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Vladyslav Shovkovyi was among the short stacks when the final table began on Monday in the $2,000 PGT Texas Poker Open Main Event. But he left Champions Club in Houston with $180,000 for winning the $1 million guaranteed tournament.
The Ukrainian poker pro who lives in Houston battled Phu Vo heads-up for the title, a match he won. Both players had agreed to a chop, while leaving $20,000 extra to the winner. Vo earned $160,000 for his share.
Ukrainian Star Dominates
There were 444 players in the no-limit hold’em tournament at Champions Club, one of the top poker rooms in the Lone Star State. The PGT-branded event was livestreamed on PokerGO and the PokerGO YouTube channel.
Monday’s final table provided some crazy hands, and saw the leaderboard fluctuate often. Shovkovyi had just 2.1 million chips when the final table began, far back of Vo, whose starting stack was over 12.8 million. But it’s not about where you start the day, it’s about where you finish.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vladyslav Shovkovyi | $180,000 |
| 2 | Phu Vo | $160,000 |
| 3 | Brant Jolly | $95,000 |
| 4 | Adrien Curry | $60,000 |
| 5 | Randall Brooks | $48,000 |
| 6 | Bradley Rich | $40,000 |
Vo had an early hiccup when he doubled the shortest stack, Bradley Rich, who had pocket aces. But Rich, despite the big hand nearly right off the bat, was the first player to go from the final table thanks to a bad beat with pocket kings against Brant Jolly. He was eliminated in sixth place for $40,000.
The start-of-day chip leader found himself in a key pot, all in with A♠10♠ and behind the J♥J♦ held by Randall Brooks. Vo would hit quads to win the pot and send Brooks home in fifth place for $48,000.
Shovkovyi began to take over the final table and had overtaken the chip lead by a significant margin. Vo would battle back to nearly even the score before Shovkovyi won a 60/40 to bust Adrien Curry in fourth place for $60,000.
The eventual champ then used pocket aces to eliminate Jolly in third place, which paid $95,000. Vo and Shovkovyi would then begin heads-up play, with the latter holding nearly a 2-1 chip advantage.
Both players then agreed to evenly chop, minus the $20,000 extra to the winner. Shovkovyi, about 15 minutes into the match, had increased his lead. But Vo had an opportunity with K♠J♣ on a board of J♦6♠2♥9♠ board to double-up. He was all in on the turn and ahead of the J♠8♠ his opponent held. Yet, he had to sweat out the 11 outs he had to dodge.
Vo couldn’t dodge the 8♥ on the river, however, which gave Shovkovyi two pair to win the hand and, more importantly, the tournament.
The champion now has over $1.2 million in live tournament cashes recorded by The Hendon Mob, including now a PGT Texas Poker Open Main Event title and a recent third place finish in a World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) Main Event for $131,702. His career-best score is $299,715 for taking down a $600 WPT No-Limit Hold’em Deepstack event three years ago in Florida.