Sean Winter Takes Down Poker Masters $25K High Roller for $430K

Posted on: October 4, 2022, 07:00h. 

Last updated on: October 4, 2022, 01:51h.

Erik Gibbs Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Gaming Business, Global Gaming.

The global poker tournament market never sleeps, and the Poker Masters series has been producing a number of winners since last month. The latest is Sean Winter, who shipped the $25K High Roller event for $432K.

Sean Winter
Sean Winter contemplates his move during the Super High Roller Bowl in 2017. The poker pro continues to amass wins, adding the Poker Masters $25K High Roller tournament to his list. (Image: PokerGO Tour)

This was one of the last two events of the series, with the winner of the $50K High Roller still to be decided. Winter was part of a field of 52 players, including several other big names, all vying for a piece of the prize pool.

The win followed a second place finish in the $25K No-Limit Hold’em event just a few days earlier. Winter has now amassed almost $23 million in live tournament earnings, according to Hendon Mob, and could be on his way to donning the Poker Masters purple jacket.

Bonomo, Koon Fall

The final eight players each took home a piece of the action, with Jason Koon being the first in-the-money finalist to hit the rail. He shoved with A-Q of clubs, and Nick Schulman called with his A-Q off-suit. When the board presented four diamonds, Schulman’s Q of diamonds gave him the flush and sent Koon packing.

A few hands later, Winter found himself going up against five-time WSOP bracelet winner Brian Rast. Rast started in a stronger position with K-7 suited and was forced to call when Winter shoved from the small blind with J-9 suited.

The flop was kind to Winter, giving him a couple of clubs to make a flush draw. He then added more options with a straight draw on the turn. The river sealed the deal, giving him the straight and eliminating Rast.

By this point, Winter was feeling more confident. But with the field down to just three players, he found himself in a weak position against the chip leader, Jason Bonomo.

That wasn’t enough to stop Winter from pushing the envelope, which paid off. He would eventually take down the four-time WSOP winner before capping off a stellar day by taking out Schulman for the win. Schulman received $283,500 for his effort.

Negreanu Bubbles $50K High Roller

While Winter was working toward his victory in the $25K event, the $50K High Roller was also underway. It still has to find a winner, but one familiar face ran into trouble at the worst possible moment.

Daniel Negreanu was running deep in the tournament, possibly looking at being able to reverse his bad luck from this year’s WSOP performance. In that series, he chalked up losses of more than $1 million, not reaching a final table in any event.

So, when DNegs was one of seven players to still be active in the last Poker Masters event, he had to be feeling good about his odds. As he looked down at pocket aces, he had to be even more excited about his prospects.

Negreanu was already on the edge. He was the short stack and had a great opportunity to double up. He had no trouble shoving with his rockets, looking for some easy money. Seth Davies responded, flipping over his cards to reveal J-J.

The race was on, but it didn’t even make it through one lap. The flop produced a J to give Davies trips, and neither the turn nor the river helped Negreanu. He bubbled in seventh, and surprisingly, took it in stride.

Negreanu didn’t throw a fit and start breaking stuff like he did this past summer. Instead, he calmly told PokerGO after his exit, “You just have to have resiliency to do this for a living.”

He’s already bouncing back, ready to take on the $300K Super High Roller Bowl at the PokerGo Studio in Las Vegas. The event kicks off on Wednesday.