The 2025 Poker Masters has once again lived up to its prestige, generating million-dollar prize pools. What it hasn’t done, however, is hand out its biggest prize, the Purple Jacket, signifying the overall champion. The $25,000 Main Event is currently underway, but before that, Nguyen Le and Justin Saliba tossed their hats in the ring by winning $15,000 preliminary events.
Le Keeps Foxen from Second Poker Masters Title
Le was close behind chip leader Brian Batt at the start of the Event #8 final table, but the story might well have been the short stack on the felt. Alex Foxen, by making the final table of this $15,000 tournament, would move into the overall lead in the race for the Purple Jacket. It was just a question of how many points Foxen would earn.
The answer? Quite a few, actually.
Foxen fought off the short stack, forcing a key laydown against Batt when Foxen (pocket tens) had Batt (pocket treys) devastated to pop over a million in chips. After more combat, Foxen secured a double through Le and busted Joey Weissman to near the three million mark. Foxen would continue to be active, although he would give up some chips to Jeremy Ausmus when Foxen completely airballed a flop that Ausmus crushed with a flush.
Ausmus, Le, and Foxen batted around the chip lead before Le began to assert himself. He would personally remove Ausmus from the competition in third place in two hands, forcing a fold from Ausmus on the first and counterfeiting Ausmus’ flopped two pair when Le’s K-J kicker played over Ausmus’ K-7 on a K-Q-7-6-Q.
Le took more than a 2:1 lead to heads-up action with Foxen, who achieved another milestone in making this Event #8 cash his 100th PokerGO Tour cash in his career. It didn’t take long, either, as the duo saw a K-J-6 flop and the chips went to the center. Le’s K-9 outpipped Foxen’s K-8, and once the board blanked low (seven on the turn, four on the river), Le’s Jack played, and he captured the Event #8 title.
1. Nguyen Le, $301,000 (241 Poker Masters points)
2. Alex Foxen, $196,000 (157)
3. Jeremy Ausmus, $135,500 (108)
4. Joey Weissman, $100,500 (80)
5. Brian Batt, $75,500 (60)
With the runner-up finish, Foxen seized control of the overall race for the Purple Jacket, eclipsing Mitchell Halverson’s early run. Foxen, with 429 points, is going to be difficult to catch, forcing anyone who wants to challenge him to have to make a deep run in the Main Event.
Saliba Rides Large Stack to Title
It was another Foxen that came to the fore for the Event #9 festivities. It wasn’t Alex, but Kristen Foxen who led the six-handed final table when it began on Wednesday. Foxen faced some challenges, however, in Saliba, 2025 Poker Masters winner Cary Katz, and PGT Championship hopeful Jesse Lonis all looked to take her down.
Lonis drew first blood in eliminating Sam Laskowitz in sixth place in early action, his pocket nines ruling over Laskowitz’s A-10 on an eight high board. Katz was next out the door, with Saliba doing the honors to creep closer to Foxen on the leaderboard. Saliba would take over the lead when Foxen couldn’t find the call button after an A-A-2-4 flop and turn, and continued betting from Saliba.
Foxen would attempt to draw even with Saliba by eliminating Chris Hunichen in fourth place, but Saliba would reestablish the lead by knocking out Lonis in third. In heads-up action and down nearly 3:1, Foxen couldn’t find the cards to rise above Saliba, eventually falling when her 9-8 off suit couldn’t defeat Saliba’s Big Slick on a K-9-4-3-2 board and handing Saliba the title.
1. Justin Saliba, $301,000 (241 Poker Masters points)
2. Kristen Foxen, $196,000 (157)
3. Jesse Lonis, $135,500 (108)
4. Chris Hunichen, $105,500 (80)
5. Cary Katz, $75,500 (60)
6. Sam Laskowitz, $55,500 (44)
Main Event Will Determine Overall Champion
The $25,000 Main Event of the 2025 Poker Masters will determine who will take home the Purple Jacket for this year. Three men have a chance at taking down Alex Foxen, but it would require a victory for David Chen, a second-place finish from Doug Lee, or David Coleman finishing in third place to pass Foxen for the title. Here is how they line up for the final table of the $25,000 Main Event:
Seat 1: David Chen, 330,000
Seat 2: David Coleman, 1.19 million
Seat 3: Doug Lee, 1.3 million
Seat 4: Brandon Wilson, 3.195 million
Seat 5: Nick Schulman, 1.045 million
Seat 6: Dylan Linde, 1.325 million
Seat 7: Jason Koon, 1.065 million
The Main Event of the 2025 Poker Masters will play out on the streaming service PokerGO this afternoon at 2 PM (Pacific Daylight Time). By this evening, we will know the event champion and the overall champion of the 2025 Poker Masters, who will claim the Purple Jacket.
(Photo courtesy of PokerGO)
The post Nguyen Le, Justin Saliba Score Poker Masters Wins Ahead of Main Event Final Table appeared first on Poker News Daily.
About The Author
