Joey Weissman Wins Event #2: $10,100 No-Limit Hold'em for $295,000

It was deja vu inside the PokerGO Studio as Joey Weissman found himself heads-up with Michael Moncek for the second day in a row, but unlike Event #1, Weissman weathered the storm that was "Texas Mike" to capture the title and $295,000 prize in Event #2: $10,100 No-Limit Hold'em.

The win added 295 points to Weissman's two-day total, and he now tops Moncek on the leaderboard by 50 points as the race for the 2025 PokerGO Cup is starting to take shape after a grueling Event #2 final table. 

Start-of-day short stack Anthony Hu came into the day with just under ten big blinds and quickly got those into the middle with ace-ten only to run directly into Andrew Lichtenberger's pocket kings. Hu remained unimproved and hit the rail in seventh place for $47,200 plus 47 PGT points. 

The quick elimination of Hu was to the benefit of the rest of the table as everyone was over 25 big blinds deep, and the play reflected that as Lichtenberger, Erik Seidel, Weissman, Monceck, Andrew Moreno, and the start-of-day chip leader Sam Laskowitz battle for position on the leaderboard. 

Moncek and Laskowitz would be the most active at the table and stayed at the top of the counts, but all six players would make their marks at one point or another as seven straight doubles from short stacks saw play continue for nearly three hours with no eliminations to be had. 

As the blinds made their way into nosebleed territory, Lichtenberger would find himself down to fewer than six big blinds and at risk with queen-ten against the king-eight of Weissman. Weissman would flop top two pair, and while Lichtenberger picked up a straight draw on the turn, he would improve no further, hitting the rail in sixth place for $59,000 plus 59 PGT points. 

Laskowitz would be the next man out the door as he four-bet jammed from the small blind with ace-queen only to run into Seidel's ace-king. A queen on the flop gave Laskowitz life, but a fourth spade on the river gave Seidel the nut flush, and the start of day chip leader hit the rail in fifth place for $76,700 plus 77 PGT points. 

Seidel then picked up his second elimination in a row when Moreno found himself all in with jacks against Seidel's ace queen. The flop and turn were safe for Moreno, but a queen on the river knocked him out of the tournament in fourth place for $100,300 plus 100 PGT points. 

Seidel sat second in chips after the consecutive eliminations, but he would quickly fall to the bottom of the counts when he turned a pair of kings holding ace-king, only for Weissman to have pocket aces leaving the 2010 Poker Hall of Famer crippled. 

Seidel's day ended a few hands later when the last of his chips got into the middle, holding jack-nine, only for Moncek to find jack-ten. The board paired on the turn, giving Seidel hopes of a chop, but a river ten sent him to the rail in third place for $129,800 plus 130 PGT points. 

Moncek would draw first blood during the heads-up match as he picked off Weissman's six-high bluff with king-high, but the momentum would be short-lived as Weissman would find a double into the chip lead with ace-ten against Moncek's king-four. 

Despite the double, Moneck was more than game as he pulled back even in chips and would briefly take the chip lead once again before Weissman found himself all in with king-three against Moncek's jack-eight.

Weissman flopped trip threes to retake the chip lead, and after passing the blinds back and forth for a few more minutes, Moncek would find himself all in with king-duece against the king-jack of Weissman. A jack on the flop left Moncek dead, and he headed to the rail to collect his $182,900 second-place prize plus 183 PGT points. 

 Event #2 Final Table Payouts 

Weissman Moves into Top Spot for Season and Series Leaderboards 

One hundred eighteen players made their way through the doors of the PokerGO studio for Event #2, missing out on setting another record in $10,000 buy-in by three players events to create a prize pool of $1,180,000, with the top 17 finishers finding a cash.

The win gives Weissman his second podium finish after a second in Event #1, and he now sits atop the 2025 PokerGO Cup leaderboard with 419 points after securing his first win and fourth overall cash of the season he also moves into the number one spot on the 2025 Season leaderboard with 568 points. 

Event #1 Winner and Event #2 runner-up Moncek is second on the series leaderboard with 369 points. His two cashes during the series vaulted him to third place on the season leaderboard, as he trails second-place Kristen Foxen by 180 points for the 2025 season. 

Foxen picked up her fourth cash of the season when she finished 14th in Event #2, but it was her first cash of the series as she currently sits 20th on that leaderboard. 

Michael Berk (9th) and Keith Lehr (11th) also picked up their second cash in as many events, but only Lehr is in the top ten for the series as he sits in 8th place with 65 points. Berk scored a min-cash in Event #1 and sits in 13th with 44 points. 

Poker Hall of Famer Seidel sits in third after two events, and after picking up $129,800 with his third-place finish, he also passes Phil Ivey for 11th on the all-time money list. Rounding out the top five on the series leaderboard are Moreno in fourth place with 100 points and Cherish Andrews in fifth place with 89 points. 

2025 PokerGO Cup Top Ten Leaderboard

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