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Keith Lehr defeated overnight chip leader Vitalijs Zavorotnijs heads-up to win Event #8: $15,700 NLH at the 2026 Poker Masters, earning $277,200 at the PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas. The decisive hand saw Zavorotnijs turn Broadway against Lehr’s top two pair, only for Lehr to river a full house and seal the victory.
The result also preserved Adrian Mateos’ lead in the Purple Jacket standings. Had Zavorotnijs won, he would have closed to within five points of Mateos, while a victory for Justin Vaysman would have put him in outright first. Instead, both finished behind Lehr, leaving Mateos in control with two events left in the series.
For Lehr, this marked his second PokerGO Tour title and first tournament win since 2024. The two-time WSOP bracelet winner, who captured gold in 2003 and 2015, has remained a fixture at the highest levels of the game for over two decades and is also recognized as a top high-stakes cash game player, topping Louisiana’s all-time money list.
Five players returned for the final day, with 17-time PGT champion Sam Soverel the first to exit after running king-queen into Lehr’s ace-king preflop, earning $67,200 for his record 15th Poker Masters final table.
Nicholas Seward fell in fourth for $84,000 after his king-ten couldn’t catch up to Vaysman’s pocket aces, while Vaysman himself was eliminated in third for $117,600 when his ace-six shove ran into Zavorotnijs’ pocket tens.
Zavorotnijs entered heads-up with a near 2:1 chip lead but saw the momentum shift after Lehr’s pocket kings held against pocket fours. The Latvian settled for $176,400 as runner-up, while Lehr’s win pushed his career earnings past $6 million, according to The Hendon Mob, from a prize pool of $840,000 generated by 56 entries.
