The last day of the PokerGO Cup brought with it the final table of the biggest buy-in event on the schedule and the potential for some drama with the PokerGO Cup leaderboard also still up for grabs. Cary Katz figured prominently in both outcomes on his way to winning Event #8 ($100,000 NLHE) and seven-figure score.
Daniel Negreanu, just 24 hours removed from his first live tournament win in more than eight years, was one of five players still alive. A third place finish or better would give Negreanu the PokerGO Cup leaderboard title while Sam Soverel, who held a 3-1 chip lead over his next closest competitor, needed to win the event and for Negreanu to finish no better than fourth.
The final table started on the money bubble with five players still in contention for the $1,058,000 first place prize. It took 20 minutes of action before Soverel busted Dan Smith to burst the bubble when his 
stayed ahead of Smith’s 
.
With the bubble done with, the parallel storylines began to come into focus.
Soverel opened to 80,000 with 
and action folded to Negreanu in the small blind. Negreanu peeled back 
and moved all in for 395,000. Soverel, holding more chips than the other three players combined, called. Negreanu stayed well ahead after the 
flop. However, the turn was the 
and Negreanu fell out of his chair. The 
river completed the board and sent Negreanu out in fourth place.
Negreanu going out in fourth meant that Soverel still had an opportunity to capture the PokerGO Cup leaderboard provided he outlast both Sean Winter and Katz.
A few minutes later, Winter raised to 180,000 with 
leaving himself a single 5,000 chip. Katz folded but Soverel called with 
. Both players checked through the 
runout and Winter was left with just 5,000 chips. Soverel officially eliminated Winter on the next hand and entered heads up play with 71% of the chips in play.
Despite the big lead for Soverel, the pair played for 1.5 hours with each player taking turns as the leader. Eventually, Katz took the lead for good and left Soverel staggering with a sub-six big blind stack. On the final hand of the tournament, Katz moved all in for 355,000 effective and Soverel called. Katz showed 
and Soverel was behind with . The board ran out 
to eliminate Soverel in second place and give Katz the title.
PokerGO Cup Event #8 Payouts
Cary Katz – $1,058,000
Sam Soverel – $644,000
Sean Winter – $368,000
Daniel Negreanu – $230,000
Soverel’s elimination also locked up the PokerGO Cup leaderboard title for Negreanu and the $50,000 prize that came with it. Negreanu finished with 537 points to beat Soverel by 40.
PokerGO Cup Final Standings
[table id=256 /]
