.

"I'm going to compete with them at the highest ranks," Lee said about facing the caliber of players like Ausmus and Leng throughout the PGT Venetian Las Vegas Classic. "Not to be arrogant, but that's my dream."

The first-ever PGT Venetian Las Vegas Classic $3,300 Main Event attracted 418 entrants across the three Day 1s and created a $1,254,000 prize pool that paid the final 64 players. Finishing in the money were Victoria Livschitz, Anthony Marquez, Spencer Champlin, Landon Tice, Sam Laskowitz, Josh Arieh, Jesse Yaginuma, Jason Hickey, Jonathan Little, Andrew Lichtenberger, Jeff Platt, Joao Simao, Kane Kalas, Kathy Liebert, Ryan Laplante, John Wasnock, Michael Berk, Jeremy Becker, Craig Mason, and John Riordan. 

Lee began the final table of seven players as the short stack, but very quickly found himself on top of the chip counts. He picked off a bluff from start-of-final-table chip leader Jeremy Ausmus with top pair top kicker to vault to the top. Ausmus was unable to mount a comeback and fell in seventh place. Santiago Montes was the next to fall, getting his chips in with ace-queen against Lee's pocket tens. No help came to Montes and he was out in sixth place. Ryan Leng was the next to depart, committing his short stack with king-queen against Lee's ace-jack. Leng flopped a pair of queens, but Lee turned a straight to end Leng's run in fifth place. Ace-jack worked again for Lee soon after, besting Daniel Marcus' king-seven suited to end Marcus' run in fourth place. Doug Lee fell shortly therafter to Lily Kiletto in third place.

Lee and Kiletto were nearly even to begin the heads-up duel. Kiletto had the edge early on to pull ahead, but Lee scored the key double up after flopping top pair. Kiletto put him to the test with a flush draw and Lee ultimately called for his tournament life, holding up to take a sizable chip lead. Kiletto doubled up twice to close the gap, but eventually Lee was able to seal the deal. His king-jack flopped top pair against Kiletto's ace-ten and the first ever PGT Venetian Las Vegas Classic champion was crowned. 

PGT Venetian Las Vegas Classic Final Table Results

The PGT Venetian Las Vegas Classic $3,300 Main Event may have concluded, but two more single-day $5,300 No-Limit Hold'em high rollers are scheduled to run at The Venetian Resort Las Vegas on September 15 and 16. Following the PGT Venetian Las Vegas Classic, the PGT turns its attention to the Poker Masters from September 19 to October 2, from the PokerGO Studio. There are ten events on the schedule, including the debut of the Poker Masters $1,000,000 Showcase, which is a multi-flight opening event with a $1,000,000 prize pool guarantee running from September 19-22.

Connect with PokerGO.com on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. Watch daily poker clips on the PokerGO YouTube channel. Join the conversation on the PokerGO Discord server. You can save $20 off an annual subscription to PokerGO.com by using the code “PGT2025” at checkout.