David Chen becomes the youngest winner on the PGO Tour
David Chen made history at the 2024 Poker Masters, becoming the youngest winner ever on the PokerGO Tour. At just 21 years old, Chen emerged victorious in Event #5: $10K No-Limit Hold’em, clinching his first major title and a significant prize of $217,500. This marked Chen’s first six-figure win in his budding professional poker career, making his accomplishment even more impressive.
The event’s final table featured a tough lineup of seasoned players, including Jim Collopy, Chino Rheem, Filipp Khavin, and Sam Laskowitz. Collopy, a formidable competitor with a streak of three consecutive final tables during this Poker Masters series, entered the table with the third-largest chip stack. Meanwhile, Khavin held the chip lead, with Chen close behind in second place. Laskowitz and Rheem rounded out the table, with Rheem starting as the short stack.
Laskowitz was the first to be eliminated, finishing in fifth place with $52,500. Despite starting with a decent stack, he found himself in several all-in situations against Rheem, ultimately losing after a series of unfortunate hands. Next to go was Khavin, who moved all-in with Ace-Five offsuit but couldn’t improve against Chen’s Ace-Eight, securing fourth place and $71,000.
Rheem’s tournament run ended in third place when his Queen-Eight offsuit couldn’t catch up to Chen’s King-Four, leaving him with $101,000. This set the stage for a heads-up showdown between Chen and Collopy, with Chen holding the chip lead.
The final hand saw Collopy go all-in with Ace-Five offsuit against Chen’s Jack-Nine of Spades. The flop delivered a flush draw for Chen, and with the turn and river securing his hand, Chen claimed victory and the $217,500 top prize. Collopy finished as the runner-up with $142,500 but still took the lead on the Poker Masters leaderboard, putting him in contention for the prestigious purple jacket.
