Everyone wanted the Purple Jacket. Money is awesome and trophies are cool, but there’s only one Purple Jacket presented each year by the PGT. Inspired by the most prestigious tournament in golf, the Poker Masters wanted to commemorate each series with a special jack. At the Masters in Augusta, the champion each year gets their own iconic green jacket. At the Poker Masters in Las Vegas, the winner at the Aria gets to slide on the majestic Purple Jacket.
Jim Collopy now joins the ranks of former champions who also won a Purple Jacket. Stephen Chidwick was the reigning champion heading into this year’s series after the British pro shipped the 2023 Poker Masters. Steffen Sontheimer won the inaugural event back in 2017. Other champions that donned the Purple Jacket included Ali Imsirovic (2018), Sam Soverel (2019), Alexandros Kolonias (2020), Eelis Parssinen (2020), Michael Addamo (2021), and Sean Winter (2022).
The Poker Masters rewards players who consistently played their best poker throughout the duration of the eight-event series. Even though Collopy did not win an event, he won $521,600 in prize money and amassed 522 points which was enough to top the leaderboard. His heater included four consecutive final tables and two runner-up finishes in Event #5 $10,100 NLHE and Event #6 $15,100 NLHE. He also finished in third place in Event #4 $10,100 NLHE and in sixth place in Event #3 $10,100 NLHE. Not only did Collopy snag the Purple Jacket, he also earned a $25,000 PGT Passport, and a PokerStars Gold Pass to the NAPT Las Vegas in November.
Event #1 $5,100 NLHE attracted 131 entrants and a prize pool worth $655,000. Spencer Champlin banked $160,475 for the victory when the American defeated Germany’s Jessica Vierling heads up in the first event. The final table also included Dylan Linde, Dan Shak, Zachary Grech, and Nicholas Seward.
Event #2 $10,100 NLHE had exactly 100 runners and a prize pool worth a cool million. Jeremy Becker was the last player standing and the American won $255,000. Becker edged out Michael Moncek heads up for the title. The rest of the final table included Sean Winter, Daniel Sepiol, Nicholas Seward, and Ren Lin.
Event #3 $10,100 NLHE attracted 94 runners and a prize pool worth $940K. Justin Zaki outlasted a final table that included Jeremy Ausmus, Michael Brinkenhoff, Victoria Livschitz, Cary Katz, Jim Collopy, and Ren Lin. Zaki denied Ausmus a win and he secured the title and $244,400 in cash. The sixth-place finish from Collopy was worth 47 points, and it would be his first step in securing the Purple Jacket. After three events, Becker held the lead with 255 points and Zaki was right behind him with 244 points.
Event #4 $10,100 NLHE had 81 runners and a prize pool worth $810,000. Jonathan Little won his third-career PGT title and banked $226,800 for his first-place finish in Event #4. The final table included Harvey Castro, Jim Collopy, Sam Soverel, Wayne Nowak, Isaac Haxton, and Clemen Deng. Collopy won a smidge over $105K and he snagged 105 more leaderboard points for third place. After four events he was in seventh overall but gradually moving up the leaderboard that was still topped by Becker with 255.
Event #5 $10,100 NLHE drew the attention of 75 combatants who battled for a prize pool worth $750,000. David Chen defeated Collopy heads up for the title. Chen won $217,500 for first place, but Collopy won $142,500 for a runner-up finish. The Final table also included Cheno Rheem, Filipp Khavin, and Sam Laskowitz. Collopy added 143 more points to his growing total. With 295 points, Collopy surged pasted Becker and took over first place on the leaderboard.
Event #6 $15,100 NLHE had 84 runners and a prize pool worth $1.26 million. The top 12 places paid out and the final table included Haxton, Collopy, Jeremy Becker, Aram Zobian, Sean Winter, Dylan Linde, and Nick Schulman. Haxton won $352,800 and secured 353 points for a victory in Event #6. For a runner-up finish, Collopy won $226,800 and added 226 points. Haxton cashed for the fourth time in six events, but he moved into second overall with 458 points. Collopy retained his lead with 522 points. That would end up being the right amount to win the Purple Jacket.
Event #7 $15,100 NLHE attracted 76 runners and a prize pool worth $1.14 million. Brock Wilson won $330,600 as the last player standing. Wilson held off a final table that included Michael Moncek, John Riordan, David Stamm, and Seth Davies.
Event #8 $25,200 NLHE finale featured 68 runners and a prize pool worth $1.7 million. Ben Tollerene snagged $510,000 for the victory and he outlasted a final table that included Taylor von Kriegenbergh, Andrew Lichtenberger, Sam Soverel, Aram Zobian, Filipp Khavin, and Victoria Livschitz.
After his win at the Poker Masters, Collopy moved into seventh place overall on the season-long PGT Leaderboard. He cashed in 15 PGT events this year netting 1,574 points and just short of $2 million in earnings.
Collopy banked over $521K at the Poker Masters and he is closing in on $10 million in earnings. Not too shabby, eh?