The 2024 Poker Masters Title kicked off in Las Vegas, culminating in a final table on September 12, and the $5,100 buy in no-limit hold-‘em event was won by Spencer Champlin, who beat the field of 131 to take home the winner’s prize of $160,475. The prize is Champlin’s second highest tournament score and while this is his first event win of the year, he has now finished at the final table in seven events in 2024. His career earnings are over $3 million, having finished in the money on 387 occasions.
Poker remains one of the most popular forms of gambling both at physical casinos and online. Amateur players are typically on the lookout for good tournament prizes where they can practice their skills to try and become the next Master, as well as casinos with the quickest payout times. According to casino and poker expert Daniel Smyth, poker is available at many fast payout sites, including those that offer cryptocurrency payment options: known for offering the fastest payouts. With options like these, players no longer have to wait days to claim any winnings they make during the event.
The PGO Tour Poker Masters Event
But few online sites can offer the kind of prize money offered by the big table tournaments. The PokerGO Tour Poker Masters event is one such event. The tournament was started in 2017 and, every year, hundreds of players compete across multiple tournaments.
Results are tracked across those tournaments and the overall winner takes the Purple Jacket. Recently, the Purple Jacket has been won by Stephen Chidwick in 2023, Sean Winter in 2022, and Michael Addamo in 2021. Two events were held in 2020, both online, with Alexandros Kolonias and Eelis Parssinen leading the pack in these events.
Ali Imsirovic is the highest earner across all PokerGO Poker Masters events, having been in the money in 16 tournaments and won 4 tournaments. He has collected nearly $3 million in winnings from Poker Masters events.
Champlin’s Victory
In that respect, Champlin has some way to go to catch up, having racked up around $3 million in winnings across all tournaments and recently becoming the highest-earning player from Maine. This victory represents his first in a Poker Masters event although the Scarborough, Maine player has two World Series of Poker rings to his name.
The Tournament
This year’s first event was held in the ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. It ran for two days and saw 131 entrants contribute to a total prize pool of $655,000 which was shared among the top 19 players.
The Final Table
The final, live-streamed, table consisted of six players. Jessica Vierling started the final table with the chip lead and it didn’t take long for names to start to fall. First up was Nicholas Seward. The bracelet winner went all-in with suited Ace King but a Queen on the river meant he was eliminated, netting $32,750 for his efforts. Sewward has lifetime earnings of more than $1.5 million.
Next to fall was Zachary Grech with the bracelet winner losing most of his chips after a semi-bluff failed to pay off. A few hands later, he risked it all on a suited eight and six. Grech took $39,300 for his fifth-placed finish.
Jessica Vierling then dispatched Dan Shak, with her nines full of queens leaving Shak with a third placed finish and $52,400 added to his lifetime earnings of $15 million.
Next to fall was short-stacked Dylan Linde. Linde went all-in with a suited Queen and six and was bested by a King and Queen from eventual winner Champlin. Linde took $72,050 for his finish, bringing his lifetime earnings up to $10.3 million.
As the heads up started, Vierling held a roughly two to one chip lead and she pulled ahead early on. However, after some back and forth play lasting around an hour, won the final hand with Aces up. Vierling took home $98,250 after earning her spot in the tournament from a $560 event. Her lifetime earnings have ben boosted to $1.2 million after this impressive run.
However, it was Champlin that took the victory. His $160,475 winnings bring his total prize winnings to $3.2 million.
Poker Points Awarded
As well as the prize money, players were awarded PokerGO Tour points for their finish, with the final six receiving the following points:
- Nicholas Seward – 33
- Zachary Grech – 39
- Dan Shark – 52
- Dylan Linde – 72
- Jessica Vierling – 98
- Spencer Champlin – 160
The result puts Champlin in 87th place for Card Player Player Of The Year and he sits just outside the top 200 in the PokerGO Tour places.
Next Up
The next Masters event, which takes place separately from the main WSOP schedule, takes place in the PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas and is a $10,100 no-Limit Hold-‘Em event, before a $15,100 No-Limit Hold-‘Em event later in the month. Multiple tournaments will take place before the November finish, when the eventual winner is crowned and Champlin will hope he can take the momentum from this event to stack up further points.
Champlin’s Year
Champlin is having a positive year. In April, his performance at an event at Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood saw him take the lead as the all-time money leader from Maine, which recently saw a failed bid to regulate online poker, taking the spot from Matt Woodward, who trailed by only $20,477 at the time, according to Hendon Mob profiles. He has a reputation for being a grinder, which was somewhat showcased in the final table, leaving the big pots for others until he made it down to the last three.
