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Vitalijs Zavorotnijs has won Event #4: $10,500 NLH at the 2026 Poker Masters, defeating Clemen Deng in a heads-up battle that ended on a dramatic cooler hand. Both players made full houses on the final board, but Zavorotnijs held the bigger boat and enough chips to end the tournament outright.
The Latvian pro began the final day as chip leader and never relinquished that position, outlasting an 80-entry field that built an $800,000 prize pool. The win marked his second PokerGO Tour title and ninth career tournament victory, adding to past accomplishments such as his 2019 WPT Barcelona Main Event triumph.
Deng, chasing what would have been his sixth PGT title, settled for $144,000 as runner-up. Nicholas Palma finished third for $104,000, falling just short of a second title in the series but securing the top spot in the Purple Jacket standings.
Earlier eliminations saw Andrew Lichtenberger exit in fifth after his queen-jack shove ran into Deng’s pocket aces, while Jamie Dwan went out in fourth after a river seven sealed his fate against Deng. Palma’s run ended when Zavorotnijs flopped a full house with pocket sevens.
The decisive hand between Zavorotnijs and Deng saw both flop two pair on a Q-J-4 board, with matching fours on the turn completing full houses for each. Zavorotnijs’s slightly larger stack proved enough to end the tournament when the chips went in on the river.
Speaking afterward, Zavorotnijs credited a close circle of Latvian and Lithuanian players for helping sharpen his game, while also reflecting on his unconventional path to poker, which included stints as a professional volleyball player and later an ice hockey player before a streaming career that eventually led to burnout.
