From 0.25 BB to the Title — Justin Vaysman’s Incredible Comeback at the Poker Masters

With 5 players left in Event #6: $10,500 No-Limit Hold’em at the 2026 Poker Masters, Justin Vaysman looked down at his stack to see he still had 20,000 chips left — the only problem for him was that the blinds were already at 40,000/80,000.

That’s right, he had a quarter of a big blind left. We don’t want to paint too dim of a picture, however. He was already well into the money. 10 spots in the field of 64 paid. Busting in fifth place — the most likely outcome by far — still would have netted him $48,000.

However, since Jack “Treetop” Straus’ famous 1982 WSOP Main Event victory, we know that all you need to win a poker tournament is “a chip and a chair”. Well, Vaysman had both of those, and he did end up winning the tournament, bagging a $192,000 payday.

From less than one big blind to champion! Justin Vaysman (@yumdubzpoker) gets his first PGT title and $192,000. https://t.co/6DyfBy6rih https://t.co/CsNknQGmCc

— PGT (@PokerGOTour) October 20, 2026

At the start of heads-up play, Vaysman was at a significant disadvantage again, with his final opponent Sean Winter holding 61 big blinds to Justin’s 19. Yet he needed less than an hour to seal the tournament victory. After just 25 minutes, Winter had extended his lead to a staggering 71 big blinds, leaving Vaysman with fewer than nine. But when you simply refuse to lose all-ins, even the biggest deficits are no guarantee of victory for your opponent.

After surviving a near-elimination scare, Vaysman staged another remarkable comeback against Sean Winter in heads-up play, securing the Poker Masters title and his first-ever PokerGO victory.

Vaysman didn't hide his emotions during his victory interview: “Maybe my biggest ever win, honestly, all things considered. I didn’t really have a big outright live win like this. Obviously here, you’re playing against the best of the best,” he told PokerNews.

Poker player accused of “disrespecting the game” for leaving Joey Weissman with less than 1 BB

It seems that extremely short stacks were all the rage at Poker Masters in the last couple of events.

In Event #4: $10,500 No-Limit Hold'em, Joey Weissman was down to his last third of Big Bling on the stone bubble, yet he still managed to come in 9th place for $24,000.

This, however, did not sit well with one of the other players at the table.

John Krpan complained to Nick Palma, who wasn’t involved in the hand, about Clemen Deng’s decision to spare Joey Weissman on the bubble. Deng, the chip leader at the time, had the opportunity to put Weissman’s entire tournament life at risk but instead allowed him to survive. 

With 13 players remaining and only 12 guaranteed a payout, the blinds stood at 15,000/30,000 when Weissman raised to 180,000 from the button with ♦A♦K, leaving himself just 10,000 behind. Deng, who held around 1.6 million chips in the big blind, merely called with ♣3♥3 rather than putting Weissman all-in.

The board ran out ♦9♥8♥4 ♠10 ♦J, with both players checking on every street. Deng’s pocket 3’s held up, earning him the pot and leaving Weissman with just one-third of a big blind on the money bubble—a decision that drew Krpan’s ire, PokerNews reports.

Old man at the poker table claims another player is "disrespecting the game" 🤔 https://t.co/FY1ImcPqBN

— Alex Duvall (@alexduvallin) October 16, 2026