Cary Katz Wins Event #4: $10,100 No-Limit Hold'em for $226,800

Cary Katz came into the Event #4 final table middle of the pack in chips, and after maneuvering through the field, emerged victorious to capture the title and $226,800 to move within striking distance of back-to-back PokerGO Cups. 

With day one ending much earlier in the night, than we'd come to expect in this tournament, the play at the final table was much deeper than normal. It took nearly an hour for the first player to fall, as Jesse Lonis got his short stack of 22 big blinds into the middle with queens only to run square into Stoyan Madanzhiev's pocket aces. 

The board ran out king-high, Lonis was out the door in sixth place for $40,500, and Madanzhiev's start-of-day chip lead ballooned even further as it looked like his tournament to win. 

Madanzhiev continued to show aggression, which paid off repeatedly as his chip stack grew to over five million. With Madanzhiev running the table, it would take another hour of play before Jeremy Ausmus got his final ten big blinds into the middle with ace-five from the big blind, only to find himself dominated by Aram Zobian's ace-queen. 

Both players flopped an ace, but Ausmus found himself outkicked and headed out the door in fifth place for $56,700 and his third cash of the 2024 PGT Season but first of the PokerGO Cup.

From there, the four-handed play was another slugfest. Still, after biding his time, Katz finally made a move late in level 16 when he rivered a full house with pocket threes against Madanzhiev's turn pair of fives, finally wrestling the chip lead away from the Bulgarian. 

Chino Rheem, sitting on a short stack all day,  would finally score a double through Aram Zobian when his ace-jack held against Zobian's king-queen, but the momentum would be short-lived as moments later, he ran his ace-ten into Katz's ace-queen for his final 18 big blinds and headed to the payout desk in fourth place for $76,950. 

The three-handed play was another slobber knocker, as no man wanted to give an inch of ground as the chip lead traded back and forth between Katz and Madanzhiev as Zobian could only sit back and watch. 

A late double from Zobian provided a spark, but nearly two hours and 50 hands after Rheem headed out the door in fourth place, Zobian would run his short stack into the middle with pocket fives only to find himself up against Madanzhiev's pocket jacks. The board ran out ten high, and Zobian was out the door in third place for $105,300. 

The elimination gave Madanzhiev the early chip lead, but the heads-up was all Katz. The business mogul took pot after pot, whittling the young poker pro down to just ten big blinds. Katz put the final nail in the coffin when he shoved with king-jack against the Bulgarian's king-five. 

A jack secured the title for Katz, and the Bulgarian was out the door in second place for $145,800, which marks his largest career live tournament cash. 

Event #4: $10,100 No-Limit Hold'em Final Table Payouts

Katz Moves Into Third Place in the Race for Back-toBack PokerGO Cups

The penultimate $10,100 buy-in tournament of the series drew 81 entrants and created a prize pool of $810,000, with the top twelve finishing in the money and gaining the coveted PGT points. Eric Baldwin was the unfortunate Event #4 bubble when Richard Collins's king-jack bested his king-eight. 

PGT regulars Justin Saliba (10th) and Kristen Foxen (8th) picked up their first cashes of the 2024 PokerGO Cup, while Erik Seidel (12th) and Brock Wilson (7th) each picked up their second, but all four remain outside the top ten in the race for the Cup and the added $25,000 PGT Passport. 

Katz, the 2023 PokerGO Cup Champion, after scoring five cashes in eight events, moves to third on the 2024 leaderboard and is now in striking distance in the race for back-to-back PokerGO Cups. Katz currently has 227 points and sits 25 points behind Event #3 winner Jonathan Little, while Event #2 winner Dylan Weisman sits in second with 240 points. 

Runner-up Madanzhiev picked up his third cash of the series after finishing 10th in Event #1 and 12th in Event #3 and now sits in fifth place overall with a total of 184 points, one point behind fourth-place Alex Foxen.

Four events remain in the 2024 PokerGO Cup, and you can follow the action for Day one of Event #5: $10,100 No-Limit Hold'em at https://www.pgt.com/live-reporting/pokergo-cup-2024/event-5-10100-nolimit-holdem. 

The Cup will conclude with two $15,100 No-Limit Hold'em events on January 31st and February 1st before the $25,200 Main Event begins on February 2nd. 

2024 PokerGO Cup Leaderboard Top Ten

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