Jeremy Becker Wins PGT Bounty Blitz for $55,600 and 2nd PGT Title

Jeremy Becker began the day as the short stack with just 30 big blinds, but by night’s end he was the last player standing, topping the 46-entry field to claim the title.

The day started with Qin Zhao in command, holding a massive 86 big blinds. Zhao picked up where he left off, eliminating Josh Arieh in sixth place. Arieh moved all in with pocket jacks on a nine-high board, but Zhao’s pocket queens improved to a full house to send the four-time WSOP bracelet winner to the rail.

Becker began to build momentum shortly after, doubling through Darren Rabinowitz in a blind-versus-blind clash and winning a series of key pots to climb the leaderboard. Rabinowitz’s run would end in fifth place after losing several hands and falling to John Andress, also in a blind-versus-blind confrontation.

Zhao notched another knockout by eliminating Andrew Lichtenberger in fourth. Lichtenberger shoved with ace-ten over Zhao’s raise, only to run into ace-king. A ten on the flop gave him the lead, but a king on the turn sealed his fate and ended “LuckyChewy’s” tournament.

Becker closed the gap on Zhao by busting John Andress in third place, setting up the final heads-up match. From there, Becker quickly took control, winning a string of pots before finishing Zhao off. In the final hand, Becker’s turned straight bested Zhao’s turned two pair, and the chips went in.

Becker secured the victory, earning the $45,600 first-place prize, an additional $8,000 in bounties, and 76 PGT points.

Event #1: $5,100 No-Limit Hold'em Final Table Results

The PGT Bounty Blitz Series six-event schedule consists exclusively of No-Limit Hold'em events, and all buy-ins are $5,300, with a $200 discount available for on-time entry for players in the registration line by the start of play.

Unique to PGT Bounty Blitz is that every event will be a different bounty format, with $2,000 from each player's entry set aside for the bounty pool. Events #1 and #6 are standard knockout tournaments with an elimination earning that player $2,000. Event #2 is an escalator format with bounties valued at three different price points that rise as the tournament progresses. Eliminating players while registration is open earns the player $500, eliminations after registration closes are worth $1,000, and once the tournament reaches one full table before the bubble, the bounty value will be adjusted to the remaining prize pool divided by the number of players remaining.

Event #3 is a Quattro format, where bounties will begin with 25% of the field remaining and be valued at $8,000. Event #4 is a Progressive Knockout with each elimination earning the player half the bounty paid out in cash, and the half being added to their bounty value. Event #5 is a Mystery Bounty, and the second-highest bounty prize will be reserved for the final table.|

The PGT Bounty Blitz Series continues with Event #2: $5,100 No-Limit Hold'em Escalator which is taking place now and will return for its livestreamed final table on September 3rd at 1 p.m. PT. on PokerGO. 

PGT Leaderboard Top 10 

With his 4th place finish in the event, Andrew Lichtenberger breached the top ten of the PGT Leaderboard, securing his eighth cash. John Andress moved into the top 300 with his finish, putting him at 298th place with 138 PGT points. Meanwhile, Josh Arieh moved into 141st place, Qin Zhao's 48 points were his first of the season, putting him in 734th place. Rabinowitz also secured his first 19 points of the season as well. With his win, Becker moved into 317th on the leaderboard with 128 points. 

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