Philadelphia Poker Tournament Delivers $127K for Single Father
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For nearly 15 years, Michael Linster was a regular on the poker scene and tasted plenty of success along the way. Then came a break to focus on family, putting poker on hold for the last several years and leaving Linster less time to chase cards like he had in the past.
Linster arrived at the 2026 PokerStars Open Philadelphia series this week looking to take advantage of the rare opportunity, and capped off an impressive run to take down the $1,100 Main Event for his first career PokerStars trophy at Live! Casino & Hotel Philadelphia. The New York native defeated a field of 896 entries to claim the largest share of the $860,160 prize pool.
"I had a son and took a break," Linster explained to PokerNews moments after claiming the title. "I started playing way less poker because I'm a single dad, and got to spend more time with him, can't travel as much, so it's really nice when I can get away for a trip. So when I get away, it's like a real treat for me, so this is really nice to be able to capitalize on."
Linster had already compiled a stellar resume that included more than $2,300,000 in earnings according the The Hendon Mob, and added this latest victory after a short heads-up battle with Michael Klein. That brought an end to the 15-hour final day, and left Linster posing for photos after earning $126,705.
"I used to play all the time and had a kid, and plus I'm I'm getting older now. I've had like one foot out the door with poker, kind of like ready to give up. And my buddy Greg, we studied so much poker and stuff, and he said all it takes is one score, you'll be back in there again, and here we are again, back in it again. But yeah, it's awesome, man."
2026 PokerStars Open Philadelphia $1,100 Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael Linster | United States | $126,705 |
| 2 | Michael Klein | United States | $80,705 |
| 3 | Jason Raber | United States | $56,400 |
| 4 | Thilbaud Martin | France | $41,400 |
| 5 | Jean Brillant | United States | $31,400 |
| 6 | Arlie Shaban | Canada | $25,400 |
| 7 | Jason Rivkin | United States | $20,400 |
| 8 | Abel Gebeyehu | United States | $15,900 |
| 9 | Troy Laypo | United States | $12,400 |
Final Day Action
The final day saw 114 players return in the money, having locked up at least $2,200 after bagging one of the four opening flights. Linster began play with just over 20 big blinds, and started to spin his way into contention.
"I came in with 137,000 to start the day, I got lucky to get some good hands early on. I chipped up pretty quick to like 600,000 or 700,000, so I just had a real good start."
From there, Linster stayed steady until a big hand against the start of day chip leader, Rajath Tangam, when his pocket jacks held to soar up the leaderboard.
"Yeah, that was a big spot. I was glad to see that he didn't have two overs, and I don't have to sweat the flip."
By that point, the field had been trimmed and included some notable names. Defending champion Edward Leonard (77th - $3,300) was unable to get on track on the final day, while PokerStars Ambassador Jennifer Shahade (61st - $4,000) went out soon after.
Fellow PokerStars Team Pro Arlie Shaban ran all the way to the final table before losing a flip to Linster, finishing in sixth place for $25,400.
Linster had already sized up the remaining players, and knew where he stood while sitting with a big stack in the latter stages of the tournament.
"There were two other players that I know pretty well at the final two tables. I was happy to be at a final table that nobody really had a ton of results. Everybody played pretty well, but it certainly could have been tougher on the East Coast."
One of those experience players was Jason Rivkin, who lost a flip to Linster to exit in seventh place.
"That was big, because he's probably the most experienced person left at the table besides me. It's one of those spots where I'm going to either be flipping or buried. I said let's go with it, and he had sevens and we won the flip, so that was huge. That propelled me."
The knockout of Shaban came shortly after, and Linster took out the final two players to take the title. Jason Raber fell in third place, before Klein called off with an inferior two pair to bring an end to the tournament. Linster got his hands on the trophy shortly afterwards, and was instantly impressed.
"It's one of the nicest trophies that I have. I probably have, I don't know, six or seven, but this one's really heavy and well made, one of the nicest trophies I've seen. I'll definitely cherish it, get it home, let my son enjoy it a little bit, put it in the rack and see what daddy did."
Linster admits that the victory won't change his poker plans too much, as he has priorities at home, but is happy that the financial burden of being a single dad has been alleviated a little bit.
"It's really cool now because I have my son, and the money has a purpose now. Before it was just money back into poker, but this will go, you know, towards something good, right?"
