Filipp Kavin Denies Jesse Lonis in the PokerGO Studio
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Florida's Filipp Kavin was on close to zero sleep after flying in to play $5,000 Single Day of the 2026 Poker GO Cup in Las Vegas, but that didn't stop him from taking down the event for $124,525 and his first PGT title.
Kavin, who adds to his $2.5 million in live cashes, earned the career-best score after defeating one of high-stakes poker's hottest pros, Jesse Lonis, who he reached an ICM deal with at the start of heads-up play.
"I've been up for almost 20 hours," Kavin told PokerNews. He hoisted the trophy high after several close calls inside the PokerGO Studio.
"I've had a lot of fourth place finishes in some of these, and it's nice to finally win one."
The final table also included mixed game author Dylan Linde (7th - $22,200), recent WPT Venetian Spring Poker Championship winner Nicholas Seward, and pro racer Drake Kemper (3rd - $63,825).
$5,000 Single Day Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Filipp Kavin | United States | $124,525* |
| 2 | Jesse Lonis | United States | $105,800* |
| 3 | Drake Kemper | United States | $63,825 |
| 4 | David Kim | United States | $49,950 |
| 5 | Jon-Michael Gisler | United States | $36,075 |
| 6 | Nicholas Seward | United States | $27,750 |
| 7 | Dylan Linde | United States | $22,200 |
*Denotes ICM deal
No Sleep Till Book Win
The first of three $5,000 Single Day events drew 111 runners for a prize pool of $555,000. The field included some of the PokerGO regulars like Sean Winter and owner Cary Katz, but there were also newer faces like longtime pro Tony Gregg, who made his PokerGO Studio debut.
The event played quick with 25-minute levels, and some of the players who fell early include poker coach Jonathan Little, WPT endboss Darren Elias, 2024 GPI Female Player of the Year Cherish Andrews, and five-time bracelet winner Anthony Zinno.
Several short stacks survived on the money bubble, thanks in part to some lucky double-ups, but mainly thanks to David Kim cracking the pocket kings John Riordan to send a big stack out on the bubble unexpectedly.
The eliminations were rapid from there and the final table formed as 2023 WPT World Championship winner Dan Sepiol was outflopped by recent WPT Venetian Spring Championship winner Nicholas Seward in what pro racer Drake Kemper described as "WPT on WPT violence."
Mixed game author Dylan Linde was the first to go at the final table as his queens were cracked on the river by the ace-queen of Kemper. It then took nearly two hours for the next final table elimination as Seward fell to Kemper, whose girlfriend, WSOP Circuit ring winner Megan Collins, supported him in the studio with a "Let's Go Drake" poster.
The field slowly dropped as Kemper surrendered his chip lead before bowing out in third at the hands of Lonis, who early in the tournament made a bold play on the money bubble that payed dividends. He called off a sizable stack with king-jack to beat out the ace-ten of Chris Hunichen, telling the high-stakes pro "I told you, don't f*** with me."
Lonis and Kavin reached an ICM deal and agreed to play for the trophy and $20,000 they set aside. Lonis quickly doubled up Kavin to be on fumes, which he began to spin up before a fatal hand where his ace-nine couldn't hold up against Kavin's ten-six.
