It’s another win inside the PokerGO Studio for Nick Petrangelo who bested the 41-entry field of Event #5 ($25,000 NLHE) of the 2022 PokerGO Cup to take home the $369,000 first-place prize.
Petrangelo has been on a bit of a heater in the PokerGO high-stakes events as of late, having cashed four times, including two victories, in January’s Stairway to Millions series. All of his early 2022 high-roller results have him currently sitting atop the PokerGO Tour leaderboard and, with his latest victory, topping more than $2 million in earnings this year.
“Everything has been going really well since even, like, September,” Petrangelo told PokerGO after the win. “A little up and down, but yeah, since then pretty much everything has been working out. I’m running great, winning all-ins, and getting hands at the right times. Sometimes you get around the bubble when you have a lot of chips and you lose a couple of hands, but it’s been the opposite for me when I go deep and everything just goes well.”
Darren Elias was at his third PokerGO Cup final table of the 2022 series, however, he started this final table on the short stack and with the blinds at 25,000/50,000 (50,000 ante) he held just under 10 big blinds. After Nick Schulman opened from under the gun to 100,000, Elias three-bet shoved his final 485,000 holding 
. When the action folded back to Schulman, he quickly called putting Elias at risk. The flop came 
giving Schulman top pair and leaving Elias with needing runner-runner to survive. When the turn came the 
, Elias was officially drawing dead to the river. The four-time WPT champ said his goodbye and went to collect his $51,250 sixth-place prize.
With the blinds at 30,000/60,000 (60,000 ante), Schulman and 2021 PokerGO Tour champion Ali Imsirovic were both sitting on just over 10 big blinds, with Imsirovic holding a 40,000 chip edge. From the cutoff, Imsirovic raised to 140,000 holding the 
and when it got to Schulman in the small blind, he three-bet shipped all-in with his 
. Petrangelo folded his big blind and with Imsirovic going nowhere, he snap-called, and the two short stacks put the cards on their backs. Schulman was slightly covered putting his tournament at risk, but it was Imsirovic who was in trouble when the flop came 
, giving Schulman top pair. The turn was the 
, leaving Imsirovic looking for an ace or king to take out Schulman. But the river was the 
, giving Schulman the full double and leaving Imsirovic with just over a small blind left. Imsirovic was eliminated in fifth place on the very next hand, losing in a four-way pot. Imsirovic collected $82,000 for his efforts.
After the first break, the blinds escalated to 40,000/80,000 (80,000 bb ante), and with just over 10 bigs in his stack, Sean Winter raised to 375K from the button with the 
. After Schulman folded the small blind, Petrangelo looked down at the 
and jammed all-in for 1 million. Winter, with half his stack in the middle quickly called for it all. Winter playfully picked up the and said to Petrangelo “Hey, have you seen these coming today?”. Petrangelo, unfazed said no and Winter continued “Have you been watchin’?” Soon the dealer put out a 
flop, giving both top pair, but keeping Petrangelo’s kicker in play. “Ten baby!” Winter rooted. “Four of spades, I have a deck read” Petrangelo replied. Close, the turn came the 
leaving Winter looking for just three outs to survive. The river was the 
and the good-natured Winter stood and went to the cage to collect his $112,750 cash for fourth place.
Playing three-handed at the same level, Schulman raised to 160,000 with the and when it was Bill Klein’s turn in the big blind, he three-bet shipped his chip lead with the 
. After using a time bank, Schulman said “I don’t know what I’m doing here, Bill.” and eventually made the call, wincing when he saw Klein’s hand. The flop came 
, and Schulman took the lead hitting top pair. “I’m the captain, now,” Schulman joked having come from behind. The 
turn brought Schulman two pair, but it didn’t change the situation. However, the 
on the river did, giving Klein a set of eights and shipping him the pot. Schulman tapped the table and “hugged it out” with Bill Klein before he left in third place for $164,000.
Klein took a better than 3:2 lead into heads-up play versus Petrangelo. The duo put on one of the longer heads-up battles of the series so far, playing for the better part of an hour. Eventually, Petrangelo. chipped up and took the lead, reversing the situation. At 50,000/100,000 (100,000 ante) Klein picked up on the button and made the call. Petrangelo looked at the 
and moved all-in. Klein decided to go for it, flipping in a single chip to make the call. There was little drama as the board ran out 
leaving Petrangelo the winner with his ace. Klein scored $246,000 as the runner-up and Petrangelo, who won the PokerGO Stairway to Millions finale, scored another victory in the PokerGO Studio, winning Event #5 for $369,000.
PokerGO Cup Event #5 Final Table Results
- Nick Petrangelo – $369,000
- Bill Klein – $246,000
- Nick Schulman – $164,000
- Sean Winter – $112,750
- Ali Imsirovic – $82,000
- Darren Elias – $51,250
