Alex Foxen Wins PokerGO Cup Event #1: $10,000 NLHE ($178,200)

Alex Foxen notched his first live tournament victory of the year after defeating the charismatic Sean Perry in heads-up play in the PokerGO Cup Event #1: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em for $178,200.

Foxen soared past $18 million in live tournament winnings according to The Hendon Mob after the victory, he came into the event with 13 cashes including an impressive 11 cashes alone on the PokerGO Tour before winning his first title of the year.

"Honestly, I feel like I have taken a bit more time off poker recently than I have in the past, especially the last three or four years, so in my mind I feel like I have slowed down a little bit," Foxen told PokerGO after the win. "Being in Las Vegas, there are so many good tournaments out here. Everything is right in your backyard so it makes it really easy to play as much as you can. I definitely have intentions of starting a family eventually and know that will take me away from the game a bit, so I’m trying to do everything I can with the time with no restrictions left."

The event was another popular one with 66 entries generating a healthy $660,000 prize pool. The final table, which took place at the PokerGO Studio at the ARIA Resort & Casino, was broadcasted to poker fans around the world at the subscription-based PokerGO.

PokerGO Cup Event #1: $10,000 NLHE Final Table Results

PokerGO Cup Event #1: $10,000 NLHE Final Table Action

Foxen began the final table with the chip lead and although he didn't maintain the lead the entire way, he was consistently near the top of the chip counts until he was the last player standing.

Two short stacks collided early on and Perry had Lady Luck on his side when his fours improved to a set against the jacks held by Kristina Holst to eliminate the only female player at the official final table in sixth place for $39,600.

David Coleman soon after found himself with the chip lead and padded it further when his big slick was good enough against king-queen to eliminate Jordan Cristos in fifth place for $52,800.

Coleman's reign as chip leader came to an end and he soon found himself with crumbs. Foxen opened the button with kings before he called a huge three-bet jam by Coleman with eights. Coleman bricked the board and Foxen had a massive chip lead on the rest of the field with all three of his opponents short on chips.

A short while later, Coleman got it in good for four big blinds with ace-queen against Foxen's seven-six but hit the rail in fourth place for $66,000 after the board improved Foxen to trip sixes.

Spain's Sergi Reixach was quiet most of the final table while laddering up with others doing the dirty work. His time was up in third place for $85,800 when his queen-seven didn't have enough juice to beat Foxen's king-queen.

Huge Heads-Up Comeback for Perry

Foxen began heads-up play with a huge chip lead as Perry was down to just two big blinds. It could have been over very quickly from this point.

But Perry staged an amazing comeback to take the chip lead that would have been talked about if he was able to continue his momentum for a win. However, Foxen held strong and eventually roared back to take a commanding 10:1 chip advantage before the final hand took place.

Foxen limped with nines and Perry checked back with ten-eight. Perry improved to top pair on an eight-high flop and check-called a small bet by Foxen with an overpair. Perry checked again after a queen came on the turn and Foxen jammed. Perry called it off and was ousted in second place for $132,000 after a blank came on the river.

"Just trying to take every hand one at a time is really the only way to go through it or otherwise you’ll be on an emotional roller coaster," Foxen said after his crazy heads-up battle against Perry. "It’s just trying to solve every hand individually and assess everything at the completion of each hand and move on from there. This was a crazy one, with a lot of action and a lot of big pots. It was fun."

Ali Imsirovic Leads Final 6 in the PokerGO Cup Event #2: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em

The high-rollers scene continues to thrive with the PokerGO Cup Event #2: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em attracting 61 entries to generate a $610,000 prize pool at the PokerGO Studio at the ARIA Resort and Casino.

Ali Imsirovic is in a prime position to pad his lead on the PokerGO Tour Leaderboard as he will enter the official final table of six players as the table captain with a huge stack of 2,670,000 for approximately 1 million chips more than his nearest competitors in Matas Cimbolas (1,690,000) and Dylan Linde (1,620,000).

Mo Rahim, who sent Sergio Aido packing on the money bubble in 10th place, lost a big hand near the end of the opening day to Imsirovic but still managed to also bag a seven-figure stack on the opening day while Frank Funaro and partypoker Ambassador Jason Koon (170,000) also advanced with hopes of spinning up their short-stacks.

Daniel Weinand (eighth - $24,400) and Marius Gierse (ninth - $18,300) were the first two players eliminated in the money with the day ending after Sam Soverel ended his day in seventh place for $30,500. This marked the second cash for Soverel after previously finishing in ninth place for $26,400 in PokerGO Cup Event #1: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em.

PokerGO Event #2 Final Table Seat Draw

Where to Watch the Final Table?

The final six players will return to the PokerGo Studio on Thursday, July 8 with the action expected to begin at 3 p.m. EDT. PokerGO will live stream what promises to be some of the most exciting poker action of the year beginning at 4 p.m. EDT.

PokerGO Cup Event #2 Final Table Payouts

All returning players are guaranteed at least a $36,600 payout with the eventual winner slated to take home a huge $183,000 top prize.

Full PokerGO Schedule and Results

*Lead image courtesy of PokerGO