The 2021 Poker Masters wrapped up in exciting fashion on Sunday after Michael Addamo won the final two tournaments of the 12-event series to claim the coveted purple jacket.
After Addamo won Event #11: $50,000 N-Limit Hold’em for $680,000 on Saturday, he turned right around and bagged the chip lead among the final five players in Event #12: $100,000 No-Limit Hold’em, a tournament that drew 29 runners and offered up a $2.9 million prize pool.
Addamo had to finish in the top two in order to lock up the purple jacket as if either Mikita Badziakouski, Alex Foxen, or Nick Petrangelo won the tournament, they would finish atop the points leaderboard. The only player at the final table without a chance to win the Poker Masters purple jacket was Hong Kong’s Stanley Tang.
Fortunately for Addamo, he got the job done to win back-to-back events and a $1.16 million first-place prize. In addition, he received the purple jacket and an additional $50,000 prize for doing so.
“It’s been an incredible run of winning a lot of all-ins – it’s just insane,” Addamo, who won a combined $1.84 million between the two events, told tournament officials. “I don’t think I’ve won two tournaments in quick succession of this size before, so this is definitely probably the biggest one, I’d say.”
He added: “I’ve put in so many hours studying the game, and I still feel like every time I get humbled and that there’s still so many things to learn. But it’s incredibly important and you can see who has been putting in the work and who hasn’t.”
2021 Poker Masters Event #12 Payouts
| Place | Player | Country | PokerGO Tour Points | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Michael Addamo | Australia | 400 | $1,160,000 |
| 2nd | Nick Petrangelo | United States | 226 | $754,000 |
| 3rd | Alex Foxen | United States | 139 | $464,000 |
| 4th | Stanley Tang | United States | 96 | $319,000 |
| 5th | Mikita Badziakouski | Belarus | 61 | $203,000 |
According to updates from the event, Addamo got busy at the final table by first dispatching Event #10: $25,000 NLH champ Badziakouski in fifth place followed by Tang in fourth. Petrangelo then took care of Foxen in third place to bring it down to heads-up play.
Addamo had 4.615 million in chips to the 1.19 million of Petrangelo, and at that point, whether he won or lost, Addamo was going to claim the purple jacket. In what would be the final hand of the tournament, the blinds were 15,000/30,000/30,000 when Petrangelo raised with king-eight and Addamo defended with seven-three offsuit to see a flop that contained a seven and two deuces.
Addamo check-raised a continuation-bet from Petrangelo, who called to see a ten on the turn. Addamo checked and Petrangelo bluffed at it. The former called, the five of clubs put three clubs on the river, and Addamo checked again. Petrangelo, who had the king of clubs in his hand, moved all in and Addamo wound up picking off the bluff to clinch victory.
Petrangelo, who earned $754,000 for his runner-up finishes, would up placing second on the overall 2021 Poker Masters Leaderboard with 402 points after a trio of cashes for $929,800.
Final 2021 Poker Masters Leaderboard
| Rank | Player | Points | Wins | Cashes | Earnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Michael Addamo | 808 | 2 | 2 | $1,840,000 |
| 2nd | Nick Petrangelo | 402 | 0 | 3 | $929,800 |
| 3rd | Lou Garza | 376 | 0 | 4 | $550,200 |
| 4th | Daniel Negreanu | 372 | 1 | 3 | $433,400 |
| 5th | Brock Wilson | 358 | 1 | 3 | $414,300 |
| 6th | Chris Brewer | 349 | 1 | 4 | $538,300 |
| 7th | Jason Koon | 345 | 0 | 3 | $552,400 |
| 8th | Alex Foxen | 294 | 0 | 3 | $722,250 |
| 9th | Sean Perry | 280 | 1 | 3 | $280,000 |
| 10th | Stephen Chidwick | 271 | 1 | 3 | $296,100 |
PokerGO will now turn its attention to the $300,000 Super High Roller Bowl from September 27-29. One player who will be there is the new Poker Masters champ.
“I’m definitely looking forward to that one,” Addamo said. “It’s really fun when they have these super big buy-ins of 250K, 300K, etc., and I get super excited for them.”
