Dylan Weisman Among Early Winners in PGT Kick Off Festival

Hot on the Heels of the thrilling PokerGO Tour $1 million Championship Freeroll, the race to top the 2024 PGT Leaderboard has begun. The 2024 PGT Kick Off festival started over the weekend and across the opening three events, David Coleman, Dylan Weisman and Justin Young all claimed crowns.

David Coleman Wins Opening Event for $120k

The first event of the PGT Kick Off Series was won by American player David Coleman as he claimed the $120,150 top prize. Besting a field of 89 players, each of whom stumped up the $5,000 buy-in, Coleman beat a final table that contained players such as Aram Zobian, Stephen Chidwick and Jeremy Ausmus.

With 13 players paid, only seven would make the final day and as they did so, Coleman led by 30,000 chips from Chidwick. There was a quick elimination for Viktor Ustimov, as the Russian lost his stack to David Coleman and further strengthened the chip leader’s control of the table. Clemen Deng busted in 6^th and Nikita Kalinin exited in 5^th, before Jeremy Ausmus busted in fourth place, his lost to as Coleman once again proved superior.

Three-handed, Coleman had around 60% of the chips in play and short-stacked, Chidwick exited for a score of $55,625. All-in with , Chidwick lost to Aram Zobian’s as the American gave his own cause for optimism a much-needed boost before the final heads-up battle. Both Zobian and Coleman held the lead heads-up, but when Coleman, when behind, won with another dominating ace-high, the tables were turned for the final time.

All-in with pre-flop, Zobian was unlucky to be dominated all over again, as Coleman turned over and the board came 6h] to proclaim  Coleman the winner.

Dylan Weisman Claims Second Event for $121k

The second event of the PGT Kick Off tournament series gave mixed game specialist Dylan Weisman a huge success in No Limit Hold’em, as he took home the title and $121,500 top prize. Weisman’s victory came at the expense of Russian player Sergei Kislinskii who banked $78,750 after falling just short.

This time, the total field was one bigger, with 90 players paying $5,000 to play, and legends such as Adam Walton (13^th), Joao Simao (11^th) and Jeremy Ausmus (10^th) all made the money places. Sean Winter’s exit in 8^th set up the seven-handed final table, whereupon Victoria Livschitz, who has sold her action regularly on PokerStake’s official Staking Page, was eliminated first. All-in with , Livschitz lost to Jeremy Becker’s after the board of [ sent her home with a score of $18,000 – a fine return for her and any investors.

Into the top six, one of the most consistent players in the previous 24 months, Jesse Lonis, cashed for $22,500, while the Event #1 winner David Coleman reinforced his hopes of topping the eventual series leaderboard with a fifth-place finish worth $31,500. In the top four, there were results for Matthew McEwan (4^th for $40,500) and the aforementioned Becker (3^rd for $56,250) which sent play heads-up.

Weisman’s lead of 10:1 was a massive one and he quickly closed it out, his dominating then defeating Kislinskii’s when the chips went into the middle pre-flop and a board of quickly put Weisman’s miniscule worries of a collapse into the shadows.

Justin Young Takes Down Third Event for $105k

The third and final PGT Kick-Off event of the weekend saw popular pro Justin Young win the top prize of $105,850. This time, the chip leader when the final table began wasn’t the eventual winner, as Young came from having just ten big blinds at the start of play to holding the trophy aloft a few hours later.

With 73 entrants, the third event – also costing $5,000 to play – saw 11 players paid as Dylan Weisman snuck into the money places in 10^th place for $10,950. Others such as Dylan Linde (8^th for $14,600) and Ryan Riess (7^th for the same score) enjoyed decent runs, but the final table belonged to one man and that was cash game professional Justin Young.

Doubling up through the eventual third-placed Kristen Foxen, Young got up off the canvas, before knocking out Dylan DeStefano in fourth place for a crucial coup. Young’s fellow American was dominated in his loss to Young, who then built his way into an impressive lead. A three-way all-in ended the event in extraordinary fashion as Young, now holding a big lead, shoved with pre-flop, only to be called by the shortest stack of Foxen with and the even stronger Coleman with . A flop of changed all that, however, and after a turn and river, it was all over, Young winning the six-figure payout with a smile beamed across his features.

Images courtesy of PokerGO. Watch a free preview of what subscribing to PokerGO gives you in 2024 right here.