Poker Masters 2026 Event #8: Zavorotnijs Leads the Final Five as Jamie Dwan Bursts the Bubble

Vitalijs Zavorotnijs is one day away from his second title of the 2026 Poker Masters. The Latvian pro bagged 2,980,000 chips in Event #8, a $15,000 No-Limit Hold’em tournament. That is nearly double the stack of his closest rival, Justin Vaysman, with five players left and $277,200 waiting for the winner.

Day 1 had everything a high-roller tournament needs: a painful bubble, a defending champion going out in the money, and a final table packed with players who have already won titles this series.

Event #8 at a Glance

Detail	Figure
Buy-in	15,000(15,700 including fee)
Unique players	39
Re-entries	17
Total entries	56
Prize pool	$840,000
Places paid	8
First prize	$277,200
Players remaining	5

At $15,000 per entry going into the prize pool, 56 entries produced exactly $840,000. Only eight players were paid, so roughly one in seven entries cashed. That tight payout structure is typical of PokerGO Tour high rollers, and it makes every bubble decision expensive.

The Bubble: Jamie Dwan Runs Into a Turned Pair

Jamie Dwan was among the chip leaders late on Day 1, but his tournament ended one spot short of the money. Holding ace-seven offsuit, he got his chips in against Nick Palma’s eight-six of spades.

The board ran out jack-jack-six-ten-five. Palma’s six paired on the flop, which was enough against Dwan’s ace-high, and it settled the bubble. Two more players fell before the final five was set:

• Jeremy Ausmus (8th, $33,600). He won Event #7 only hours earlier for his 10th career PGT title. Back-to-back cashes is a strong run, but he couldn’t defend the momentum.
• Daniyal Gheba (7th, $33,600) and Nick Palma (6th, $50,400) followed. For Palma, the cash adds Purple Jacket points to an already strong series.

Final Five Chip Counts

Blinds will be 20,000/40,000 with a 40,000 big blind ante when play resumes. The big-blind column shows each player’s stack in big blinds, which is how much room they have to play.

Seat	Player	Chips	Big blinds
1	Vitalijs Zavorotnijs	2,980,000	74.5
3	Justin Vaysman	1,565,000	39.1
4	Sam Soverel	1,485,000	37.1
2	Keith Lehr	1,315,000	32.9
5	Nicholas Seward	1,055,000	26.4

What the stacks tell us:

• Zavorotnijs holds about 35% of the chips in play (2.98 million of 8.4 million). With 74 big blinds, he can pressure the medium stacks, who all have pay jumps to protect.
• Vaysman, Soverel and Lehr are separated by only 250,000 chips. Expect careful play between them, since a big pot between two of them could decide who climbs the ladder.
• Nicholas Seward is short at 26 big blinds, but not desperate. One double-up puts him right back in the middle of the pack.

Payouts

Place	Player	Prize
1st	TBD	$277,200
2nd	TBD	$176,400
3rd	TBD	$117,600
4th	TBD	$84,000
5th	TBD	$67,200
6th	Nicholas Palma	$50,400
7th	Daniyal Gheba	$33,600
8th	Jeremy Ausmus	$33,600

The gap from 5th to 1st is 210,000,worthmorethan14buy-ins.Thebiggestsinglejumpisfromsecondtofirst(100,800), which is why heads-up play in these events is often so tense.

Players to Watch

Vitalijs Zavorotnijs. He already won Event #4 of this series, a $10,500 event that drew 80 entries, for $224,000. He finished it with a memorable cooler: both he and Clemen Deng flopped two pair, and the turn gave both players a full house, with Zavorotnijs on top. That was his second PGT title. A win here would make him one of the few players with two titles at a single Poker Masters.

Justin Vaysman. He won Event #6 for $192,000, beating a 64-entry field and runner-up Sean Winter. He is already in the top five of the Purple Jacket race. A second title would make him a serious threat for the overall crown.

Sam Soverel. A two-time Purple Jacket winner, Soverel knows how to stack points in this series. He is the player in this lineup with the most experience of closing out PokerGO Tour titles.

Keith Lehr and Nicholas Seward. Both are chasing a breakthrough at a final table full of titleholders. With stacks of 26 to 33 big blinds, they can afford to wait for good spots while the others battle.

2026 Poker Masters Results So Far

Event	Buy-in	Entries	Winner	Prize
#1	$10,500	78	Myles Mullaly	$218,400
#2	$10,500	–	Nick Palma	$235,200
#3	$10,500	78	Joey Weissman	$218,400
#4	$10,500	80	Vitalijs Zavorotnijs	$224,000
#5	$10,500	85	Adrian Mateos	$229,500
#6	$10,500	64	Justin Vaysman	$192,000
#7	$15,700	58	Jeremy Ausmus	$278,400
#8	$15,700	56	Final table in progress	$277,200

Field sizes have stayed steady at 56 to 85 entries. The first prize has crossed $190,000 in every event so far.

The Purple Jacket Race

The Poker Masters crowns an overall series champion with the Purple Jacket, based on PGT points earned across the series. Here are the standings after Event #7:

Rank	Player	Points
1	Adrian Mateos	451
2	Nick Palma	367
3	Joey Weissman	338
4	Myles Mullaly	295
5	Jeremy Ausmus	294

Palma’s 6th place in Event #8 moves him closer to Mateos. Both Zavorotnijs and Vaysman already have a title this series, so the winner of Event #8 can jump into the top group. Two events remain after this one:

Event	Dates	Buy-in
#9	Oct 21–22	$26,000 NLH
#10 (finale)	Oct 22–23	$51,000 NLH

Points in PGT events grow with the prize money, so the $51,000 finale carries the most points of the series. That means the Purple Jacket race could still change hands on the final day.

What to Expect at the Final Table

Zavorotnijs has the chip lead and plenty of room to apply pressure. The four players below him are close enough in chips that none can safely take on another without risking a big drop. Watch for the chip leader to open many pots. Watch the middle stacks for re-shoves, where a player goes all-in over the top of a raise, as they try to grab chips without seeing a flop.

The final table streams on PokerGO. We’ll update this page with the winner and full results as soon as the tournament ends.

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