Sergei Kislinskii Wins First PGT Title in Sprint Event No. 4
Kislinskii overcame a 3:1 heads-up deficit to bank a career-best $91,200 at the PokerGO Studio.
- Sergei Kislinskii topped 57 entries in the $5,300 PokerGO Tour Sprint Event No. 4 for $91,200.
- The victory was his first PGT title and his largest live tournament score, lifting his career earnings above $1.1 million.
- Brandon Sunshine held a large heads-up lead but finished second for $57,000 after Kislinskii turned the match around.
- Kislinskii previously won the 2023 MSPT Venetian Main Event and finished runner-up in a 2024 PGT Kickoff event.
Sergei Kislinskii captured his first PokerGO Tour title by winning the $5,300 Sprint Event No. 4 at the PokerGO Studio. He outlasted 57 entries to collect $91,200 from a $285,000 prize pool, the biggest live tournament score of his career.
The event paid its top nine finishers. Kislinskii’s victory lifted his lifetime tournament earnings beyond $1.1 million and earned him 240 points in the 2026 Card Player Player of the Year race sponsored by CoinPoker.
Card Player reported that Brandon Sunshine entered heads-up play with more than a 3:1 chip lead, after eliminating Joe McKeehen in third for $39,900. Kislinskii had doubled through McKeehen with pocket sixes against pocket fours, then took the lead from Sunshine in a post-flop cooler when Sunshine held top two pair and Kislinskii had flopped a straight.
Sunshine moved all-in on the button in the final hand with K♠9♥, trailing Kislinskii’s A♣10♥. The A♥Q♠9♠6♠2♦ board sealed the title for Kislinskii, while Sunshine received $57,000 for second.
The runner-up had also placed third in Sprint Event No. 3 a day earlier, earning $37,050, making this his second straight final table. The two results pushed Sunshine’s career tournament earnings past $1 million.
McKeehen’s third-place finish was followed by Andrew Lichtenberger in fourth for $28,500. Lichtenberger had made final tables in three of the first four Sprint events, including a runner-up finish in the opener. Dorian Pavon finished fifth for $21,375, while Pierce McKellar placed sixth for $15,675.
Before this victory, Kislinskii’s largest recorded payday was $78,750 for a runner-up finish in 2024 PGT Kickoff Event No. 2. He also won the 2023 Mid-States Poker Tour Venetian Main Event, a 238-entry $1,600 event, for $73,019. The MSPT described that result as his first recorded tournament win and, at the time, his biggest score.
The live breakthrough came amid a productive 2026 online run: as we reported Oct. 24, Kislinskii had won two WSOP Online bracelets and posted two runner-up finishes through the first 18 events of the fall bracelet series.
