Chad Eveslage is your 2025 PokerGO Tour champion, defeating Daniel Negreanu, Andrew Lichtenberger, Michael Wang, and many more of the best players in the world. For winning the 54-player invitation-only $1,000,000 freeroll, Eveslage takes home $500,000 and the PGT Championship Gold Cup.
After winning the PGT Championship, Eveslage joins the likes of Rok Gostisa, Jason Koon, Daniel Smiljkovic, and Jeremy Ausmus on a very exclusive winners’ list.
2025 PGT Championship results
| Place | Player | Prize |
| 1st | Chad Eveslage | $500,000 |
| 2nd | Andrew Lichtenberger | $200,000 |
| 3rd | Michael Wang | $120,000 |
| 4th | Daniel Negreanu | $80,000 |
| 5th | Aaron Kupin | $60,000 |
| 6th | John Riordan | $40,000 |
| 7th | Eric Blair | $0 |
PGT Championship bubble bursts
On Day 1 of the 2025 PGT Championship, the final 54 players were whittled down to seven, creating a tense bubble where six players received at least $40,000, while the seventh-place finisher received nothing.
Unfortunately for Eric Blair, he could not turn his 17 blinds into a profitable day. He came in as the slight short stack, about three big blinds fewer than the eventual champion Eveslage, but wasn’t able to find a spin. He chipped down to just 12 big blinds in the first half-hour of play before getting his ace-queen offsuit all in against the pocket nines of Aaron Kupin. The board ran out 4-T-K-8-4, and Blair went home with absolutely nothing.
Riordan falls victim to a disgusting cooler
Over the next hour-and-a-half, the chips went flying all over the place, mostly to the benefit of Eveslage and Lichtenberger. Eveslage would then cooler John Riordan in the cruelest of ways to knock him out in sixth place and to share the chip lead with Lucky Chewy.
Eveslage opened king-five of hearts from the button, and Riordan defended his big blind with five-four of spades off a 17 big blind stack. The flop was a disgusting 5-A-5 with two clubs, giving both players trips.
After Riordan called off a small flop c-bet, a meaningless offsuit T came on the turn. Eveslage bet 60% pot, setting up a clean river jam. Riodan made the call once more.
The river was the nine of clubs, which put a club flush on the board. Still, Riordan’s hand was too good to fold. Eveslage went all in for about 55% pot, and Riordan couldn’t help but chuckle, thinking that Eveslage may have rivered a flush. He called and was shown a different kind of bad news than he expected, and found the exit door in sixth place for $40,000.
Kupin and Negreanu fall short
Despite playing admirably as a ‘Dream Seat’ winner, Aaron Kupin’s journey ended in fifth place for $60,000. Despite Negreanu playing on just nine bigs, he found too good of a spot for his remaining 15 big blinds.
After Lichtenberger shoved his ten-nine of diamonds from the small blind, Kupin called off with ace-eight offsuit. Lucky Chewy found a ten on the flop and a nine on the river to send Kupin to the rail.
Though DNegs fought all day, he wouldn’t be able to take down another illustrious title and finished in fourth for a respectable $80,000. He got his last 11.5 big blinds in with ace-six of clubs and ran into Eveslage’s pocket jacks.
Though a 5-4-3 flop gave Negreanu plenty of hope in the form of an open-ended straight draw, to go along with his overcard, it wasn’t meant to be as the turn and river rolled off a meaningless T, followed by a 3 to eliminate the global phenomenon.
The champion is crowned
Another 80 minutes was all Eveslage needed to take home the PGT Championship Gold Cup and $500,000, the seventh-largest prize of his illustrious career.
It was a tough day for Michael Wang, who came into the day as the chip leader. In the end, after some bad card distribution, he was fortunate to come away with a third-place finish and $120,000. Unfortunately, his bustout would come in the form of another cooler that went Eveslage’s way.
Wang, off an 18 big blind stack, opened ten-nine of hearts from the button and was met with a three-bet from Eveslage from the big blind. At this point, Eveslage was firmly in control with about 60% of the chips in play, and Wang made the call.
The flop came T-9-8, giving Wang top two. Eveslage jammed for a little more than pot, and Wang snapped him off. While the turn was a clean deuce, the river was a dirty eight of diamonds, giving Eveslage a better two pair.
Eveslage went in with about a 9-to-2 chip lead and needed about ten minutes to dispatch Lucky Chewy. With Lichtenberger down to 13 big blinds, he jammed eight-six of clubs straight into Eveslage’s pocket jacks. The board ran out Q-2-4-J-3, leaving Lichtenberger dead on the turn and giving Eveslage the title.
References
PokerGO Tour – www.pgt.com
The Hendon Mob – www.thehendonmob.com
