Nick Seward Wins $412,500 and First PokerGO Tour Title at Poker Masters Event #9

Nick Seward defeated Daniel Negreanu heads-up to win Poker Masters Event #9 on 23 October 2026, taking the $412,500 first-place prize and his first PokerGO Tour (PGT) title. The victory also awarded Seward 248 leaderboard points; with three prior cashes in the series he sits third on the Poker Masters Purple Jacket leaderboard with one event remaining.

Final-table progress and eliminations

Daniel Negreanu entered the final table with the chip lead and reached heads-up against Seward after several knockouts. Jesse Lonis was the first final-table casualty in seventh place when he called all-in from the button with A♦9♦ against Seward's A♠K♣. The flop paired both players and Lonis was a four-to-one favourite, but the turn left him with a single out and the river completed Seward's runout.

Brandon Wilson finished sixth after moving all-in from the small blind with K♣10♠ and running into Seward's A♣Q♠. The two checked the runout, leaving Wilson with a single big blind; he lost the remainder of his stack shortly after. Wilson was noted as the $100K SHRB XI champion and made another deep run in the PokerGO Studio.

Sean Perry was eliminated in fifth when he called Daniel Negreanu's raise from the big blind with K♦9♦, connected with a combo draw on the flop but lost after calling off the rest of his stack following a raise from Negreanu, who held A♥Q♥. Matthew Wantman fell in fourth after moving most of his chips with 8♠8♦ and running into Negreanu's A♣K♣; the flop gave Negreanu the lead, and Wantman called the remaining 20K on the turn only to see the river complete the board and end his run. Wantman had entered the series fresh off a career-best score on the Triton Poker Series.

Daniyal Gheba was the third-place finisher after a blind-versus-blind confrontation with Seward which saw Seward's hand hold up against Gheba's on the runout. That hand left the field heads-up between Seward and Negreanu.

Heads-up: Seward turns the match

Negreanu began heads-up with 84 big blinds to Seward's 66. Negreanu expanded his lead early, but Seward fought back and the pair traded pots until Seward seized control with a pivotal quads hand.

The defining hand began with Seward raising on the button with 10♦10♣ and Negreanu defending his A♦J♦ from the big blind. Negreanu check-called a small continuation bet on the flop and later led into Seward after the turn presented outs to a potential winner. The river produced an action card: Negreanu improved to a flush while Seward made a full house. Negreanu bet and faced Seward's shove for the rest of the stack; he mucked his cards.

In the final hand, Negreanu moved all-in for about 20 big blinds after Seward raised on the button. Negreanu held A♠K♠ and Seward held Q♠Q♥; the runout provided no help to Negreanu and Seward won the pot to clinch the title. Negreanu acknowledged the result at the table:

"GG," Negreanu said to Seward. "You got me, fair and square. Congrats, kiddo."

Leaderboard and Purple Jacket race

Seward's victory added 248 PGT points to his total, moving him to 397 points on the Poker Masters Purple Jacket leaderboard. The series standings entering the final $50K Poker Masters Championship are:

• Adrian Mateos: 451 PGT points

• Nick Palma: 407 PGT points

• Nicholas Seward: 397 PGT points

• Vitalijs Zavorotnijs: 365 PGT points

• Daniyal Gheba: 348 PGT points

Mateos and Palma had already bowed out of Purple Jacket contention prior to the money in Event #9; Mateos was eliminated on the stone bubble for the fifth time this series but nonetheless retains the top spot heading into the championship.

Prize and series context

Seward collected the $412,500 first-place prize for Event #9. He had three cashes earlier in the Poker Masters series before this victory, which combined with the 248-point haul now places him third on the leaderboard with one event remaining: the $50,000 Poker Masters Championship. The PokerGO Tour awards the Purple Jacket based on accumulated PGT points across the series.

Images for the event were credited to Antonio Abrego/PokerGO Tour.