Isaac Haxton Wins Super High Roller Bowl VIII for $2,760,000

Isaac Haxton is a two-time Super High Roller Bowl champion after winning Super High Roller Bowl VIII for $2,760,000 in prize money. On Saturday, September 30, Haxton emerged victorious over the elite 20-player field to capture the $2,760,000 top prize and Super High Roller Bowl championship ring.

Haxton is having a fantastic 2023, winning seven tournaments, including four on the PGT. Haxton has now won over $12.9 million in 2023, taking his lifetime tournament earnings to more than $42.7 million, according to The Hendon Mob. The reason behind Haxton's incredible 2023? The lucky t-shirt, perhaps?

"I don't think it's for sale," Haxton said about if he would sell his lucky t-shirt. "This thing may have hit $10 million in earnings today. So it's a very lucky t-shirt."

The lucky shirt may not directly explain Haxton's success, but his year has been impressive. Haxton started by winning the PokerGO Cup finale and two events at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. He then won an event at the U.S. Poker Open before capturing his first WSOP bracelet in the $25,000 No-Limit Hold'em High Roller for nearly $1.7 million in prize money. This Super High Roller Bowl VIII win is the second-largest of Haxton's poker career, following his Super High Roller Bowl V win for $3,672,000.

"When you're all in for all the chips in the tournament, you should make a flush. That's a really good thing to do," Haxton said on the secret to his outstanding 2023. "I don't think I'm doing anything different this year than I was in previous years. I feel good about how I've been playing. Sometimes it's your year."

Haxton entered the third and final day of play as the overwhelming chip leader, with more than half the chips in play. There would be two eliminations needed before players were in the money as only four spots paid out, and after Bryn Kenney was eliminated in sixth, Chris Brewer was eliminated on the money bubble in fifth place. Haxton traded the chip lead with Andrew Lichtenberger several times during heads-up play before eventually emerging with the victory.

This win also gave Haxton 550 PGT points in the PGT leaderboard race, vaulting him into second place overall behind WSOP Main Event winner Daniel Weinman. If Haxton remains in the top 40, he will be eligible to compete in the season-ending PGT Championship $1,000,000 Freeroll, where there will be a $500,000 first-place prize awaiting the winner.

Super High Roller Bowl VIII Payouts

How Haxton Won Super High Roller Bowl VIII

While it was Haxton who captured his second Super High Roller Bowl title, it was Lichtenberger who did the heavy lifting as Lucky Chewy eliminated four of the six players at the final table but had to fade the short stack to do it.

Fresh off his 2023 Poker Masters purple jacket, Stephen Chidwick scored the first elimination of the day when he spiked a king on the river to send all-time money leader Bryn Kenney and his pocket threes out the door in sixth place, leaving Lichtenberger the short stack at the table. 

However, Lichtenberger would quickly go from short stack to second in chips as he found pocket kings in a blind vs. blind battle against Brewer's ace-seven. Lucky Chewy flopped a set, and Brewer was now positioned as the bubble boy. 

Brewer appeared poised to double when he got in his last 695,000 with aces against Lichtenberger's king-ten of spades. Two spades on the flop and a spade on the turn spelled doom for Brewer as he was now on the outside looking in of the Super High Roller Bowl VIII money bubble as the rest of the players secured the min-cash of $600,000. 

Jason Koon would be the first player to fall once we reached the money as Lichtenberger's jack-ten ran down his pocket kings. Koon would flop a set only to see Lichtenberger turn a straight ending the father of two's day earlier than he would have liked. 

Chidwick would be the last to fall at the hands of Lichtenberger as England's all-time money leader would flop top pair only to see Lichtenberger once again hit a turn as the Octopi Poker founder hit two pair. Chidwick remained unimproved and, after calling it off on the river, went home with $960,000 for his third-place finish. 

The flurry of eliminations gave Lichtenberger the chip lead to start heads-up play, but Haxton quickly wrestled it away, eventually taking a five-to-one chip lead. Lichtenberger proved more than game as he battled all the way back to take the chip lead when his aces bested Haxton's turned pair of tens. 

It was more of the same for the next hour as Haxton would pick up small pot after small pot as he rebuilt his chip lead, but again, Lichtenberger showed the heart of a champion as he refused to go away. 

This time facing just under a four-to-one chip deficit, Lichtenberger would storm back as he took the chip lead for the third time in heads-up play, this time without the need for pocket aces. 

Facing an all-in for his last 750,000 with a board reading and 1.6 million in the middle, Lichtenberger went into the tank on the river before he called with ten-three for middle pair. Haxton could only show ace-deuce for ace-high, and once again, the players were dead even in chips. 

Just as the clock passed four hours into the heads-up affair, the biggest pot of the tournament saw Haxton open the button to 125,000 only to face a three-bet to 500,000 from Lichtenberger. After the Haxton call, the flop fell, and Lichtenberger would continue for 550,000. Haxton thought that wasn't enough and moved all in for 2,340,000 effective, and Lichtenberger snap-called. 

Lichtenberger held pocket kings against the ace-seven of spades from Haxton. The queen of spades on the turn left Lichtenberger needing a king or a board pair to end the tournament, but when the hit the felt he was left with just 270,000. Two hands later, Lichtenberger was all in with nine-three off suit against the ten-seven of Haxton. A seven on the flop spelled doom for Lichtenberger, and he was eliminated in second place for $1,680,000.

Haxton 2nd On PGT Leaderboard

The win earned Isaac Haxton 550 PGT points for the PGT leaderboard, and he now has 2,297 total. That puts him in second place on the leaderboard having leaped over Chris Brewer to sit just 3 points away from Daniel Weinman, the 2023 WSOP Main Event winner.

Trailing Weinman, Haxton, and Brewer is Super High Roller Bowl VIII third-place finisher and Poker Masters Purple Jacket winner Stephen Chidwick, while Steven Jones sits in fifth. Rounding out the top ten is Sam Soverel, Alex Foxen, Adam Walton, Ren Lin, and Cary Katz.

Following his runner-up finish to Haxton, Andrew Lichtenberger climbs to 31st on the PGT leaderboard, while Jason Koon moves to 142nd.

2023 PGT Leaderboard Top 10

Connect with PokerGO.com on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. Watch daily poker clips on the PokerGO YouTube channel. Join the conversation on the PokerGO Discord server. You can save $20 off an annual subscription by using the code “PGT2023” at checkout.