Joey Weissman Dominates PokerGO Cup Finale as Foxen Falls Just Short

The final events of this year’s PokerGO Cup saw wins for Justin Zaki and PokerStake player Kristen Foxen as Joey Weissman’s consistency won him the overall title and the $25,000 Championship bonus. The PokerGO Studio at ARIA was the setting for the action this week as eight events played out and after Texas Mike pipped PokerStake’s Cherish Andrews to victory in the opening event, both Andrews and Aram Zobian performed superbly in subsequent events. Here’s how the back nine played out in the PokerGO Studio.

Sergio Aido Stars in Event #5

The Spanish player Sergio Aido won the fifth event of the series as the 2025 PokerGO Cup moved into the second half of the series in style. After 100 entrants created a million-dollar prizepool, Aido won the six-player final table in double-quick time as Victoria Livschitz starred for PokerStake players, coming 10^th for $30,000.

Just 15 players made money as others to reach profit in the event included previous PokerStake seller Jeremy Ausmus (11^th for $30,000) and Brock Wilson (9^th for $30,000). Sergio Aido started the final day third of six, but with each of Shannon Shorr, Michael ‘Texas Mike’ Moncek, Aido and Brandon Wilson over the 2 million chip mark, there was nothing between the top-ranked players. Aido busted both Wilson in sixth for $50,000 and Nick Seward in fifth for $65,000 as he took the chip lead.

Nick Schulman’s was shot down by Shorr’s in fourth place for $90,000, before Texas Mike grabbed his hat and $115,000 ahead of the final showdown. He made a flush but one worse than Shorr’s nut flush in diamonds and that gave Shorr a lead of 8.65 million chips to Aido’s 3.85m in the final duel. Doubling through Shorr with the nut flush himself, Aido then got all his chips in good with on a turn with Shorr holding for a flush draw and a gutshot, neither of which came in on the river.

Blair Flair Wins Second Title in Six

Event #6 had an even bigger prizepool of $1.3 million as 87 entrants put up the $15,000 buy-in inside the PokerGO Studio at ARIA. This time, it was Eric Blair – the winner of the fourth event of the series – who took his second title in three and the most of anyone in the 2025 PokerGO Cup. Winning $352,350, Blair beat Keith Lehr heads-up, relegating the latter to a score of $228,375 as others such as Michael Berk (3^rd for $163,125) and Nick Schulman – again sixth, this time for $65,250 – missed out on the trophy.

With just 13 players making the money, this event didn’t see anyone from PokerStake post profit, but there was a first cash of the series for PokerGO’s own Cary Katz, who finished 10^th for $39,150. Kristen Foxen’s husband Alex came 12^th for a score of $32,625 while Sam Laskowitz, who has a strong record in recent PokerGO events himself, bagged $39,150 too as he just missed out on the final table in ninth place.

Kristen Foxen Takes Gold in Seventh Heaven

One fewer entry at the same stakes of $15,100 saw Event #7 of a total of eight play out with a $1.29 million prizepool and 13 in-the-money finishers. PokerStake player Kristen Foxen proved unstoppable as she won the top prize of $348,300 and her second PGT title of 2025 already.

With others such as Darren Elias (13^th for $32,250), Nick Schulman (12^th for the same amount) and Eric Blair (10^th for $38,700) all missing out on the final table, Foxen’s fellow PokerStake player Erik Seidel was the chip leader heading into the final table, but the 10-time WSOP bracelet winner fell just short.

After Farrid Jattin busted Eric Wasserson in seventh place for $51,600, David Peters crashed out in sixth for $64,500 after a spate of all-ins ended with the at-risk player doubling up on every occasion. Peters was the unlucky man to end that run when his busted to Foxen’s , a board of giving Foxen trips to trip up the previously powerful Peters. Event #6 winner Sergio Aido busted in fifth place for $90,300 before the overnight leader lost his tournament life for $116,100 in fourth place. Seidel’s lost to Jattin’s as the Colombian flopped an ace and Seidel found no further help to bust outside the podium places.

Jattin may have won that hand but he exited next, cashing in third for $161,250 when he was all-in with the worst of it, shoving pre-flop with and being called by Kristen Foxen with . An ace on the flop set the tone for how that hand went and that gave Foxen a heads-up lead of exactly 4:1 over her British opponent Patrick Leonard.

In a week where Canada got the better of the United States on the ice in hockey, Canadians had reason to celebrate another champion soon after heads-up began, as Foxen shoved with and beat Leonard’s , a board of paired her jack on the river when she had a world of outs, and left her with the trophy and top prize of $348,300. Leonard had to settle for a runner-up score worth $225,750.

Weissman Misses Out Heads-Up But Takes the Title

While Joey Weissman would have been frustrated to finish as runner-up in his third event of the series, but added to his victory in Event #2, his runner-up finish to Texas Mike in the opening event and again to Eric Blair in Event #4, it easily won him the PGT PokerGO Cup and the added $25,000 PGT Passport.

In the final event of the series, there were 59 entries at $25,200 each, making a prizepool of $1,475,000 and a top prize that ended up at $417,000 after a heads-up deal. Justin Zaki was the man to lift the smaller version of the PGT trophy, with his win the first of the series. Sam Soverel (4^th for $147,500) and Jesse Lonis (7^th for $59,000) both made the final table of the final event.

Only nine players cashed, with the consistent Keith Lehr winning $59,000 in eighth place and David Peters scoring a $44,250 min-cash in ninth place. For Weissman, however, the reward for his fabulous week inside the PokerGO Studio was the PokerGO Cup trophy and a $25,000 PGT Passport, along with $930,000 across his four cashes from eight events.

Now into the top 100 players in U.S. poker history according to The Hendon Mob, Joey Weissman has over $8.5 million in live tournament earnings, with his 2025 PokerGO Cup accounting for over 10% of that number. Following in the footsteps of PokerStake player Jonathan Little (2024), PokerGO owner Cary Katz (2023), another PokerStake legend Jeremy Ausmus (2022), and Kid Poker himself Daniel Negreanu (2021), Weissman becomes the latest and perhaps greatest PokerGO Cup champion of them all.