Joey Weissman’s return from an prolonged stay poker hiatus has already paid off, with the New York-born, Las Vegas-based grinder reclaiming a spot within the winner’s circle on the PokerGO Studio.
Weissman gained occasion no. 3 of the 2026 Poker Masters, securing the fifth PokerGO Tour trophy of his profession and $218,400 because the champion. This win, which pushed his profession earnings previous $11 million, got here simply days after Weissman secured his second profession World Series of Poker bracelet as a part of the continued fall WSOP Online sequence.
This was the second money of the sequence for Weissman by way of the primary three occasions, which places him in second place within the ongoing race for the Poker Masters purple jacket with 241 PGT factors. Poker Masters occasion no. 1 winner Myles Mullaly, who has cashed in every of the primary three occasions, is out in entrance. Event no. 2 champion Nick Palma now sits in third place within the total standings.
These two cashes are the primary stay outcomes for Weissman because the finish of the 2026 WSOP in July. Despite that layoff, the 420 Card Player Player of the Year factors earned by Weissman with this newest triumph put him in 113th place within the yearlong race offered by CoinPoker.
The Man In Purple And Blue
Perhaps channeling the colour theme of the competition, Weissman confirmed up for the ultimate day of this occasion sporting a purple and blue Nike hoodie. He sat in fourth place out of six remaining gamers on day 2 of this $10,500 no-limit maintain’em occasion, wanting up at chip chief Jeremy Ausmus, a six-time WSOP bracelet winner, eight-time PGT champion, and the 2025 PGT $1 Million Championship winner.
2026 U.S. Poker Open sequence championship Brock Wilson and three-time bracelet winner and World Poker Tour champion Dylan Linde have been each forward of Weissman within the chip counts as nicely. Recently topped four-time bracelet winner Shannon Shorr was additionally within the combine.
The sextet of contenders was all that remained of a discipline that reached 78 entries. Among the ultimate 12 gamers, who every reached the cash and shared within the $780,000 prize pool, Mullaly and Jesse Lonis every recorded their third money in as many occasions.
Mullaly narrowly missed out on his second ultimate desk, settling for eighth place. Michael Rossitto, who completed in fourth place within the opening occasion, made the ultimate desk however misplaced his final 10 massive blinds to Shorr simply earlier than the top of day 1.
Ausmus was shortly knocked from his chip-leading perch, as Daniyal Gheba earned an early double by way of him with a turned king-high spade flush. Gheba carried that early day 2 rush into the chip lead in his personal proper, however Weissman finally claimed the distinction of finishing Ausmus’ fall from grace.
Action folded round to Ausmus within the small blind, and he shoved 16 massive blinds into Weissman with 10♠9♦. Weissman wakened with A♥Q♣, and although Ausmus turned a spade flush draw, none of his outs got here by way of, ending his run in sixth place ($39,000).
A Run To Victory
The rise and fall of Linde was one to behold. He secured a large double-up by way of Wilson, solely to run pocket queens into pocket kings in opposition to Gheba in what turned a 90 massive blind pot. With that, Linde’s run got here to an finish in fifth place ($54,600).
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Gheba, now in possession of an enormous chip lead, flopped journey tens with Q♠10♥ to oust Wilson, who was right down to lower than two massive blinds. Wilson settled for fourth place ($74,100), having earned a strong ladder-up because of Linde’s ouster.
Weissman had a significantly higher end result with pocket queens than Linde. He took the monster preflop holding up in opposition to Gheba’s pocket sevens and doubled up into an enormous chip lead after flopping a set. It wouldn’t take for much longer for Weissman to shut out every of his final two opponents.
Shorr shoved 14 massive blinds from the small blind with Q♥9♥. Weissman got here together with a dominating A♦9♠ within the massive blind. The 10♠4♣4♦5♦J♦ runout provided no help to Shorr and he was out in third place ($101,400).
One hand and it’s throughout! https://t.co/cxgEQPjbij
— PokerGO (@PokerGO) October 15, 2026
On the very first hand of heads-up motion, Weissman shoved with Q♣8♣ and Gheba referred to as off his final 11 massive blinds with Q♠3♠. They appeared to be heading in the direction of a chop by the flip of a J♠2♣2♥2♦ board, however Weissman discovered the 8♠ on the river for a full home and a dramatic close-out. Gheba, who already recorded a fifth-place end in occasion no. 1, earned $140,400 because the runner-up.
The 218 PGT factors Weissman secured with this win put him in fortieth place on the season-long PGT leaderboard, the precise cutoff line for qualification to the season-ending $1 million PGT Championship.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points | PGT Points |
| 1 | Joey Weissman | $218,400 | 420 | 218 |
| 2 | Daniyal Gheba | $140,400 | 350 | 140 |
| 3 | Shannon Shorr | $101,400 | 280 | 101 |
| 4 | Brock Wilson | $74,100 | 210 | 74 |
| 5 | Dylan Linde | $54,600 | 175 | 55 |
| 6 | Jeremy Ausmus | $39,000 | 140 | 39 |
| 7 | Michael Rossitto | $31,200 | 105 | 31 |
Photo credit score: Antonio Abrego / PokerGO Tour
