Masato Yokosawa Leads PGT Kickoff Event #3 Final Table

The PGT Kickoff continued on Wednesday from the PokerGO Studio at ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, with Event #3: $5,100 No-Limit Hold’em. The tournament drew 112 entries and Masato Yokosawa holds a commanding lead over the final seven players.

Yokosawa had a roller-coaster day, building a big stack early on, but losing a large chunk of it back and even falling to just ten big blinds in level 18. However, a late-night rally saw him eliminate four of the remaining five players leading up to the final table bubble, including Dylan Linde, Shannon Shorr, Bertrand Rosique, and Francis Anderson. Catapulting him to the final table with more than 50% of the chips in play. Yokosawa is eyeing his first PGT Title but will have to contend with poker Hall of Famer Erik Seidel, his next closest competitor with 3,120,000. Michael Vanier is behind him with roughly 1,800,000, and rounding out the final table are Nicholas Seward (1,390,000), Neil Warren (1,115,000), Blake Vogdes (810,000), and Justin Saliba (650,000).

Brad Owen made a deep run, but had a tough exit in 14th place after he got it in with ace-jack against the pocket jacks of Vanier. Owen found an ace on the flop but the last jack in the deck landed on the turn and Owen wasn't able to spike one of his two remaining full house outs to avoid the elimination. Mitchell Halverson found a similar fate against Seidel, heading out right behind Owen after getting it in with ace-king to Seidel's queens. Halverson flopped an ace, but running spades completed a four-card flush for Seidel and sent Halverson home with his first cash of 2025.

The field of 112 entrants created a prize pool worth $560,000, and the final 16 players all got paid. Ryan Leng was the unfortunate bubble boy when his ace-queen couldn't find help against Neil Warren's queens. However, he'll still have two more opportunities to score a trophy and double PGT points in events four and five. Joao Simao, Kristen Foxen, Dylan Linde, Shannon Shorr, Bertrand Rosique, Francis Anderson, and Jesse Lonis all fell in the money. 

Anderson busted in ninth place after losing a flip with ace-king to the red-hot Yokosawa's pocket nines, and Lonis was eliminated on the final table bubble after moving all-in from the small blind over a Seidel cutoff open. Lonis ran king-queen into the dominating ace-king of Seidel and couldn't catch up from there. 

The stacked field included 2024 PGT Champion and Player of the Year Jeremy Ausmus, PokerGO boss Cary Katz, Poker Hall of Famer Phil Hellmuth, and PGT regulars Chino Rheem, Sam Soverel, Landon Tice, Joseph Cheong, Jeremy Becker, Calvin Anderson, Sam Laskowitz, and Stephen Song. 

The PGT Kickoff is the first series of the 2025 PGT season and players earn double PGT points for all cashes, allowing them to springboard up the PGT leaderboard. 

PGT Kickoff Event #3 Final Table

When play resumes, there will be 23:00 remaining in Level 20 with blinds at 40,000/80,000 and an 80,000 big blind ante.

Play will resume on Thursday, January 23, at 12 p.m. PT, and the final table will be livestreamed on PokerGO at 1 p.m. PT.

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 to PokerGO.com by using the code “PGT2024” at checkout.