Patrick Leonard Captures His First PokerGO Tour Title

Despite focusing primarily on the online poker tournament scene, Patrick Leonard is no stranger to success on the live circuit. The British poker pro has cashed for millions at in-person events, winning several big titles along the way including a World Series of Poker bracelet.

This week Leonard has managed a couple of live poker ‘firsts’ for his career, though. On Jan. 21 the CoinPoker ambassador recorded his first cash inside the PokerGO Studio at ARIA Resort & Casino Las Vegas, finishing sixth in the first event of the PGT Kickoff for $21,000. One day removed from that final-table showing, Leonard came out on top in event no. 2, beating a field of 96 entries in the $5,000 buy-in event to earn $124,800 and his first PGT trophy.

Leonard now has nearly $4.4 million in recorded earnings after this latest victory. The Newcastle, England native also secured 432 Card Player Player of the Year points for the win. With 560 total points, he now sits inside the top 50 in the 2025 POY race standings presented by Global Poker.

With 292 total PGT points, Leonard has overtaken the top spot in the early season-long standings on that high-stakes-centric leaderboard.

Played some more.. https://t.co/msR96ce1vL pic.twitter.com/AXnBRk3iIX

— Patrick Leonard (@padspoker) January 23, 2025

The 96-entry turnout resulted in a $480,000 prize pool in this event, with the top 14 earning a share. Only seven players returned to the PokerGO Studio inside ARIA Resort & Casino Las Vegas for day 2, with bracelet winner Joey Weissman in the lead and Leonard in the middle of the pack.

The first knockout of the day came about thanks to a three-way all-in. Bracelet winner Patrick Leonard raised with pocket aces from UTG+1 and three-time World Poker Tour champion Chino Rheem three-bet shoved with pocket tens from the hijack. Sam Laskowitz four-bet shoved from the button with pocket kings having the largest stack of the three and Leonard quickly called all-in. The board failed to connect with any of the three and Rheem was eliminated in seventh place ($19,200). Laskowitz was left short after the hand, while Leonard moved into a virtual tie for the chip lead.

Monster Clash! Massive Triple Up for Patrick Leonard at PGT Kickoff!

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Natalie Ferguson (6th – $24,400) was the next to fall. She got the last of her stack in with top pair and a king kicker, but was in trouble against the same pair and ace kicker of Weissman. Laskowitz soon followed. He got his last chips in with the best of it, but his K-Q failed to hold against the K-9 suited of bracelet winner Joseph Cheong. Laskowitz earned $33,600 as the fifth-place finisher, growing his earnings to nearly $3 million in the process.

Another big three way all-in soon took place, with Cheong’s pocket jacks holding against the A-Q of Leonard and the A-8 of Weissman. Leonard slid to the bottom of the counts after that hand, while Cheong shot to the top of the leaderboard.

Leonard doubled-up through Weissman to leave him at the bottom of the pile. Weissman then got all-in with K-8 trailing Leonard’s A-K. Weissman flopped an open-ended straight draw, but failed to improve any further and was knocked out in fourth place ($43,200).

Just like that, Leonard was back near the top of the counts. He managed to claim the lead ahead of the next big showdown, which saw Cheong shove he last eight or so big blinds with Q7 from the small blind. Leonard called from the big blind with QJ and won when neither player connected with an ace-high runout. Cheong was awarded $57,600 as the third-place finisher. The 2010 WSOP main event third-place finisher has now surpassed $20 million in lifetime cashes thanks to this podium showing.

Heads-up play began with more than a 3:1 chip lead for Leonard over bracelet winner Aram Zobian. The gap had shrunk considerably ahead of the final hand of the tournament, though. Leonard limped from the button for 200,000 with 106 and Zobian checked his option with 53. The flop came down 1064 and Zobian checked with his straight draw. Leonard bet 200,000 with his two pair and Zobian called. The turn brought the 3 and Zobian checked again. Leonard fired an overbet of 1,250,000 and Zobian came along to the river. The 8 completed the board and Zobian checked once more. Leonard moved all-in, an effective bet of 3,550,000. Zobian went into the tank for a bit before making the hero call with bottom pair. Leonard showed him tens up to claim the pot and the title. Zobian cashed for $79,200 as the runner-up.

Here is a look at the payouts and rankings points awarded at the final table:

Photo credits: PokerGO / Antonio Abrego.