Chad Eveslage Proves Hold’em Dominance With PGT Championship Victory for $500,000

Chad Eveslage entered the 2025 PokerGO Tour (PGT) $1,000,000 Championship Freeroll with one thing to show. The four-time bracelet winner, who gained the $100,000 Tremendous Excessive Curler Bowl Combined Video games within the PokerGO Studio in March 2025, is widely known as a combined sport knowledgeable and at present confirmed he can compete on the highest ranges of Texas Maintain’em by profitable the million-dollar freeroll for $500,000.

“It feels nice,” Eveslage advised PokerNews a winner’s interview. “I do not really feel tremendous assured in my no-limit sport, and battling towards all these guys (and profitable), it feels nice. Ten out of ten. It feels superior.”

The freeroll occasion subject included the highest 40 gamers on the PGT leaderboard and 14 Dream Seat qualifiers. Day 2’s closing desk featured Poker Corridor of Famer Daniel Negreanu (4th – $80,000), American execs Michael Wang (third – $120,000) and John Riordan (sixth – $40,000), Dream Seat winner Aaron Kupin (fifth – $60,000) and runner-up Andrew “LuckyChewy” Lichtenberger $200,000, who dominated a lot of the occasion however fell after a short heads-up battle.

2025 PGT Championship Last Desk Outcomes

Negreanu Last Tables First Occasion of 2026

The day started with seven gamers and solely six spots paid, however it did not take lengthy to burst the bubble as Eric Blair misplaced a flip with ace-queen towards the pocket nines of Kupin.

Negreanu, who was taking part in his first match of the yr, began the day sturdy by flopping a full home towards start-of-day chip chief Wang and he had the power to match it. He confirmed off his golf stroke a number of occasions all through the stream and continued his Day 1 pattern of main enlightening discussions starting from aliens to vitamin hacks.

“You study every kind of issues right here,” he advised PokerNews throughout an interview on break. “That is like social media, besides higher, as a result of we’re taking part in poker and doing it. This can be a present girls, and gents, this can be a present. An informative, academic present.”

Negreanu additionally gave PokerNews some perception right into a traditional Negreanu hand on Day 1 the place he simply referred to as a river wager with a set of eights towards Wang, who ended up having a set of kings.

“There’s like, no concept that claims you are not elevating there,” mentioned Negreanu. “I selected to not. I simply referred to as him. He had three kings. I might be out of right here.”

“There’s an actual deeper purpose although, exploitatively, why I’ve to do stuff like that. However that will probably be like a complete we’ll write sooner or later.”

Negreanu’s first match of the yr led to fourth place when his ace-six could not pull forward of the pocket jacks of Eveslage.

Jiggities are the hand that Eveslage would win the match with as he later picked them up towards Lichtenberger, who had been operating the present on Day 1 with a dominant chip lead earlier than dwindling late on the closing desk.

“Mission one was simply make the cash,” mentioned Eveslage, who began the day because the second shortest stack. “After that, it was fairly clean crusing. I used to be on the suitable facet of some coolers. Each bluff labored, each name labored. I ran very nicely in (that) regard.”

For the combined sport specialist, the victory felt like a return to his poker roots.

“I began taking part in no-limit tournaments … I (later) began taking part in combined as a result of we completed our money video games after which we’d screw round for a pair hours taking part in combined video games. However I’ve most likely performed extra no-limit than combined by quite a bit, so I’ve a love for it. It is enjoyable.”

*Pictures courtesy of PokerGO & Antonio Abrego

Connor Richards is a Senior Editor U.S. for PokerNews and host of the Life Exterior Poker podcast. Connor has been nominated for 3 International Poker Awards for his writing.