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Sean Winter capped off the 2026 Poker Masters by winning Event #10: $51,000 NLH for $620,000, defeating Sam Laskowitz heads-up at the PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas. Winter began the final day third in chips among seven players before working his way through a brutal final table.
The day opened with a major cooler when Dan Smith’s ace-king ran into Chris Brewer’s pocket aces. Smith was eliminated first after a further clash, setting up a six-handed money bubble. Brewer then suffered back-to-back cooler hands, losing with kings against aces before busting in sixth with ace-jack against Jeremy Ausmus’ pocket aces.
Start-of-day chip leader Marius Gierse fell in fifth after his top pair and gutshot draw lost to Laskowitz’s pocket queens. The elimination of Ausmus in fourth, done in by Winter’s rivered aces, settled the Purple Jacket race in favor of Adrian Mateos, who had led the standings for most of the series despite missing cashes in three straight events.
Mateos later described the stretch as nerve-wracking, noting he had endured five bubble finishes across ten tournaments on his way to the title.
In the finale, Igor Yaroshevskyy recorded his first cash of the series but exited in third after Winter’s flopped straight outdrew his two pair. Winter then took control heads-up against Laskowitz, pulling away after a decisive hand where his two pair beat Laskowitz’s top pair.
Winter said a mid-series break helped him refocus, and he praised Laskowitz’s heads-up skill despite the two never having faced off directly before. He credited his deep-rooted intuition for helping him avoid costly all-in mistakes, though he remained undecided about attending upcoming high-stakes stops in Cyprus and the Bahamas.
