Sam Laskowitz Leads Final 6 in Poker Masters Event #3: $10,100 No-Limit Hold'em

The 2025 Poker Masters series continued today from the PokerGO Studio at Aria Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, with Event #3: $10,100 No-Limit Hold'em. The 101-entrant field is now down to just the final table of six, and Sam Laskowitz leads the way with 4,105,000 in chips after a late-day charge up the leader board.

Laskowitz comes into the final table holding nearly a third of all the chips in play, and a roughly one-and-a-half-to-one lead over his next closest opponent, Brian Batt, who has 2,640,000. On the line is the $252,000 first-place prize, 252 PGT Points, and the coveted brand-new Purple Jacket trophy.

Laskowitz, who took down High Roller #1 at the Venetian last week, has been off to a bit of a cold start so far this series, bubbling Event #1, and exiting with a min-cash in Event #2. He was in no danger of bubbling this event, as he built his stack in a few key spots to become one of the chip leaders in the room on the money bubble. He busted Eric Baldwin just after the close of registration to cross the 500,000 chip mark, then was able to eliminate Michael 'Texas Mike' Moncek, when his eights won a flip against Moncek's ace-king to clear 1,000,000. Laskowitz then sent out Masato 'WORLDWIDE' Yokosawa to cross 2,000,000, and also eliminate Jeremy Ausmus shortly after to reach 2,400,000.

But the biggest pot of the night would be played between him and Victoria Livschitz, who both had roughly 2,000,000 in chips to start the hand. Livschitz limp-called a raise small blind vs big blind, then check-called a big bet on a king-high flop. Livschitz check-called a shove from Laskowitz on a draw-heavy turn board for around 1,600,000 effective with king-jack, only to see Laskowitz turn over aces. Laskowitz went on to hold, which brought his stack to over 4,000,000. 

Rounding out the remaining final table players are Andrew Moreno (1,980,000), Jeremiah Williams (1,720,000), Matthew Wantman (1,450,000), and John Riordan (705,000).

The first $10,000 buy-in event of the series drew a total of 101 entrants, creating a prize pool worth $1,010,000, and paying the final 15 players at least $20,200. Jeremy Becker, who, prior to this event, had cashed in 8 of the last 12 PGT events, was the unfortunate bubble boy when his ace-king couldn't improve against Bin Duan's pocket sixes.

Several elite players and PGT regulars made their way to the PokerGO Studio, ready to battle it out for one of the top prizes and to collect some PGT points, as only the 40 highest PGT points earners at the end of the year will gain access to the $1,000,000 PGT Championship Freeroll. Those players included Kristen Foxen, Sam Soverel, Erik Seidel, Adam Hendrix, Sean Winter, Martin Zamani, Cary Katz, Brock Wilson, Cherish Andrews, Joey Weissman, Dan Sepiol, Matthew McEwan, Spencer Champlin, Andrew Lichtenberger, Jonathan Little, Clemen Deng, Jeremy Ausmus, Aram Zobian, Justin Zaki, Chris Hunichen, Jim Collopy, Justin Saliba, Christian Roberts, Neil Warren, and Michael Rossitto.. 

The final table will be streamed on PokerGO at 1 p.m. PT, with cards in the air at 11:45.

Play will resume with 26:00 remaining in Level 17, with blinds 20,000/40,000 and a 40,000 big blind ante. The button will be on John Riordan. 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.