Cary Katz took down Event #8 of the PokerGO Cup and in the process clinched the leaderboard title for Daniel Negreanu (PokerGO photos).

The last day of the PokerGO Cup brought with it the final table of the biggest buy-in event on the schedule and the potential for some drama with the PokerGO Cup leaderboard also still up for grabs. Cary Katz figured prominently in both outcomes on his way to winning Event #8 ($100,000 NLHE) and seven-figure score.

Daniel Negreanu, just 24 hours removed from his first live tournament win in more than eight years, was one of five players still alive. A third place finish or better would give Negreanu the PokerGO Cup leaderboard title while Sam Soverel, who held a 3-1 chip lead over his next closest competitor, needed to win the event and for Negreanu to finish no better than fourth.

The final table started on the money bubble with five players still in contention for the $1,058,000 first place prize. It took 20 minutes of action before Soverel busted Dan Smith to burst the bubble when his JcJh stayed ahead of Smith’s TdTs.

With the bubble done with, the parallel storylines began to come into focus.

Soverel opened to 80,000 with 8c8s and action folded to Negreanu in the small blind. Negreanu peeled back AdAs and moved all in for 395,000. Soverel, holding more chips than the other three players combined, called. Negreanu stayed well ahead after the Jh6c6s flop. However, the turn was the 8h and Negreanu fell out of his chair. The Kd river completed the board and sent Negreanu out in fourth place.

Negreanu going out in fourth meant that Soverel still had an opportunity to capture the PokerGO Cup leaderboard provided he outlast both Sean Winter and Katz.

A few minutes later, Winter raised to 180,000 with Ac4h leaving himself a single 5,000 chip. Katz folded but Soverel called with Kc9h. Both players checked through the KsTs5h8d9c runout and Winter was left with just 5,000 chips. Soverel officially eliminated Winter on the next hand and entered heads up play with 71% of the chips in play.

Despite the big lead for Soverel, the pair played for 1.5 hours with each player taking turns as the leader. Eventually, Katz took the lead for good and left Soverel staggering with a sub-six big blind stack. On the final hand of the tournament, Katz moved all in for 355,000 effective and Soverel called. Katz showed Qd4c and Soverel was behind with Td9c. The board ran out 5s4d3cJc2s to eliminate Soverel in second place and give Katz the title.

PokerGO Cup Event #8 Payouts

Cary Katz – $1,058,000
Sam Soverel – $644,000
Sean Winter – $368,000
Daniel Negreanu – $230,000

Soverel’s elimination also locked up the PokerGO Cup leaderboard title for Negreanu and the $50,000 prize that came with it. Negreanu finished with 537 points to beat Soverel by 40.

PokerGO Cup Final Standings

RANKPLAYERWINNINGSPOINTS
1Daniel Negreanu$996,200537
2Ali Imsirovic$545,500497
3Cary Katz$1,161,800475
4David Coleman$710,000470
5Alex Foxen$533,200421
6Sam Soverel$812,200361
7Jason Koon$446,000316
8Dylan Linde$255,000255
9Sergi Reixach$320,700244
10Jake Schindler$324,000194