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Marius Gierse leads the seven remaining players in the 2026 Poker Masters finale, the $51,000 no-limit hold’em Event #10, with 1.19 million chips. But Jeremy Ausmus still has a chance to turn the tournament into a Purple Jacket win, provided he finishes in the top two.

Gierse carries 59 big blinds into the final day, ahead of Sam Laskowitz on 995,000 and Ausmus on 945,000, or 47 big blinds. Sean Winter has 900,000, Dan Smith 895,000, Igor Yaroshevskyy 725,000 and Chris Brewer 535,000.

Only five players will be paid from the $1.55 million prize pool, leaving two eliminations before the money. The winner receives $620,000, while second place pays $387,500 and third pays $248,000.

Adrian Mateos leads the Purple Jacket race with 451 PokerGO Tour points, but he was eliminated from Event #10 by Laskowitz and cannot add to that total. Nicholas Palma, who began the event on 407 points, was also knocked out, ending his own chance at the series title.

Ausmus entered the event with 321 points and is now the sole remaining challenger to Mateos. A runner-up finish would bring Ausmus to 476 points, enough to take the overall lead; a third-place finish or worse leaves the jacket with Mateos. The series champion also receives a $25,000 bonus.

The Purple Jacket goes to the Poker Masters player who accumulates the most PGT leaderboard points across qualifying events. Players earn those points through in-the-money finishes, with the award having been part of the series since its creation in 2017.

As we reported Oct. 21, Ausmus won Event #7 for $278,400 and his 10th career PGT title, a result that kept him in contention heading into the finale.

Event #10 drew 31 entries from 22 unique players. Play resumed Friday at PokerGO Studio with 37 minutes left in Level 14, at 10,000/20,000 blinds and a 20,000 big-blind ante.