Sean Winter Wins Poker Masters Finale as Mateos Secures Purple Jacket With 451 Points
Adrian Mateos secured the Poker Masters Purple Jacket with 451 points despite missing the money in the final three events.
Author: PokerSlate AI-assisted editorial desk · Editor: PokerSlate separate AI editorial review
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The 2026 Poker Masters finale took place at PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas. Results published by CardPlayer on October 25 show that the $51,000 buy-in no-limit hold'em event drew 31 entries, built a $1.55 million prize pool, and paid only the top five. Sean Winter won $620,000; Sam Laskowitz finished second for $387,500. A Poker.org report dated October 24 recorded the same first- and second-place order and said Winter earned his ninth individual PGT title.
The final table also decided the series Purple Jacket. CardPlayer said Winter entered the final day third in chips with seven players remaining; he later told PokerNews that he had not been playing the way he wanted and deliberately skipped a $15,000 event to reset, saying he believed it helped. Mateos missed the money in the last three events and finished on 451 series points. Poker.org said Mateos's nearest pursuer, Nick Palma, went out eighth in the finale, giving Mateos some relief; entering the final day, only Jeremy Ausmus could still overtake him. CardPlayer said Ausmus needed at least second place to do so.
Ausmus's attempt ended in fourth. CardPlayer recorded that he moved all in with pocket fives and ran into Winter's A-K of diamonds; an ace came on the turn and another on the river, and Ausmus earned $170,500 and 68 series points, falling short of Mateos. Mateos was then confirmed as series champion. CardPlayer reported Mateos saying that he had led by a wide margin for much of the way but missed the money in the last three events, making the sweat real. Mateos's 451 points came from three cashes: a win in Event 5 for $229,500, second in Event 2, and fourth in Event 7, for $467,700 in series earnings; he also received a $25,000 PGT Passport.
The two reports broadly agree on the final-table elimination order, though their specific hand details are not entirely the same. CardPlayer recorded that Dan Smith was the first out, moving all in with A-8 and failing to catch Marius Gierse's A-Q; Poker.org also listed Smith as the first elimination and said Gierse called on the button and won with top pair and a better kicker. Chris Brewer then went out sixth, on the money bubble. Regarding an earlier big hand for Brewer, CardPlayer wrote that he doubled through Smith with A-A against A-K; Poker.org wrote that he lost a big pot with K-K against Laskowitz's A-A. Both reports confirm Brewer was eventually eliminated by Ausmus, and the remaining five reached the money.
Gierse was the first player eliminated once the money was reached, finishing fifth for $124,000; CardPlayer described his T-9 failing to beat Laskowitz's pocket queens after a T-7-6 flop. Ausmus finished fourth, and Igor Yaroshevskyy was third for $248,000. CardPlayer recorded that Yaroshevskyy moved all in with Q-J and was called and beaten by Winter's K-T. Heads-up, Winter held nearly a 3-to-1 chip lead; Laskowitz drew level at one point, but Winter re-established the advantage and eventually won with two pair against Laskowitz's one pair. Poker.org described the final hand as follows: Winter hit bottom two pair in a limped pot while Laskowitz held top pair; Winter check-raised the flop, overbet all in on the turn, Laskowitz called, and the river did not change the result.
CardPlayer's top five in the series standings were Mateos 451, Palma 407, Nicholas Seward 397, Ausmus 389, and Winter 373. This list is not the same measure as the full-year PGT leaderboard. CardPlayer said the 248 points from the finale took Winter's 2026 PGT total to 2,223, making him the first player to pass 2,000 points this season; he had 17 cashes in PGT-qualifying events this year for a combined $4,391,694 and was described by the report as the clear frontrunner for PGT Player of the Year. The $4,391,694 here is full-year PGT-qualifying event earnings, not the $620,000 winner's prize from this finale, nor the $1.55 million event prize pool.
Local reading context
The Poker Masters is a high-buy-in tournament series held at PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas. The coverage contains two separate points systems: Poker Masters series points determine the series standings and the Purple Jacket, while the PGT leaderboard runs across the full year; the report uses 2,223 points to describe Winter's season position. The two should not be conflated. Prize money also needs to be kept in separate categories: an event winner's prize, an event's total prize pool, a series' accumulated prize money, and full-year PGT-qualifying event earnings are different concepts. CardPlayer says that, in addition to the Purple Jacket, Mateos receives a $25,000 PGT Passport.
Source report dates: 2026-10-24 / 2026-10-25
Original sources and verification
- CardPlayer
CardPlayer reported on October 25 that the $51,000 buy-in Poker Masters finale drew 31 entries and a $1.55 million prize pool, with only the top five paid. Sean Winter won $620,000, and Sam Laskowitz finished second for $387,500. Adrian Mateos won the Purple Jacket with 451 points and a $25,000 PGT Passport; his three series cashes totaled $467,700. Jeremy Ausmus finished fourth for $170,500. Winter's full-year PGT total was 2,223 points, with 17 cashes totaling $4,391,694. The report also detailed final-table hands and the series top five. CardPlayer: https://www.cardplayer.com/poker-news/1765557-sean-winter-wins-poker-masters-finale-as-adrian-mateos-clinches-purple-jacket
- Poker.org
Poker.org reported on October 24 that Mateos held on with 451 points after missing the money in the final three events; Nick Palma went out eighth in the finale, Ausmus was the only player who could still overtake Mateos on the final day and then went out fourth; Chris Brewer finished sixth on the bubble; and Winter earned his ninth PGT title. The report also described the final-table elimination order and the final hand. Poker.org: https://www.poker.org/latest-news/adrian-mateos-fades-last-gasp-sweat-to-win-poker-masters-purple-jacket-a2FbK7w1T3hI/