Justin Zaki Wins 3rd Career PGT Title in PokerGO Cup $25K Finale for $417,000

Justin Zaki denied Joey Weissman the exclamation point on his 2025 PokerGO Cup performance and, after a heads-up deal, takes home $417,000 plus 283 PGT points and the trophy in Event #8: $25,200 No-Limit Hold'em. 

Weissman secured the overall 2025 PokerGO cup with a cash in Event #8 to secure the added $25,000 PGT Passport and, after finishing runner-up, moved into the 2025 PGT season points lead, vaulting ahead of Event #7 winner Kristen Foxen in the process. 

After the first hand of heads-up play, Weissman and Zaki were nearly even at nearly four and a half million chips a piece, prompting the discussion about the deal. Both players had over 70 big blinds, and while the PGT points were set, a slight reduction in first-place money was agreed to. 

Weissman looked to be pulling away early to take the chip lead, but Zaki kept it close as he hoovered around a one million chip deficit for most of the match before getting in nearly four million pre-flop with ace-ten against Weissman's pocket tens. 

The board ran out king-jack-eight-queen, giving Zaki broadway by the turn, and when Weissman couldn't find a chop on the river, he was left below one million chips. 

Weissman would get his sub-ten big blind stack into the middle a few hands later with king-deuce from the button only to see Zaki flop trip tens with his ten-seven from the big blind, leaving Weissman to collect the $350,000 second place prize plus 177 PGT points. 

Weissman sent the pair to heads-up play with nearly even chip stacks after his ace-king sent the king-five of short stack Clemen Deng and his sub-ten big blind stack home in third place for $206,500 plus 124 PGT points. 

Weissman also got the field to three-handed play when he sent fellow sub-five big blind short stack Sam Soverel home in fourth place for $147,500 plus 89 PGT points after Soverel ran queens into Weissman's aces. 

Christian Roberts was sitting at just shy of two million chips with Deng and Soverel on those short stacks but found himself all-in, holding ace-queen of hearts against Zaki's jack-ten off following a blind-on-blind confrontation.

An ace on the flop put Roberts way in front, but Zaki also flopped a jack. This proved crucial for Zaki when the river landed a ten, giving Zaki two pair to send Roberts home in fifth place for $110,625 plus 66 PGT points. 

Roberts had gotten most of those chips earlier in the day when he sent Michael Berk home in sixth place for $81,125 plus 49 PGT points when Roberts king-three out-flopped Berk's ace-queen in another blind-on-blind confrontation.

Deng came into the start of play in a virtual tie for the short stack with Jesse Lonis, but he covered Lonis by just 50,000, and this proved critical as Lonis shoved the small blind with king-seven. Deng held ace-four in the big blind, flopped an ace, and sent Lonis home in seventh place for $59,000 plus 35 PGT points three hands into the day. 

Event #8: $25,200 No-Limit Hold'em Final Table Payouts

Weissman Crowned 2025 PokerGO Cup Champion

The championship event of the 2025 PokerGO Cup saw the buy-in increase to $25,200 and attracted 59 entrants to create a prize pool of $1,475,000, with the top nine players finishing in the money.

With the original $472,000 first-place prize generating 283 PGT points for the eventual winner of the event, Kristen Foxen, Adam Hendrix, Michael Moncek, and Eric Blair all had the chance to pass Weissman for the series title, but one by one, they fell until only Hendrix remained in Weissman's way with fourteen players left in the feild. 

Hendrix would find himself all-in pre-flop with ace-jack against both Weissman and Sam Snead. Snead would get out of the way on a ten-high flop, and when Weissman tabled pocket nines, Hendrix needed to improve on the turn or river. 

Hendrix could not, and Weissman secured the 2025 PokerGO Cup well before he eliminated Eric Wasserson on the direct money bubble. 

David Peters was eliminated in 9th place for $44,250 and 27 PGT points, and Keith Lehr was eliminated in 8th place for $59,000 plus 35 PGT points late in the night on day one before the final seven players were bagged and tagged for the final table. 

 2025 PokerGO Cup Leaderboard

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