Joao Simao Wins Super High Roller Bowl X for $1,100,000

Super High Roller Bowl X has concluded at the PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas, Nevada, with Joao Simao winning $1,100,000 in prize money and his third career PGT title.

2025 has been a huge year for the Brazilian as he won two PGT titles and his third career WSOP bracelet. In November, Simao won the NAPT Las Vegas $10k No-Limit Hold'em / Pot-Limit Omaha for $174,600, and at WSOP Paradise, he won his third WSOP bracelet in the Triton $150,000 No-Limit Hold'em 8-Handed for $3,067,000. With Christmas just a few days away, he adds another accomplishment to his poker resume as he is now the Super High Roller Bowl X champion.

The 23-entrant field in Super High Roller Bowl X resumed on Monday, December 22, with the final five players on the money bubble, and it would be Japan's Jun Obara, who would run pocket kings into Sam Soverel's pocket aces to leave himself with just three big blinds before his queen-jack failed to run down Simao's ace-duece to burst the SHRB X money bubble and secure the reaming four players a payday of $200,000. 

2025 Poker Hall of Famer Nick Schulman would be the first to fall when his ace-queen would get all in pre-flop for just under a million chips against Koon's pocket jacks, just a few hands after Obara was sent to the rail. Schulman would find a queen in the window, but a jack came right behind, leaving the New York native to collect his 27th PGT cash of the year for $200,000 plus another 60 PGT points. 

The elimination left start-of-day chip leader Sam Soverel on the short stack, and despite scoring a double through Simao, the last of his chips ended up in the middle a few hands later with pocket tens against Koon's ace-eight. Three hearts on the flop and a heart on the turn gave Koon a flush, Soverel was out the door in third place for $350,000 plus 105 PGT points, and the stage was set for an epic five-hour heads-up match between Koon and Simao.

Koon, who had Simao all in and dominated three separate times during their match, started with a nearly 2-to-1 chip lead, and that quickly grew to an almost 8-to-1 lead after he found value with ace-high against king-high on a trips board. It looked even worse for the Brazilian when he found himself all in with queen-nine against king-nine on the thirteenth hand of the match. 

The flop and turn came up clean for Koon, but when a queen spiked the felt on the river, Simao found life to stay alive and then found himself right back in the match when he doubled a few hands later, when his king-eight outkicked Koon's king-five on a king-high board before retaking the chip lead with a turn shove a few hands later. 

It was now the West Virginia native's time to go to work, as Koon put his years of high-stakes experience on display, battling back into striking distance before he would retake the chip lead after sniffing out a river bluff with two pair to find himself with a nearly 4-to-1 chip advantage. 

Koon would up that advantage to just over a 7-to-1 chip lead before Simao moved all in for his last 880,000 with king-five of diamonds, only for Koon to snap call with king-queen. However, the deck would once again favor Simao as three fives would materialize, giving him quads to double right back into the match before he would turn a pair of aces and find another double against Koon's pocket eights to retake the chip lead. 

Nearly four hours of back-and-forth poker later, Simao once again moved all in for just over 2.7 million with ace-five, only to find himself well behind when Koon tabled pocket tens, leaving him looking for another miracle to come from behind. 

That Christmas miracle would come in the form of an ace on the turn, and Simao found himself with a 4-to-1 chip lead, which he quickly put to use before Koon moved all in with pocket five for his last 1,775,000, only to find himself in rough shape when Simao tabled pocket eights. The board would run out queen-high, Koon could not pull a five out of the deck, and hit the rail in second place for $650,000 plus 195 PGT points for a bitter sweat end to the man who held the chip lead virtually the entire tournament. 

Super High Roller Bowl X Payouts 

Simao Moves to Fifth on the 2025 PGT Season Leaderboard

Following his victory, Simao is now fifth on the PGT leaderboard with 2,222 PGT points. This was his 24th cash of the PGT season, and he amassed $3,856,247 in 2025 PGT earnings. Koon now sits 42nd on the PGT leaderboard with 1,108 PGT points, and although he falls inside the Top 40 when eligibility is considered, he will need to do a little more work at the upcoming PGT Last Chance to secure his seat in the PGT $1,000,000 Championship.

Sam Soverel is now on top of the PGT leaderboard with 2,919 PGT points. This was his 28th cash of the PGT season, and he has amassed $4,100,268 in PGT earnings this season. Schulman's 27th cash of the 2025 PGT season pushes him to 2,023 PGT points and keeps him in sixth on the PGT leaderboard. This is a career-best season on the PGT for Schulman as he has logged his highest PGT point tally - surpassing his 1,709 and 1,710 in 2023 and 2024 - and most cashes with 27 - surpassing his 23 in 2023.

2025 PGT Leaderboard Top 10 

These are the leaderboard standings as of Monday, December 22, 2025. The current PGT leaderboard is at pgt.com/leaderboard.

Upcoming on the PGT schedule is the season-concluding series of PGT Last Chance from January 5-10, 2026. The series includes six $10,100 No-Limit Hold'em tournaments, with the final event being a single-day turbo. PGT Last Chance will feature its own unique series leaderboard, with the top five players who do not qualify for the PGT $1,000,000 Championship earning a Dream Seat. This Dream Seat will give those five players direct entry into the PGT $1,000,000 Championship, and they will start with 125 big blinds.

The season concludes with the PGT $1,000,000 Championship on January 12-13, 2026. It is open to the Top 40 eligible players on the PGT leaderboard and select Dream Seat winners. To be eligible, a player must have three cashes during the 2025 PGT season. The top six players in the PGT $1,000,000 Championship will be in the money, with the winner taking home $500,000.

The 2026 PGT season will begin with PGT Kickoff running from January 26-31, 2026. There will be four $5,100 buy-in tournaments and two $10,100 buy-in tournaments. All events are No-Limit Hold'em, and players receive a 2x multiplier on GT points for all cashes.

For complete PGT schedule information, check out pgt.com/schedule.

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