PokerGO Cup Event #1 Won by ‘Texas Mike’ as Cherish Andrews Stars

For the next 10 days, the PokerGO Studio at ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, is the place to be as the PokerGO Cup returns to action. If the opening event of the series is a guide, then it’s going to be a rollercoaster ride with some of the best poker players in the world on board. The opening event of the series had a record-breaking 177 entries (compared to 131 in 2024), each of them worth $5,100, creating a prize pool of $885,000 to be divided between the final 27 players.

Seidel Slides Out

It could hardly have been a more illustrious player who busted on the money bubble, as the 10-time WSOP bracelet winner and former Main Event runner-up Erik Seidel busted in 28^th place. All-in with ace-queen, the hand that Doyle Brunson once declared to be the hole cards that cost him the most money over his career, Seidel slid out, dominated to defeat by Joao Simao’s ace-king which rode home through a nine-high board to put everyone in the money.

Among those who cashed in the opening event were Martin Zamani (26^th for $8,850), Joao Simao himself (17^th for $13,275) and PokerStake player Jess Vierling, whose 14^th-placed result was worth $15,487 to her and those investors who bought a percentage of her action via the official PokerGO Cup staking page. After Vierling’s exit, players such as Dylan Weisman (12^th for $17,700), David Chen (9^th for $26,550) and Keith Lehr (8^th for $35,400) all departed, leaving everyone else to come back the next day to play down to a winner.

As play began on the final day, Michael Moncek, otherwise known as ‘Texas Mike’, had the chip lead, and initially, he put it to good use, with both Cherish Andrews and Stephen Song representing PokerStake and looking to climb from fifth and seventh in the chipcounts respectively. Eric Baldwin started short, and busted when his ace-king for top two pair was no good against the of Moncek when a board of landed to doom the at-risk player, sending Baldwin home with $35,400.

Andrews Fills Up as Texas Mike Stalls on the Straight

With six players left, Danny Qutami took his leave, busting for $44,250 when his pair of fours on the flop was unable to hold as Michael Brinkenhoff made a runner-runner wheel straight to reduce the field to five. At this stage, both Stephen Song (800,000) and Cherish Andrews (1.2m) were short, especially when compared to the top stack of Moncek’s, which at 10,775,000, dwarfed everyone else’s at the table. While Andrews was able to get a double up through Brinkenhoff, who ran top pair kings on the flop into Andrews’ pocket aces, Song was aiming to spin back into the reckoning for the top prize.

All-in with , the man who this week told us in-depth about his rise to fame over the past decade, won against Joey Weissman’s pocket deuces when both a king and queen landed on the flop. Minutes later, however, Song was on the rail with $53,100 in fifth place, multiplying his buy-in (and the profit to his investors on PokerStake) by 10 times. Losing with to his opponent Cherish Andrews’ , it was the latter who struck gold on the flop as a king came and no other cards could save Song as his PokerStake teammate moved on at his expense.

With four players left, Andrews then found herself in a fascinating pot when Moncek took her on with ace-nine as the PokerStake had pocket jacks. Watch how Andrews got the absolute maximum she could from the hand here and grabbed the chip lead:

Texas Mike Tips His Hat

Michael Brinkenhoff busted next, cashing for $66,375 in fourth place as his lost to Joey Weissman’s when a ten landed on the flop. That hand left Moncek as the chip leader with 10 million chips, Andrews slightly behind on 8.4m, and Joey Weissman the short stack on 3.65m.

Having led so recently, Andrews will have been gutted to leave next, winning $88,500. All-in with the best of it, her pocket eights lost to Moncek’s with all the chips committed pre-flop.

A flop of immediately rewarded the inferior hand, before a turn of and a river of ended Andrews’ hopes in cruel fashion. The hand also gave Moncek a massive 4:1 lead, and heads-up, he repeated the trick. Moncek’s was committed pre-flop against Weissman’s but a fortunate board od gave ‘Texas Mike’ the $185,850 top prize, 484 PGT points, and the PokerGO Cup trophy.

With thanks to PokerGO for live reporting photography. Sign up to PokerGO and subscribe today to watch the PokerGO Cup play out in full.