Michael Moncek has won his first PokerGO title after taking down Event #1 of the PokerGO Cup.
The American defeated a field of 177 players which smashed the previous record of 131 entries in a $5,100 buy-in event at the PokerGO studio.
The prize pool for the fifth edition of the series was a healthy $850,000 to be shared among the top 27 finishers.
Action Recap
When the final table was formed, it was Michael Moncek leading the way with a monster stack of around 40% of the chips in play.
The action was fast and furious from the off and within a few hands we saw Moncek extend his lead, sending home Eric Baldwin in the process.
A runner-runner flush was enough to beat Baldwin’s aces up and we were down to six.
Danny Qutami was next to leave after his flopped pair of fours wasn’t enough in a blind versus blind battle with Michael Brinkenhoff holding straight and flush draws plus two overcards and finding a wheel on the river.
Stephen Song had started the day with barely any chips and must have been happy to ladder up a couple of extra spots.
But it was all over in another blind versus blind battle when his ace-six couldn’t overcome Cherish Andrews’ king-queen.
Moncek was sitting pretty at this stage but then a clash with Andrews handed him a setback.
Moncek opened to 500,000 from under the gun with A♠ 9♠ and got a call from Andrews with J♠ J♣.
The flop ran out J♦ 8♥ 7♠ and Moncek led out for 525,000. Andrews called.
The 7♣ turn gave Andrews the nuts and she check-called 1.2 million.
The river was a dreadful 10♥ , giving Moncek a straight and he quickly jammed, getting the bad news seconds later. Andrews was now the chip leader.
After the break, Michael Brinkenhoff tangled with Joey Weissman with ace-queen coming unstuck against king-ten, leaving the former heading to the rail with a $66,375 prize.
Moncek then got his revenge, ending the run of Andrews in what was the biggest pot seen in the event thus far. Pocket eights came out best in a pre-flop raising war where Andrews’ ace-four couldn’t get the job done.
Moncek then dealt with Joey Weissman soon after but it was another stroke of fortune that saw him come from behind in a hand once again.
Ace-ten hitting an ace on the flop was enough to crack Joey Weissman’s pocket queens, giving a first PokerGO Tour title for Michael Moncek.
PokerGO Tour Cup Event #1: $5,100 No-Limit Hold’em
| Place | Name | Country | PGT Points | Prize |
| 1st | Michael Moncek | United States | 186 | $185,850 |
| 2nd | Joey Weissman | United States | 124 | $123,900 |
| 3rd | Cherish Andrews | United States | 89 | $88,500 |
| 4th | Michael Brinkenhoff | United States | 66 | $66,375 |
| 5th | Stephen Song | United States | 53 | $53,100 |
| 6th | Danny Qutami | United States | 44 | $44,250 |
| 7th | Eric Baldwin | United States | 35 | $35,400 |
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