Jesse Lonis and Phil Hellmuth Lead PGT Last Chance Event #1: $10,100 No-Limit Hold'em Final Table

The PGT Last Chance kicked off from the PokerGO Studio at ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, with Event #1: $10,100 No-Limit Hold’em. The tournament drew 109 entries, and Jesse Lonis leads the final six players.

Lonis held one of the top stacks early on and just kept accumulating to finish the night with 44% of the chips in play. Phil Hellmuth sits second in the counts with just under half the stack of Lonis, while Cary Katz, David 'ODB' Baker, Matthew Wantman, and Clemen Deng round out the players returning for the final day of play. These six players will return with $54,500 locked up, but all eyes will be on the $277,950 first-place prize, 278 PGT points, and the PGT Gold Cup.

The field of 109 entrants created a prize pool of $1,090,000, and the final 16 players earned a piece of it. Justin Saliba was the unfortunate bubble boy when his kings were cracked by Wantman. Brian Breck (16th), Jeremy Ausmus (15th), Ting-Yi Tsai (14th), Josh Arieh (13th), Joe Serock (12th), Byron Kaverman (11th), Jared Jaffee (10th), Connor Rash (9th), and Aram Oganyan (8th) were the first to fall in the money.

At the end of the night, Jonathan Little got the rest of his chips in with king-queen against the ace-six of Hellmuth. The runout changed nothing, and Little was eliminated in seventh place, while the six remaining players bagged to return for the final day.

PGT Last Chance is the concluding series of the 2025 PGT season and gives players their final opportunity to accumulate PGT points to qualify for the season-ending PGT $1,000,000 Championship, which is open to the top 40 eligible players on the PGT leaderboard. Players who have already secured a seat in the PGT $1,000,000 Championship can improve their position on the PGT leaderboard and simultaneously improve their starting stack.

PGT Last Chance will also have its own dedicated leaderboard where a Dream Seat will be awarded to the top five point earners who do not finish among the eligible Top 40 on the PGT leaderboard. This Dream Seat will give the player who earns it direct entry into the PGT $1,000,000 Championship with a 125-big-blind starting stack.

Lonis and Wantman currently sit within the Top 40 on the PGT leaderboard and will add more points with this event. Katz is close and can move into the qualification zone with a third-place finish or better, while Hellmuth, Baker, and Deng will each have their best shot at qualifying for the PGT $1,000,000 Championship by winning a Dream Seat.

PGT Last Chance Event #1 Final Table

When play resumes, there will be 30:00 remaining in Level 19 with blinds at 30,000/60,000 and a 60,000 big blind ante.

Play will resume on Tuesday, January 6, at 12 p.m. PT, and the PGT Live Reporting Team will provide exclusive live updates throughout the event until a winner is crowned.

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.