Joey Weissman's fifth PokerGO Tour title came in the third event of the 2026 Poker Masters, where he beat a field of 78 entries and took home $218,400. The win, reported by Card Player, ended on the very first hand of heads-up play and pushes Weissman into the conversation for the PGT Championship cut. It also tightens an already crowded Purple Jacket race that features two other first-time champions from the opening days of the series. Here are the results, the key hand, and a look at what the win means for the season.
The result
Weissman won event no. 3, a $10,500 no-limit hold'em tournament. Card Player's report notes a small inconsistency in its own numbers: the subtitle gives a $10,000 buy-in, while the body text says $10,500. The prize pool of $780,000 matches a $10,000 buy-in across 78 entries, so we are flagging the discrepancy rather than guessing which figure is right.
The prize pool was shared by the final 12 players. Here is the top of the payout ladder as reported:
| Place | Player | Payout |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joey Weissman | $218,400 |
| 2 | Daniyal Gheba | $140,400 |
| 3 | Shannon Shorr | $101,400 |
| 4 | Brock Wilson | $74,100 |
| 5 | Dylan Linde | $54,600 |
| 6 | Jeremy Ausmus | $39,000 |
| 7 | Michael Rossitto | $31,200 |
Weissman collected 420 Card Player Player of the Year points and 218 PGT points for the win.
The final hand
Heads-up play lasted exactly one hand. Weissman shoved with the queen and eight of clubs, and Daniyal Gheba called with the queen and three of spades. The board ran jack of spades, two of clubs, two of hearts, two of diamonds, and the river eight of spades gave Weissman a full house, deuces full of eights.
The hand is a good example of how thin the margin can be in short-handed tournament poker. Weissman held the better kicker with queen-eight against queen-three and was the favorite going in, and the flop and turn brought three deuces that both players shared. The river eight is what separated them, pairing Weissman's hand for the full house. PokerGO summed it up on social media: "One hand and it's all over!"
If you want to understand why shoving hands like queen-eight is reasonable in heads-up play, the Texas Hold'em guide and our equity explainer are good primers, and the poker odds calculator lets you run the matchup yourself.
A fifth PGT trophy
Card Player reports that this is Weissman's fifth PokerGO Tour title and that his career earnings have passed $11 million. Five PokerGO Tour titles is a notable total on a circuit built around high buy-in events.
His run of form has been noticeable. An earlier piece from the Rail, a weekly roundup, noted he won this event days after taking his second WSOP bracelet. That kind of back-to-back success usually reflects a player who is both sharp and confident, which is a powerful combination in a stretch of events with such deep fields.
Where the Purple Jacket race stands
The Poker Masters is the series that awards the Purple Jacket. After three events, Card Player says Myles Mullaly leads, having cashed in each of the first three events. Weissman is second with 241 PGT points, and Nick Palma, winner of event no. 2, is third.
We have covered the first two winners in detail: Myles Mullaly's Event 1 victory for $218,400 and Nicholas Palma's Event 2 win for $235,200. Each was a first PGT title, which makes Weissman's veteran status stand out. The series runs until October 22, so there is plenty of time for the standings to change, and our Poker Masters preview lists the schedule.
Why the PGT Championship matters
Weissman's 218 PGT points moved him to 40th on the season leaderboard, which, per Card Player, is the cutoff for the PGT Championship with its $1 million prize. Another report in the same week noted that in January the top 40 PGT players and Dream Seat winners will compete for a $500,000 prize pool, so be careful about exact figures: check the official PokerGO announcement for the final prize structure.
What is clear is that a player sitting on the cutoff is under pressure. A few events can easily move someone from 40th to 30th or the reverse, and Weissman has now bought himself breathing room while also building momentum for the remaining Poker Masters events.
His 420 POY points place him 113th in the yearlong Card Player Player of the Year race, a reminder of how far ahead the leaders are. Our POY race update looks at the contenders for that title.
What to learn from a short-handed win
You will probably never play a $10,000 event, but a few ideas from this result apply at any level.
- Be ready to take the first-hand opportunity. Heads-up play often begins with players near equal stacks, and aggressive opening shoves can pressure opponents into awkward calls.
- Know your price. When the effective stack is short enough, calling and shoving ranges widen dramatically. The concept of ICM matters less heads-up for the title, but stack depth still decides what is profitable.
- Respect variance. A queen-eight winning against a queen-three is a small edge, not a guarantee. Good players accept that results are partly luck and focus on making decisions that win over thousands of hands.
Our tournament strategy resources and the poker strategy hub go deeper on these topics.
What this means for fans
For players following the tour, the results so far show how unpredictable the series can be. Two first-time winners and a five-time champion in three events, with a leaderboard that features a player who cashed in every event, suggest that consistency may matter as much as raw wins. If you like following results while you play online, the best tournament options for regular players are listed on our tournaments page, while the schedule and broadcast information for televised series is gathered at poker on TV.
Bottom line
Joey Weissman's win is a reminder that high-stakes poker success often comes in clusters. He moves into position for the Poker Masters race, gains a cushion in the PGT standings and adds another title to a resume that already includes multiple WSOP bracelets. With the series running until October 22, expect the Purple Jacket picture to keep shifting, and watch whether Mullaly, Weissman or Palma can hold their positions as the buy-ins climb.