Mike Zulker Wins Poker Masters Event #2: $5,100 No-Limit Hold'em for $157,000

Another event is in the books at the 2025 Poker Masters, and securing the title in Event #2: $5,100 No-Limit Hold'em after a wire-to-wire performance was Mike Zulker. Zulker began the day as the chip leader and only briefly relinquished the top spot on his way to the championship.

Very early on, Zulker did surrender the lead when Paul Jager muscled him off a chop in one of the first hands of the day. Both players held a pair of sixes on a board showing and with neither player holding a qualifying kicker, Jager moved all in to put the pressure on. Zulker released his hand, and with it, the chip lead. Jager, however, couldn’t maintain momentum and would go on to double up opponents several times before fading from contention.

The first elimination of the day came when Daniel Marcus ran his ace-queen into the set of Mitchell Halverson, who was looking for another deep run after finishing runner-up in Event #1. Michael Berk was next to fall when his short stack disappeared in a three-way pot, with Zulker scooping the chips to retake the lead—a position he would not surrender again. With the big stack, Zulker applied relentless pressure and skillfully navigated big stack play on his route to the title.

Several players exchanged double-ups before Aaron Messmer was eliminated in fifth place. On his final hand, Messmer called Zulker’s shove with ace-high, only to watch Zulker make trips by the river. At this point, Zulker held more than half the chips in play and tightened his grip on the table.

Wayne Nowak exited in fourth when his ace-three from the big blind fell to Zulker’s king-six, which paired on the turn. Soon after, Jager jammed ace-seven directly into Zulker’s pocket queens, and without improvement, he departed in third place. That left Zulker holding a massive lead against Mitchell Halverson going into heads-up play.

The duel lasted only a few hands before Zulker made a flush with running spades to crack Halverson’s pocket tens. Halverson earned his second runner-up finish of the week, while Zulker collected $157,000, his first PGT title, and 157 PGT points.

Poker Masters 2025 Event #2: $5,100 No-Limit Hold'em Results

2025 Poker Masters Leaderboard Top 10

Following the conclusion of Event #2, Mitchell Halverson moved into the lead of the 2025 Poker Master PGT Leaderboard with 285 points. Mike Zulker's win propelled him into 3rd place while Spencer Champlin breached the top 5 with his second cash of the series. Paul Jager, Wayne Nowak, and Michael Berk all moved into the top ten as well with their finishes in Event #2. But with eight more events, the race for the title still belongs to anyone.

2025 PGT Leaderboard Top 10

With his win in Event #2, Mike Zulker vaulted into the top 15 on the 2025 PGT Leaderboard with 1,187 points and total winnings of $1,157,388. Meanwhile, Mitchell Halverson moved into 156th place overall with a total of 325 PGT points. Michael Berk also moved into 138th place with his finish, bringing him to 362 points. 

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