Two events are now in the books at the 2025 Poker Masters, including the championship of the $1,000,000 Showcase. In that tournament, David Coleman would rage through the field in capturing the first title of the 2025 Poker Masters. On Tuesday, Event #2’s finale was entered into the books, with Mike Zulker picking up the victory and the all-important points toward the ultimate goal, the Purple Jacket signifying the overall Poker Masters Champion.
Coleman Defeats Resilient Halverson for Title
Coleman had a great run through the 239-entry field to reach the Showcase final table. The only player he was behind was Andrew Ostapchenko, but players such as Doug Lee and Stephen Song looked to provide additional challenges. As the cards went into the air for Monday’s final table, it looked as if it would come down between those two men.
Ostapchenko attempted to run off and hide in the preliminary stages of the action. He would clash with Song, taking a sizeable pot after turning a King against Song’s pocket nines, to vault over the ten million chip mark. Mitchell Halverson, however, wanted to add his name to the mix, taking out Jim Agate in seventh place, to rise into contention. But Ostapchenko continued to dominate early in the final table, eliminating Lee in sixth place when his pocket Kings crushed Lee’s pocket sevens.
That was the last hurrah for Ostapchenko, though. He would double up Song and Spencer Champlin to fall out of the lead and, despite rallying to knock out Champlin, gave another double to Halverson to fall into the basement with four players left. Ostapchenko’s devil-may-care style finally would catch up with him when, after pushing all in with a K-Q, Coleman would take him down with pocket tens, although Coleman would need a ten on the river for a set to top Ostapchenko’s flopped Queen.
It was a brief heads-up battle between Coleman (22.275 million) and Halverson (7.6 million). On the final hand, Coleman limped in and called off the all-in bet from Halverson. Halverson’s pocket fives looked decent against Coleman’s Q-10, but the fives would shrink up to the 10-10-8 flop. Only needing to dodge the remaining two fives in the deck coming runner-runner, Coleman would see a Jack on the turn and a trey on the river to seize the title of the $1,000,000 Showcase and the first championship of the 2025 Poker Masters.
1. David Coleman, $270,000 (270 Poker Masters points)
2. Mitchell Halverson, $185,000 (185)
3. Andrew Ostapchenko, $120,000 (120)
4. Stephen Song, $75,000 (75)
5. Spencer Champlin, $60,000 (60)
6. Doug Lee, $49,000 (49)
7. Jim Agate, $40,000 (40)
Halverson Doing the Double
Halverson did not waste much time celebrating his runner-up finish in the Showcase. He would immediately jump into Event #2, a $5,000 buy-in tournament, after the conclusion of the Showcase on Monday and make the most of that effort. Halverson would be a part of his second final table of the 2025 Poker Masters, looking up at Mike Zulker on Tuesday as Halverson tried to go one step further.
The leadership of Event #2 changed almost from the start, as Paul Jager was able to get Zulker to lay down his hand on a 5-2-2-6-A board to take over the chip lead. That changed on the next hand, as Halverson doubled against Jager when his K-Q caught a Queen against Jager’s Big Slick. After Halverson eliminated Daniel Marcus in seventh place, he was riding high with 4.45 million in chips and seemed to be poised to take the Event #2 title.
Zulker would fight back after his early misstep, taking down Michael Berk in sixth place and taking some chips from Halverson at the same time. Zulker and Halverson would joust back and forth, much to the consternation of the rest of the table as they slowly dropped to the wayside. Aaron Messmer and Wayne Nowak would depart in fifth and fourth places, respectively, while Jager would eventually fall in third place at the hands of Zulker.
Holding more than a 4:1 advantage over Halverson, it would only take about twenty minutes for Zulker to finish the deal. On the final hand, Zulker would move all in with K♠ 6♠, and Halverson woke up with pocket tens to defend his stack. The flop came Q♠ 4-2, keeping Halverson in the lead, but the J♠ on the turn and the 10♠ on the river changed the fortunes, eliminating Halverson in second place (again) and earning the victory for Mike Zulker in Event #2 of the 2025 Poker Masters.
1. Mike Zulker, $157,000 (157 Poker Masters points)
2. Mitchell Halverson, $100,000 (100)
3. Paul Jager, $71,000 (71)
4. Wayne Nowak, $52,000 (52)
5. Aaron Messmer, $39,000 (39)
6. Michael Berk, $32,500 (33)
7. Daniel Marcus, $26,000 (26)
The 2025 Poker Masters continues with Event #3, a $10,000 No Limit Hold’em tournament, conducting its final table on Wednesday. Sam Laskowitz will be leading the final six to the felt with a commanding lead over Brian Batt. There are a couple of threats down the leaderboard that Laskowitz will be keeping his eye on, Matthew Wantman and John Riordan, but both of those pros are on the short stack to start the final table on Wednesday. Action begins at 1 PM (PDT), and it will be a part of the PokerGO streaming offerings.
(Photo courtesy of PokerGO)
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