David Chen has won the 2024 Poker Masters Event #5: $10,100 No-Limit Hold’em, bagging a $217,500 winner’s prize and also becoming the youngest champion in PGT history.
The 21-year-old MIT graduate ended the tournament on top after defeating an all-American final table to collect his career-best score.
Jim Collopy was the man who pushed Chen until the very end. No surprise when you check out his scoresheet from 2024; a record which includes four wins and countless final tables. Definitely a man to watch over the next year.
Action Recap
The five-handed final table promised much, what with four of the players having multiple millions in career earnings. Chen really must have thought he had a tough job ahead of him.
Sam Laskowitz was the first man to leave the table. He entered the final stretch with a medium stack but Collopy damaged him beyond repair in a three-bet pot. Chino Rheem then put him on life support after a couple of all-ins pre-flop.
Chen finished the job when he opened from late position with J♠ J♥ and got a called from Laskowitz in the big blind holding A♥ 5♣
The flop came down 7♥ 5♦ 4♣ and Laskowitz was unable to get away from his unimproved middle pair.
Filipp Khavin began the day as the chip leader but couldn’t build any momentum. Before long he was the shorty and ended his run jamming A♣ 5♦ over Chen’s late position open with A♥ 8♣
Chino Rheem had an up-and-down day to say the least. Clashing with Sam Laskowitz multiple times to bring him up from the smallest stack to second place, and then losing it all again.
His final hand came as he limp/called a raise from the small blind and check-raised a flop of 10♣ 10♦ 6♣
He fired again on the 2♠ turn but a check-raise from Chen saw Rheem lose most of his stack.
Rheem’s tournament concluded after he defended his big blind with Q♦ 8♣ against a late position raise from Chen.
The flop came down A♠ J♣ 10♣ and Rheem check-called off his stack only for Chen’s K♣ 4♦ to win the day.
Into the heads-up battle, Chen had a slender lead of one-and-a-half to-one but he was up against a guy with $10 million in live tournament winnings.
Collopy quickly evened the stacks after flopping two pair on a dry A♥ 7♣ 2♠ with 7♥ 2♥
He then fell victim to a similar spot where Chen rivered a disconnected two pair and put in a raise which Collopy called.
Chen seized the victory in an all-in confrontation where Collopy jammed A♣ 5♥ from the button and Chen called it off with J♠ 9♠
Chen flopped a flush and it was all over with a talented young man winning his first major title. The first of many, we suspect.
Poker Masters Event: #5 $10,100 No-Limit Final Table Results
| Place | Name | Country | Payouts | PGT Points |
| 1st | David Chen | United States | $217,500 | 218 |
| 2nd | Jim Collopy | United States | $142,500 | 143 |
| 3rd | Chino Rheem | United States | $101,250 | 101 |
| 4th | Filipp Khavin | United States | $71,250 | 71 |
| 5th | Sam Laskowitz | United States | $52,500 | 53 |
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