Myles Mullaly Opens 2026 Poker Masters With First PGT Title

It’s already been a busy month contained in the PokerGO Studio, with the PGT PLO Series and each the no-limit maintain’em and pot-limit Omaha variations of the Super High Roller Bowl wrapping up previously couple of weeks. Now, the 2026 Poker Masters has formally taken over the stage, and the race for the purple jacket is formally underway. With the primary of 10 scheduled occasions within the books, 24-year-old Myles Mullaly kicked off the competition with a serious transfer in direction of gathering the coveted piece of poker apparel.

Mullaly defeated Justin Zaki heads-up in occasion no. 1, a $10,500 buy-in no-limit maintain’em match, to assert his first PokerGO Tour trophy, the $218,400 first-place prize, and one other milestone in a yr that’s taken his profession to a completely new stage.

Back in July, Mullaly gained the $5,000 tremendous turbo bounty no-limit maintain’em occasion for his first World Series of Poker bracelet and a $593,601 first-place prize. Mullaly confirmed the primary indicators of what would turn into an incredible 2026 marketing campaign throughout the PokerGO Cup again in March, with a runner-up end within the $3,300 PokerGO Cup Showcase, in addition to third- and fourth-place outcomes throughout the the rest of that collection.

Mullaly has now cashed for greater than $1.5 million in 2026 alone, which makes up greater than half of his  $2,728,498 in whole profession match earnings.

The Race For The Purple Jacket Begins

The historical past of the Poker Masters dates again to 2017, and 2026 marks the ninth stay version of this excessive curler match collection. Action kicked off on Oct. 12, with 78 gamers displaying as much as take a shot on the opening occasion of the collection. The whole prize pool grew to $780,000, with the highest 12 finishers incomes a share.

Heavyweights like Jesse Lonis (twelfth – $19,500) and Joao Simao (eighth – $31,200) have been among the many in-the-money finishers to fall late on day 1, with six gamers reaching the tip of the night time with their title hopes intact. 2025 PGT U.S. Poker Open winner Michael Rossitto held the in a single day chip lead, with bracelet winners Mullaly, Daniyal Gheba, and Justin Vaysman nonetheless within the hunt. Three-time PGT champion Justin Zaki and two-time PGT winner Sam Laskowitz have been additionally within the combine.

Vaysman and Gheba have been the primary two to hit the rail, in sixth place ($39,000) and fifth place ($54,600), respectively. Laskowitz claimed the highest spot briefly earlier than Mullaly surged ahead in fast succession. He held a major edge going into the primary break of the day with 4 gamers left.

It’s @RossittoMichael’s flip to try to double up.

Stream the @PokerGOTour’s Poker Masters, offered by @official_glp, on https://t.co/l4l4onsRIp. https://t.co/RrsqepakjX

— PokerGO (@PokerGO) October 13, 2026

Laskowitz took a short dip within the chip counts, solely to assert Rossitto’s whole stack in a fast one-two punch of all-in confrontations. The first time round, Laskowitz doubled via Rossitto, turning a membership flush in opposition to Rossitto’s two pair. Laskowitz then used these newfound chips to assert the remainder of Rossitto’s stack. A shove for ten massive blinds with J♥10♥ from the button put Rossitto in danger in opposition to A♦Q♠. The former chip chief settled for fourth place ($74,100) when he was unable to return from behind.

Mullaly Makes His Move

After largely staying out of the large spots up to now, Zaki constructed his method up from brief stack to a real contender. He took a bit of Laskowitz’s stack, after which bought there when it mattered most in a vital battle of the blinds. Zaki shoved from the small blind, and Laskowitz known as all-in for simply over eight massive blinds with A♣Ok♥. Zaki was stay along with his Q♠7♥ and located a 7♠ on the flop. He held from there and Laskowitz went out in third place ($101,400).

Mullaly began heads-up play in opposition to Zaki with a large lead, but it surely was hardly clean crusing to the title. Zaki got here again from a deficit of over 2:1 to take excessive spot, however his lead was short-lived. The stacks have been just about even when the final hand of the match got here collectively in a flash.

Myles Mullaly, the child from Rye, New York, will get his first PGT title!

Mullaly wins Event #1 of the 2026 Poker Masters for $218,400. https://t.co/61UZmiy1qO

— PokerGO (@PokerGO) October 14, 2026

A seemingly medium-sized pot exploded on a board of 8♥5♠3♠7♥. Mullaly known as all-in with what appeared like a world of chance with 10♥9♥, however Zaki had loads of Mullaly’s outs coated with J♥3♥. Mullaly nonetheless had a 29.55% likelihood to win the hand and the trophy, in line with the Card Player poker odds calculator. One of these key playing cards hit the river, because the 10♣ earned Mullaly the pot and the title.

POY Implications

This victory gave Mullaly 420 Card Player Player of the Year factors, bringing his whole for the yr to 4,786 POY factors. That’s good for twentieth place within the total standings offered by CoinPoker. Zaki’s second-place end pushed him as much as sixty fourth place in these standings.

Mullaly additionally earned 218 PGT points, sufficient to assert the 144th-place spot on the season-long PGT leaderboard. Zaki is simply forward of him, in 138th place. While each gamers are a good distance from the highest 40, which comes with an automated spot within the PGT $1 million championship, they’ve every made a robust first displaying within the race for the Poker Masters purple jacket. The competition will proceed via Oct. 23, with buy-ins starting from $10,500 as much as $51,000.

Final Table Results

Photo credit score: PGT / Antonio Abrego