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Justin Saliba came into the Event #9: $15,100 No-Limit Hold'em final table second in chips and quickly moved to the top of the counts before running away with it to capture his second career PGT title, the Purple Masters trophy, and the $301,000 first-place prize in the penultimate event of the 2025 Poker Masters. 

The final table started with Jesse Lonis picking up pocket nines in the big blind to send Sam Laskowitz home in sixth place for $55,500 plus 44 PGT points after his ace-ten could not improve, but from there it was all Saliba. 

Saliba got the ball rolling a few hands later when, in a blind vs. blind battle, he picked up ace-jack to send Event #7 Champion Cary Katz home in fifth place for $75,500 plus 60 PGT points when his king-queen could not improve. 

Saliba kept up the pressure from there to build his stack to a nearly two-to-one chip advantage over start-of-day chip leader Kristen Foxen before Foxen would get some back when her ace-eight outflopped Chris Hunichen's pocket threes to send "Big Huni" home in fourth place for $100,500 plus 80 PGT points.

The deck would then start smashing Saliba as he picked up pot after pot to grow a sizable chip lead over Foxen and Lonis before Lonis finally took a stand with jack-nine from the small blind for about ten big blinds, only to run into the ace-seven of Saliba in the big blind. Lonis flopped an open-ended straight draw, and when the river fell a king, he found the double to stay alive, but Saliba quickly shook off the hit to his stack. 

A few hands later, Lonis shoved the small blind for just over a million chips with king-queen with the kind of hearts, only for Saliba to wake up with another ace in the big blind this time with ace-ten. Lonis would smash the flop when it fell queen-high with three hearts, but Saliba held an open-ended straight draw. When a black eight hit the felt on the turn, Lonis was left looking for a flush as Saliba improved to a straight, and when the river bricked, Lonis hit the rail in third place for $135,500 plus 108 PGT points. 

Saliba took a nearly three-to-one chip lead into the heads-up match with Foxen and, without the need for a flop, whittled her down to an almost seven-to-one chip disadvantage in short order. The final hand of the tournament saw Foxen limp the button and then defend when Saliba raised it to 320,000. Both players would flop a pair, and the rest of the money would get into the middle by the turn, with Foxen holding a pair of nines to Saliba's pair of kings. 

No trips or two pair would fail to materialize on the river, and a day after her husband Alex finished runner-up to Nguyen Le in Event #8, Kristen packed her things and hit the rail in second place for $196,000 plus 157 PGT points.

Event #9: $15,100 No-Limit Hold'em Final Table Payouts

Place Name Country PGT Points Prize
1st Justin Saliba United States 241 $301,000
2nd Kristen Foxen Canada 157 $196,000
3rd Jesse Lonis United States 108 $135,500
4th Chris Hunichen United Sates 80 $105,500
5th Cary Katz United States 60 $75,500
6th Sam Laskowitz  United States 44 $55,500

Alex Foxen Remains Atop 2025 Poker Masters Leaderboard

Alex Foxen failed to pick up his third cash of the 2025 Poker Masters in Event #9, but thanks to his win in Event #6 and his runner-up finish in Event #8, he remains at the top of the race for the Purple Jacket. 

Event #7 winner Katz needed a win to overtake Foxen, but could only muster a fifth-place finish for 60 PGT points in Event #9 to move him to fourth place with 313 points, ten points ahead of David Coleman and one point behind Chino Rheem for third. Mitchell Halverson remains in second with 330 points and will need a big showing in Event #10 if he wants to catch Foxen. 

Elsewhere on the PGT season leaderboard, Lonis picked up his 16th cash of the season and now sits in 10th place on the overall season leaderboard with 1,326 points, 18 points ahead of Kristen Foxen, who moved into 11th with the runner-up finish. 

 2025 Poker Masters Leaderboard

Rank Player Points Cashes Winnings
1 Alex Foxen 429 2 $468,000
2 Mitchell Halverson 330 3 $329,800
3 Chino Rheem 314 3 $320,000
4 Cary Katz 313 4 $329,450
5 David Coleman 303 2 $302,700
6 Stephen Song 302 4 $301,250
7 Darren Elias 280 1 $280,000
8 Andrew Moreno 265 2 $265,000
9 Nguyen Le 261 2 $321,200
10 Justin Saliba 250 2 $309,600

2025 PGT Leaderboard

Rank Player Points Wins Cashes Winnings
1 Alex Foxen 2,561 3 19 $5,695,098
2 Michael Mizrachi 2,250 2 2 $11,331,322
3 Sam Soverel 1,939 3 18 $2,223,728
4 Nick Schulman 1,850 1 24 $2,036,653
5 Chino Rheem 1,715 4 20 $1,770,503
6 Adam Hendrix 1,610 1 6 $2,408,632
7 Daniel Negreanu 1,597 2 20 $2,397,441
8 Andrew Lichtenberger 1,516 1 14 $2,318,032
9 John Wasnock 1,360 0 2 $6,009,500
10 Jesse Lonis 1,326 2 16 $1,644,992

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PGT, Chris Hunichen, Kristen Foxen, Cary Katz, Jesse Lonis, Justin Saliba, Sam Laskowitz, 2025 Poker Masters