Sean Winter Wins $620,000 Poker Masters Finale as Mateos Takes Purple Jacket
Winter became the first player past 2,000 PGT points in 2026, while Adrian Mateos held off Jeremy Ausmus for the series title.
- Sean Winter won the $51,000 no-limit hold’em Poker Masters finale for $620,000.
- He defeated Sam Laskowitz heads-up after leading a 31-entry field at PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas.
- Winter’s fourth-place elimination of Jeremy Ausmus secured Adrian Mateos’ Poker Masters Purple Jacket.
- The victory moved Winter to 2,223 PGT points and 17 PGT-qualifying cashes worth about $4.4 million this year.
Sean Winter won the $51,000 no-limit hold’em finale of the 2026 Poker Masters at PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas, banking $620,000 and moving past 2,000 points in the PokerGO Tour’s season-long race.
Winter topped a 31-entry field that generated a $1.55 million prize pool. He started the final day third in chips among seven remaining players, with only the top five set to be paid.
PokerNews reported that Chris Brewer fell on the money bubble when his ace-jack ran into Jeremy Ausmus’ pocket aces. The five paid finishers were Winter, Sam Laskowitz ($387,500), Igor Yaroshevskyy ($248,000), Ausmus ($170,500) and Marius Gierse ($124,000).
Winter began heads-up against Laskowitz with nearly a 3-1 chip lead. Laskowitz briefly drew even, but Winter regained control and ended the match when his two pair held against Laskowitz’s top pair. The runner-up result was Laskowitz’s largest live tournament score, according to the PokerGO Tour.
Ausmus’ fourth-place elimination also settled the Poker Masters Purple Jacket race. He needed a top-two finish to pass Adrian Mateos, but Winter knocked him out when ace-king beat pocket fives after an ace arrived on both the turn and river.
Mateos won the overall Poker Masters title with 451 points from three cashes, earning $467,700 across the 10-event series. His results included a $229,500 victory in Event #5, a runner-up finish in Event #2 and fourth place in Event #7. Nicholas Palma finished second in the series standings on 407 points, followed by Nicholas Seward with 397.
Winter’s win was his second PGT title of 2026. He said taking the $15,000 event off during the series helped him reset after he was not executing as he wanted.
As we reported Oct. 8, Winter entered the final stretch of the PGT season with only a seven-point lead over Eelis Parssinen. The finale lifted Winter to 2,223 points, making him the first player to clear 2,000 this season and the clear front-runner for PGT Player of the Year.
Winter now has 17 PGT-qualifying cashes worth about $4.4 million in 2026. Before Poker Masters, he had led the standings with 1,850 points from 15 cashes and more than $3.6 million in PGT-qualified earnings.
