It may be early, but it appears that Jesse Lonis’ dominance in 2025 will continue into 2026. After Day One of Event #1 of the 2026 PokerGO Tour Last Chance Series, Lonis is the overwhelming leader at the final table. How “overwhelming?” Lonis holds more than three million chips more than Poker Hall of Famer Phil Hellmuth ahead of final table action today.
Players Trying to Make the Cut
As this is the final opportunity for players to earn their way into the 2026 PGT Championship Invitational (more on this in a moment), the players flocked to the PokerGO Studios in Las Vegas for the first of six $10,000 tournaments that make up the PGT Last Chance Series. 109 entries were received before the late registration closed, with sixteen taking a piece of the $1.09 million prize pool. As expected, the players involved are competing for the right to be in the forty-player field next week.
Instead of waiting to see who showed up, the tournament floor for Event #1 was packed from the start. Nine tables held at least five players each, including many already on the leaderboard in the PGT Championship Invitational who were looking to improve their standings. Lonis was joined by other title contenders such as David ‘Chino’ Rheem, Sam Soverel, Nick Schulman, Erik Seidel, and Alex Foxen, as they looked to not only boost their bankrolls but also earn those PGT points towards their standing on the PGT Championship Invitational ladder.
Perhaps the boldest charge came from a player who was in a precarious position before the start of the tournament. Matthew Wantman was in 36th place on the PGT Championship Invitational leaderboard, only thirty-nine points ahead of the 40th-place cutoff. He would play immaculate poker on Monday, maintaining a Top Ten position for much of the day before making the final table and earning more points toward the Invitational.
Another player who made a big charge is Hellmuth. He stayed out of the fray for the most part on Monday, but by the end of the night, he found himself sitting behind his own mountain of chips worth 2.835 million, good for second place on the leaderboard. It was Lonis who continued to run good, however, especially in taking a hand against Jeremy Ausmus when Lonis’ A-2 found an Ace against Ausmus’ pocket sevens.
Here is how they will line up for the final table, to play out beginning at noon (Pacific Time) at the PokerGO Studios:
1. Jesse Lonis, 6.06 million
2. Phil Hellmuth, 2.835 million
3. Cary Katz, 1.595 million
4. David ‘ODB’ Baker, 1.275 million
5. Matthew Wantman, 1.005 million
6. Clemen Deng, 850,000
Wantman to Climb Invitational Leaderboard
These six tournaments that make up the PGT Last Chance Series are all about positioning for the PGT Championship Invitational. The top sixteen places awarded points, and the final six finishing slots offer the most points. Here is how those points will break down:
1st – 278 points
2nd – 174
3rd – 125
4th – 98
5th – 71
6th – 55
Wantman is already going to move up from his 36th-place slot, regardless of where he finishes this tournament. The minimum 55 points would move him up into the Top 30, where he might be a bit more comfortable about getting into the Invitational. Jeremy Ausmus, by his fifteenth-place finish in the tournament, has moved up to 55th place on the overall leaderboard and only needs a big finish in another Last Chance event to perhaps punch his way into the Invitational.
Another player might bear more watching than Wantman and Ausmus, however. Katz is currently in 68th place on the leaderboard, and winning the tournament and its 278 points would catapult him into 39th place and secure his spot in the Invitational. Wherever Katz finishes, it will put him in the mix, potentially moving him from outside the Top 40 to a seat in the event.
The PGT Championship Invitational is a $1 million freeroll for the Top 40 players in the year-long PGT Championship race. Players are given a chip stack commensurate with their finishing position in the standings, with the top player (currently Lonis) getting the largest chip stack and the 40th-place player (currently Joey Weissman) the smallest. Even if a player cannot punch their ticket by making the Top 40, those players below the cutoff line can take a position if a player in the Top 40 decides not to participate in the freeroll.
But there are six tournaments in the PGT Last Chance Series and the PGT Championship Invitational. Can Katz stage a miraculous rally? Will Lonis continue his 2025 streak of domination? And what will the subsequent five events do to the overall Invitational standings? These questions will be answered this week in the PokerGO Studios in Las Vegas.
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