Vitalijs Zavorotnijs Wins Poker Masters Event No. 4; Nicholas Palma Takes Purple Jacket Points Lead
A final hand in which both players made full houses ended with Vitalijs Zavorotnijs winning Poker Masters Event No. 4.
Author: PokerSlate AI-assisted editorial desk · Editor: PokerSlate separate AI editorial review
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Poker Masters Event No. 4 of 2026 ran from Oct. 15 to 16 at PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas. The $10,000 buy-in no-limit hold'em tournament drew 80 entries, generated an $800,000 prize pool, and paid 12 places. CardPlayer and Poker.org both published post-event recaps on Oct. 17 identifying Vitalijs Zavorotnijs of Riga, Latvia, as the winner.
According to CardPlayer, Zavorotnijs defeated Clemen Deng heads-up for a $224,000 winner's payout and his second PGT title. CardPlayer said it was the fifth-largest score of his career and put his career tournament earnings above $3.6 million. Poker.org's recap also focused on Nicholas Palma's series run.
Day 1
Day 1 on Oct. 15 played down from 80 entries to five remaining players. Poker.org said Zavorotnijs led, Deng was second, Dwan was only slightly behind in chips, and Palma and Andrew Lichtenberger were short stacks. CardPlayer listed the notable players eliminated late on Day 1: Erik Seidel in sixth ($40,000), Sam Laskowitz in seventh ($32,000), Jeremy Ausmus in eighth, Joey Weissman in ninth and Chris Hunichen in tenth.
Final Day
Lichtenberger was the first player eliminated on the Oct. 16 final day. CardPlayer reported that Deng raised on the button, Lichtenberger reraised all-in with K♠9♠, and Deng called with A♥A♦. Deng flopped top set and turned a full house; Lichtenberger finished fifth for $56,000.
Dwan went out fourth. CardPlayer wrote that, with only a few big blinds left, he shoved A♥6♦ and Deng called from the big blind with 7♦3♠. The river brought a 3, eliminating Dwan for $76,000.
With three players left, Poker.org said Deng held a huge chip lead and Palma was the shortest stack. Palma finished third for $104,000. Poker.org wrote that he shoved after Deng raised on the button, Zavorotnijs called from the small blind, and they were racing preflop; CardPlayer listed the cards as Palma K♦J♣ and Zavorotnijs 7♠7♣. The flop came 7♦6♥6♦, giving Zavorotnijs a full house with sevens over sixes. Palma was drawing dead after the 8♣ turn, and the 3♣ came on the river.
Heads-Up and Finish
CardPlayer said Deng began heads-up with about a 3-to-2 chip lead. Poker.org wrote that the two traded small pots and the lead changed hands several times; CardPlayer also recorded the same exchanges and said Zavorotnijs had moved ahead before the final hand.
CardPlayer's account of the final hand began with Deng limping J♣4♦ for 125,000 and Zavorotnijs checking Q♦4♥. On the Q♠J♦4♠ flop, Zavorotnijs checked, Deng bet 125,000, Zavorotnijs raised to 400,000 and Deng called. The 4♣ turn gave both players full houses; Zavorotnijs bet 350,000 and Deng called. The 8♣ river saw Zavorotnijs bet 2,000,000, Deng move all-in for 3,890,000 and Zavorotnijs quickly call, winning with fours full of queens against Deng's fours full of jacks.
Deng received $144,000 as the runner-up. CardPlayer said his career tournament earnings are close to $7.2 million and that this was his 11th final table.
After the event, Poker.org said Palma's 104 points from this tournament were enough to pass Myles Mullaly for the Purple Jacket points lead, with six events left in the series. CardPlayer's series standings showed Palma with 339 points, Mullaly second with 274 and Weissman third; Zavorotnijs was fourth with 224 PGT points. Poker.org noted that Palma will likely need more points to win the series overall.
Local reading context
Poker Masters is a high-buy-in series that PokerGO stages at PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas; the 2026 schedule includes multiple $10,000 no-limit hold'em events. The series has a Purple Jacket points race, and tournament results also award PGT points. In this article, entries means registrations, not a confirmed count of unique players. The prize pool is formed by all entries and is separate from the payout to the champion or any other individual finish.
Source report dates: 2026-10-17
Original sources and verification
- CardPlayer
CardPlayer reported on Oct. 17, 2026, that the 2026 Poker Masters $10,000 buy-in Event No. 4 drew 80 entries, built an $800,000 prize pool and paid 12 places. The report said Vitalijs Zavorotnijs won $224,000, Clemen Deng finished second for $144,000, Nicholas Palma was third for $104,000, Jamie Dwan fourth for $76,000 and Andrew Lichtenberger fifth for $56,000. It also detailed the Lichtenberger, Dwan and Palma eliminations and the final heads-up hand, and listed Palma with 339 series points, Myles Mullaly with 274 and Zavorotnijs with 224 PGT points.
- Poker.org
Poker.org reported on Oct. 17, 2026, in its recap that Event No. 4 ran Oct. 15-16 with 80 entries, that five players remained after Day 1 and that Zavorotnijs led. It said Palma came from a short stack to finish third, and that his 104 points from the event moved him past Myles Mullaly into the Poker Masters Purple Jacket points lead with six events remaining. The recap also said Deng led at the start of heads-up, that both players made full houses on the final hand, and that Zavorotnijs won.