Justin Vaysman Turns a Quarter-Big-Blind Stack Into Poker Masters Title
The three-time bracelet winner fought back from 20,000 chips, then erased Sean Winter’s three-to-one heads-up lead for $192,000.
- Vaysman won Poker Masters Event #6 and his first PokerGO Tour title after falling to roughly one-quarter of a big blind with five players left.
- Three consecutive all-in wins and a three-way triple lifted him back into contention.
- He overcame Sean Winter’s roughly three-to-one heads-up chip lead and made a river full house to win.
- The $192,000 result moved Vaysman to fifth in the Poker Masters Purple Jacket race.
Justin Vaysman turned 20,000 chips, roughly one-quarter of a big blind, into the Poker Masters Event #6 title after a remarkable five-handed comeback. The victory in the listed $10,500 no-limit hold’em event paid $192,000 and delivered his first PokerGO Tour title.
Vaysman had been left with the tiny stack with five players remaining, but won three consecutive all-ins to climb to 400,000 chips, or about five big blinds. He then won a three-way all-in with ace-nine, making a straight to triple to 2.05 million and help set up Brandon Wilson’s fourth-place elimination.
The 64-entry tournament created a $640,000 prize pool and paid its top 10 finishers. Victoria Livschitz had earlier eliminated Sam Laskowitz in seventh and Joey Weissman in sixth before Vaysman’s recovery gathered pace.
Sean Winter knocked out Tony Gregg in fifth, Wilson in fourth and Livschitz in third, then began heads-up play holding about a three-to-one lead. PokerNews and Poker.org put the stacks at roughly 60 or 61 big blinds for Winter against Vaysman’s 19.
Vaysman doubled with ace-seven against Winter’s queen-six suited, then made a river call with second pair to take the lead. In the final hand, Winter check-raised a ten-nine-seven flop and shoved 2.975 million on the king of hearts turn. Vaysman called and improved to a full house when the ten of hearts arrived on the river, beating Winter’s jack-three.
Winter finished second. CardPlayer listed his payout at $124,800, while PokerNews reported $124,000. Livschitz earned $86,400 for third, Wilson received $64,000 for fourth and Gregg collected $48,000 for fifth.
Speaking after the win, Vaysman said it might be his biggest victory because he had not previously had a major outright live result. He said that, after falling to his last chip, winning a couple of pots and getting fortunate made the situation feel like “freerolling.”
The title was Vaysman’s sixth final table of the year and his second cash of the Poker Masters, following a sixth-place finish in the kickoff event. It moved him to fifth in the Purple Jacket race on 231 points, including 192 from Event #6, while he received 360 Card Player Player of the Year points.
The Horsham, Pennsylvania, resident is a three-time bracelet winner with more than $2 million in career tournament earnings. The $192,000 prize was his third-largest score, behind his $350,000 payout for 25th in the 2024 WSOP Main Event and a $257,400 WSOP Online six-max victory.
Winter’s runner-up finish was his first cash of the series and moved him to 14th in its rankings. He also took over first in the PokerGO Tour seasonal standings with 1,975 points across 16 cashes. Vaysman said he planned to play the remaining Poker Masters events as he pursued the Purple Jacket.
