Big Winners of the Week (Feb. 7 – Feb. 13): Tony G Wins $7 Million, Ausmus Gets PokerGo Gold, and Negreanu Returns to Winning Ways

5 min read

We always shine our spotlight on the biggest tournament winners in poker, but sometimes, we can’t ignore a sizeable cash game pot, particularly when it’s Tony G breaking a record. Don’t worry though, just because we watched a seven-figure cash game pot, it doesn’t mean we’ve missed any masterful MTT performances. With Daniel Negreanu and Jeremy Ausmus joining a selection of international standouts, this week’s Big Winners is as juicy as ever. So, to see who won what — and how — scroll down for CardsChat’s Big Winners of the Week ending Feb 13.


tony g
(Image: Twitter/TonyGuoga)

Tony G

$5,000/$10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Cash Game
Coin Poker

$7,751,452

The G has been the catalyst for Coin Poker’s high-stakes games in recent weeks and, after chopping a mega-pot in January, he finally won a big one all of his own. In fact, it wasn’t just a big one; Saturday’s pot was a record-breaker. The G found himself heads-up against an anonymous player known as HannibalGetya. As is the nature of PLO, Tony G’s straight wasn’t a lock to win the hand until the river. However, once his opponent showed two-pair, the Lithuanian pro scooped the biggest pot in online poker history.


Jeremy Ausmus
(Image: PokerGo)

Jeremy Ausmus

PokerGo Cup Series Championship
PokerGo Studio, Aria

$824,500 + $50,000 championship bonus

Two third-place finishes, a second, and an outright win over the course of one week were enough to earn Ausmus the 2022 PokerGo Cup title. The three-time WSOP champion’s run started with a second-place finish in Event #3. That result was worth $144,000 and gave Ausmus the confidence to push on and win Event #4. Two more near-misses in Events #7 and #8 took his series earnings over $800,000, which was enough to make him this year’s PokerGo Cup Champion.


Daniel Negreanu
(Image: PokerGo)

Daniel Negreanu

PokerGo Cup
PokerGo Studio, Aria

$350,000

Negreanu took time out of a post-WSOP break to defend his PokerGo Cup title last week. It took until Event #6 for him to break through, but break though he did. Thirty-five players entered the $25,000 Hold’em showdown on Monday and, by Tuesday, Negreanu had all the chips. The win almost didn’t happen though as Negreanu nearly threw in the towel after failing to cash in five events. A text from PokerGo commentator Jeff Platt made him reconsider. That text turnaround turned into another title for Negreanu.


Danilo Cisternino
(Image: Facebook/Pokerroomkings)

Danilo Cisternino

Euro Poker Million
King’s Resort

€160,350
($178,790)

Italy’s Cisternino only had one live tournament cash on his record before Monday’s win in Rozvadov. The removal of COVID restrictions in the Czech Republic allowed a bumper field of 2,557 players to take part in the €490 ($555) EPM Main Event. With more than $1.2 million to play for, Cisternino grinded his way through an international field of players before beating Mehrdad Nasiri of the Netherlands heads-up. The victory earned Cisternino his first live title, a career-defining payday, and a free seat in the 2022 WSOPE Main Event.


Ron West
(Image: Twitter/msptpoker)

Ron West

MSPT Poker Bowl 6
The Venetian

$168,488

The sixth Poker Bowl attracted 1,027 entrants over the course of two days last week. With everyone paying $1,100 to enter, the $500,000 guarantee was soundly beaten. That meant West was playing for a prize worth more than $168,000 on Sunday’s final table. With more than $750,000 worth of cashes to his name, West wasn’t overwhelmed by the occasion and got the job done in style against Johnnie Moreno. After collecting the biggest prize of his career, West dedicated the win to his friend and fellow pro, Matt Salsberg, who is currently battling some health issues.


tom deane
(Image: Twitter/GrosvenorPoker)

Tom Deane

Grosvenor Reading 25/25

£25,745
($34,843)

Deane has been grinding his way around the British circuit for the better part of a decade and, on Sunday, he picked up his second live title. Just shy of 500 players (499) anted up in Grosvenor’s £250 ($340) Hold’em event. Deane, who finished second in a 2019 WPT UK side event, powered home in the early hours to claim the second biggest prize of his career.


(Image: Twitter/DJVEGAS3)

Nichole Plumlee

$25K Guarantee
LA Poker Classic
Commerce Casino

$13,595

Plumlee is a regular at the Commerce Casino where she just hit her biggest live score to take her tournament earnings over the $100K mark. Plumlee took down the 19th event of the LA Poker Classic in a four-way chop, earning more than $13,000 for her efforts. The $350 event was a massive hit, drawing a crowd of 305 people to create a prize pool of almost $90,000. According to Commerce tournament director DJ Villegas, Plumlee called her shot at the beginning of the day, saying she was there for the Remington trophy. 


(Image: Twitter/WynnPoker)

Christina Gollins

$10,000 Guarantee
Wynn Poker Room

$4,393 

Gollins has been on a nice run while playing in Southern California and Las Vegas. The tournament grinder has been playing a ton of local tournaments with some nice results in recent months and, while her win in Sunday’s $200 event at the Wynn certainly wasn’t her biggest cash, it might give her the most pride. You see, Gollins played her boyfriend Elvis Toomas heads-up. As they often do in events they play together, Gollins and Toomas had a side bet where the loser had to give up their prize money to the other. So, in addition to cashing for first place, Gollins got almost $2,400 more from Toomas after she beat him heads-up. Even better? She now has the household bragging rights!


Daniel Smyth, Bob Pajich, and Chris Wallace all contributed to this report. Know a big winner we missed? tips@cardschat.com



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