Andrew Lichtenberger bested a tricky discipline of 60 entries to win occasion no. 6 on the PokerGO Tour Sprint. The 39-year-old poker professional needed to tangle with three of the highest 5 contenders within the 2026 Card Player Player of the Year race standings down the stretch on this $10,500 no-limit maintain’em occasion. He outlasted all of them, mounting a heads-up comeback to earn $192,000 and 360 POY factors. In the method he climbed inside the highest 100 within the POY standings introduced by CoinPoker.
This was the third general title and eleventh final-table end of the 12 months for Lichtenberger. He now has greater than $26 million in lifetime earnings to his identify. This was his 18th profession event title, with a trophy assortment that features a World Series of Poker gold bracelet.
The participant recognized to many by his outdated on-line display screen identify ‘LuckyChewy’ additionally earned 192 PGT factors. That’s good for thirteenth place within the season-long PGT rankings.
Setting The Stage
Lichtenberger burst the bubble, eliminating Brock Wilson in tenth to make sure that the remaining 9 contenders all cashed for no less than $18,000 from the $600,000 prize pool. Nicholas Schulte (ninth), Neil Warren (eighth), and Daniyal Gheba have been all despatched packing earlier than the sphere mixed onto a single desk. It was reigning POY award winner Jesse Lonis who sat atop the chip counts at that time, with Lichtenberger claiming the second-largest stack.
Lonis additional added to his lead when his A♥10♦ outraced the 2♥2♦ of Victoria Livschitz (sixth – $33,000).
Alex Foxen landed the following knockout blow, along with his pocket queens holding off the 6♥4♥ of three-time bracelet winner Dylan Linde (fifth – $45,000) after the chips went in on a 9♥8♦6♣ flop. The flip and river saved Foxen’s overpair finest to slender the sphere to 4.
Heavyweights Wilson And Lonis Bounced
Foxen went on to grab the lead from Lonis, successful a large showdown with Brandon Wilson that left the latter because the clear quick stack. The two quickly tangled once more, with Wilson three-bet shoving over Foxen’s cutoff min-raise with Ok♣10♦. Foxen known as the 12 huge blind wager with A♣J♥ and made prime pair on a A♦7♥5♣6♦2♠ runout to safe the pot.
Wilson earned $60,000 because the fourth-place finisher. This was his twenty fourth last desk of the 12 months, with 4 wins recorded to this point. The 180 POY factors that got here with this deep run put him in second place within the 2026 POY race with 7,987 factors. He trails present chief Punnat Punsri by simply 61 factors.
A huge preflop coinflip despatched Lonis to the rail in third place ($84,000). He limp-jammed from the small blind with A♦Q♠. Foxen, who had raised from the massive blind holding 8♥8♣, made the decision and held when the board got here down Ok♥7♣2♥Ok♠7♥. Lonis climbed to fourth place within the POY standings as he seems to be to defend his 2025 win within the race. He’s gained two titles and made 20 last tables to this point in 2026.
A Wild Heads-Up Battle
That left Foxen heads-up towards Lichtenberger with almost a ten:1 chip lead. Lichtenberger doubled with A-J towards Q-6 to start his comeback, then gained with pocket queens towards A-3 to chop Foxen’s result in 2:1. Foxen almost closed out the win with pocket jacks racing towards A-Q suited, however a straight got here on the board to make for a chopped pot.
Lichtenberger battled his means into the lead, then picked off a bluff try from Foxen to widen the hole. Foxen wouldn’t go quietly, although, and shortly bounced again into the lead. Lichtenberger then regained the benefit with queens filled with fives in time for the ultimate hand of the event. Lichtenberger shoved from the button with Ok♦6♠ and Foxen known as off holding A♠7♠. The board of Ok♣10♣8♠7♣3♥ gave Lichtenberger prime pair and the title.
Foxen earned $120,000 because the runner-up. This was the 14th last desk of 2026 for the four-time bracelet winner, together with incomes that newest piece of WSOP {hardware} this summer time. With 5 titles and almost $4.8 million in POY earnings, the perennial points-race contender has moved to fifth within the general standings. He additionally improved to 3rd on the PGT leaderboard due to this newest deep run.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points | PGT Points |
| 1 | Andrew Lichtenberger | $192,000 | 360 | 192 |
| 2 | Alex Foxen | $120,000 | 300 | 120 |
| 3 | Jesse Lonis | $84,000 | 240 | 84 |
| 4 | Brandon Wilson | $60,000 | 180 | 60 |
| 5 | Dylan Linde | $45,000 | 150 | 45 |
| 6 | Victoria Livschitz | $33,000 | 120 | 33 |
| 7 | Daniyal Gheba | $24,400 | 90 | 24 |
Photo credit score: PGT / Antonio Abrego.
