Kristen Foxen Victorious in PokerGO Tour Kick Off Event #5

Kristen Foxen has taken down the final PokerGO Kick Off event for $197,625 after agreeing a deal with runner-up Joao Simao.

The Canadian dominated the $10,100 No-Limit Hold’em tournament, putting in a great performance to show that she really is one of the world’s best.

The event drew 93 entries, creating a total prize pool of $930,000 to be shared between the top 14 finishers.

Action Recap

Foxen had a rollercoaster ride on her way to the final table, coming close to being the shortest stack left in the event.

A flip with pocket fours against Michael Brinkenhoff saved the day, followed by another double-up versus David Peters.

After building up another respectable stack, Foxen began her charge to victory.

First she flopped quad sevens to crack the pocket kings of Sam Soverel, and then found pocket jacks at the right time as Carson Richards jammed sevens into her.

Foxen started the final table stage with a massive chip lead and remained in dominating form.

Neil Warren was the first casualty of the day, busting out in seventh place for a $37,200 prize. Nick Seward didn’t last much longer, picking up $46,500 for his efforts.

With five contenders left in the hunt, Foxen held almost two thirds of all the chips in play, but there was a twist in the plot.

Foxen jammed with 3♥ 3♣ and was called off by Andrew Moreno with A♣ K♠ and Joao Simao holding A♥ 9♥.

The board came down as 7♥ 4♣ 7♦ 4♦ 9♠ to knock out Moreno in fifth place and triple up Simao to put him right back in it.

Foxen pulled back some of that loss by hitting a timely straight on the river against Jeremy Ausmus to leave him left with less than one big blind. The next hand he was out and three-handed play began.

Simao then pulled off another raid on Foxen’s stack by winning a three-to-two to leave him trailing the leader by only two-to-one.

He would then dispatch Stephen Song in a standard race, sending him to the rail to collect a cheque for $111,600.

At this point, the players agreed to chop the remaining prize pool and play for just the glory.

Simao looked to have done the impossible by gaining the chip lead before heads-up play kicked off, but a key hand played out where we saw a gusty three- barrel bluff followed by a great hero call.

Simao raised to 700,000 with A♠ 10♥ and Foxen called with 9♣ 7♥.

The flop would run out 7♥ 4♠ 3♥ and Simao checked. Foxen took a stab for 550,000 and then the Brazilian came over the top for 1,700,000. Foxen called with her top pair.

The turn was the 8♣ and both players checked. On the river the 8♥ not only paired the board but completed the flush.

With that in mind, Simao moved all-in for 4,025,000. Foxen now had a really tough decision to make. This might make or break her tournament.

But the Canadian is made of tough stuff and eventually made the right call to become a two-time PokerGO Tour champion.

Kristen Foxen now has over $9 million, putting her within $3 million of overtaking Vanessa Selbst to become the most successful female poker player in the live tournament arena.

Event #5: $10,100 No-Limit Hold’em Final Table Results