PGT Heads-Up Showdown Day 2 Recap: Elias, Rheem, Young, Kempton in Semis

The final four players in the first-ever PGT Heads-Up Showdown are set. On Saturday, Darren Elias, Chino Rheem, Justin Young, and Isaac Kempton will return to the PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas to compete for the title and $400,000 first-place prize. In the semifinals, Elias faces Young and Rheem faces Kempton.

All four of the remaining players are guaranteed $100,000 in prize money. A win in the next round bumps that guaranteed prize money up to $200,000 before the winner scores $400,000. Elias, Rheem, Young, and Kempton are the remaining four players from a 32-entry field in this inaugural $25,000 buy-in heads-up tournament.

Semifinal #1: Darren Elias vs. Justin Young
Semifinal #2: Chino Rheem vs. Isaac Kempton

Half the 32-entry field returned Friday for Day 2 of the first-ever PGT Heads-Up Showdown. First up was the Round of 16, followed by the quarterfinals. In addition to Elias, Rheem, Young, and Kempton, Daniel Negreanu, Bill Klein, Alex Foxen, and Eric Persson won their Round of 16 matches. Negreanu lost to Elias, Klein lost to Rheem, Foxen lost to Young, and Persson lost to Kempton.

Kempton was the first player to punch his ticket to the next round, then Elias was next. Elias was able to pick off a river bluff from Negreanu to end his match and move to the semifinals.

With the blinds at 2,000/4,000, Elias limped in on the button with nine-eight and Negreanu raised to 14,000 from the big blind with six-five of diamonds. Elias called. The flop was king-four-two rainbow and Negreanu checked. Elias checked behind to see a nine fall on the turn. Negreanu bet 20,000 and Elias made the call. The river was another nine and Negreanu checked. Elias bet 35,000 and Negreanu check-raised all in for 109,500. Elias quickly called with trip nines and the match was all over.

Then it was Young joining Kempton and Elias in the final four before Rheem defeated Klein to finish out the day’s play.

Updated PGT Heads-Up Showdown Bracket

The final four players are scheduled to return at 3 p.m. ET (12 p.m. PT) for the semifinal round. The two winners will go on to compete in the final at 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT). Viewers are welcome to tune in to PokerGO.com to watch the final day of play, with live streams of each round starting on a one-hour delay.

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