Brock Wilson Clinches Leaderboard Victory on Day 1 of $15,000 PokerGO Cup Finale
Just six players remain in the final event of the 2026 PokerGO Cup, the biggest buy-in event of the spring series that has been underway since March 1.
Leading the way in Event #10: $15,000 NLH is WPT champion Arthur Peacock with a stack of 90 big blinds ahead of big-stacked high-stakes pros Sam Soverel, Andrew Lichtenberger, and two-time series champion Brock Wilson, who by cashing the event locked up the overall PokerGO Cup title.
Rounding out the counts are Canadian bling-flasher John Krpan in his third straight cash and 2015 WSOP Main Event champion Joe McKeehen.
Final Table Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arthur Peacock | United States | 2,240,000 | 90 |
| 2 | Andrew Lichtenberger | United States | 1,470,000 | 59 |
| 3 | Sam Soverel | United States | 1,350,000 | 54 |
| 4 | Brock Wilson | United States | 1,080,000 | 43 |
| 5 | John Krpan | Canada | 550,000 | 22 |
| 6 | Joe McKeehen | United States | 110,000 | 4.5 |
Wouldn't It Be Nice to Win the Series Title
The series has been full of laughs and needles, but there was a sense of somber in the room on Saturday as Indianas Ben Grise finished runner-up in his second straight event.
As he was competing in Las Vegas, Grise learned about the murder of his friend and fellow midwest poker player Matt Lushin, who he described to PokerNews as a "funny guy."
"You always knew you could hangout with him and he'd put a smile on your face," Grise said in an emotional interview.
Grise had a series shot at topping the series leaderboard, as did two-time champion Filipp Khavin, who topped the leaderboard heading into the event.
But the eliminations of Grise and Khavin meant that Wilson could lock up the series title with a cash. He secured that cash after Chino Rheem was eliminated on the money bubble in a three-way clash with McKeehen and Soverel.
Earlier in the evening, Landon Tice's love-hate relationship with flopped sets continued as he was eliminated on the soft bubble.
The first two to fall in the money were singer-songwriter-content-creator-Ween-fan Jeremy Ausmus and fellow high-stakes pro Joey Weissman.
Stay tuned as the PokerNews live reporting team will be back on-site tomorrow to see out the completion of the final event of the 2026 PokerGO Cup. Check out the live reporting hub in the meantime.