Jaffe Wins Poker Masters Finale on Bad Beat; Chidwick Still Claims Purple Jacket

Stephen Chidwick suffered a bad beat on the river against Jonathan Jaffe on the last hand of the final 2023 Poker Masters event, but the high roller legend still took home the coveted Purple Jacket.

Event #10: $50,000 No-Limit Hold’em, which attracted 42 entrants, brought about some drama at Tuesday’s final table. Not only were the remaining players battling for the $756,000 first-place prize, but four of the players at the final table entered Day 2 still mathematically alive for the overall series title — Chidwick, Brian Kim, Alex Foxen, and Chino Rheem.

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Chidwick Loses to Jaffe on Bad Beat But Still Wins

With 506 points, Vladas Tamasauskas, who won two events during the series, held the Poker Masters overall lead. But he was unlikely to hold on because multiple players at the final table could still beat him.

First place was worth 454 points, and even a fourth-place finish was good for 139 points. Rheem and Chidwick would both overtake Tamasauskas with fourth place or better finishes, while Foxen and Kim could do so by finishing higher.

After Nick Petrangelo went out in sixth place ($105,000), Rheem’s chances of winning the purple jacket came to an end when he jammed all in with AxJx and ran into Jaffe’s AxAx. The three-time World Poker Tour (WPT) champion settled for fifth place and $168,000.

Kim, who began the day with 145 series points and needed to win the finale to have any shot at the Purple Jacket, lost a race to Chidwick to bust in fourth place ($231,000).

That meant only Chidwick or Foxen could claim the stylish Purple Jacket, and the series crown was settled with Foxen’s third-place elimination ($336,000). Chidwick was officially the Poker Masters champion, but he still had some business to take care of, and that was to win the finale.

Trailing by slightly more than 3-1 in chips, Chidwick called a three-bet all-in shove with A♠9♦ and was well ahead of Jaffe’s A♦3♥. The flop of K♦7♠10♦ didn’t really change much, and neither did the 8♣ on the turn. However, the 3♣ on the river brought about a three-outer for Jaffee to suck out and win the tournament for $504,000.

Chidwick had to settle for second place and $504,000 in prize money, which was actually more than the $400,000 he won a few days earlier for topping a 50-entry field to win Event #8: $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em.

Poker Masters Event #10 $50,000 NLH Final Table Results

Chidwick also received an extra $50,000 and the Purple Jacket for winning the overall Poker Masters title. The future Poker Hall of Famer also has a 2018 U.S. Poker Open championship on his resume, along with $52.8 million in lifetime live tournament cashes according to The Hendon Mob.

For the series, the high roller legend cashed in four events, including the aforementioned win. He took first, second, and third in the final three events after getting off to a slow start to the series. It’s not about how you start but how you finish, and Chidwick came on strong at the right time.

Up next on the PokerGO Tour is the $300,000 buy-in Super High Roller Bowl, which kicks off at the PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas Sept. 28. Daniel Negreanu is the defending $3.3 million champion, one of the biggest wins of his career.

PokerNews will offer daily recaps from the three-day tournament.

Final Purple Jacket Chase Standings

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2023 Poker Masters Final Results

_{*Images courtesy of PokerGO / Antonio Abrego}