Justin Saliba Wins PokerGO Cup Event #3: $5,100 No-Limit Hold’em Single-Day for $96,400
Justin Saliba topped a field of 86 entries to win Event #3: $5,100 No-Limit Hold’em Single-Day at the 2026 PokerGO Cup inside the PokerGO Studio at ARIA in Las Vegas, earning $96,400 and the tournament trophy. Saliba defeated James Carroll heads-up after the two agreed to an ICM deal that redistributed the remaining prize pool while leaving $10,000 and the trophy to play for, with Saliba ultimately closing it out to secure the victory.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Justin Saliba | *$96,400 |
| 2 | James Carroll | *$94,950 |
| 3 | Sam Laskowitz | $53,750 |
| 4 | Timothy Capretta | $38,700 |
| 5 | Chino Rheem | $30,100 |
| 6 | Jeremy Ausmus | $21,500 |
| 7 | Eric Blair | $17,200 |
*denotes ICM chop
Saliba Runs Hot and Stays Loose on the Way to Victory
Saliba credited both strong cards and a relaxed table dynamic for helping him navigate the one-day event and ultimately close out the win.
“I feel good,” Saliba said after the victory. “Obviously I ran very hot. I got kings a lot, got aces a lot, and played a lot of fun hands.”
Despite the strong run of cards, the final table wasn’t without its challenges. Saliba had eventual runner-up James Carroll seated directly to his left, forcing him to be patient early on.
“There was a lot of tension at the final table with the stacks, and I had James on my left,” Saliba explained. “He was very good and very aggressive, so I was kind of locked for a little bit of the final table. But once it went from seven to four players, I got freed up a little bit and just ran hot from there.”
One of the more entertaining moments of the day came earlier in the tournament when Saliba got involved in a friendly side bet with tablemates Chino Rheem and Jeremy Becker.
“We had a bet because Jeremy (Becker) had three-bet eight-three offsuit earlier near the bubble,” Saliba said. “Chino basically said if you win a hand with eight-three, he’d pay $500. I said I wanted to get in on that bet.”
Just a few hands later, Saliba picked up the very hand in question.
“Five hands later, I get dealt eight-three off suit on the button,” he said with a laugh. “I raised covering both blinds and ended up in a big pot. The runout was perfect, and I got to fire a triple-barrel bluff and show the eight-three for an extra $500 from Jeremy.”
While the hand added some levity to the day, Saliba said maintaining that balance between focus and fun is key during long tournament sessions.
“When you play so much live poker, you get used to the grind,” Saliba said. “I was just in Paris playing every day and came straight here. If you’re only in grind mode all the time you’re going to burn out. Playing with guys like Jeremy and Chino just makes it enjoyable.”
Saliba admitted he was even battling jet lag throughout the day but leaned into the relaxed atmosphere until the final table required a shift in focus.
“I was definitely very jet-lagged, so I was trying to keep my energy up and have fun early,” he said. “Then once the final table came, it was time to lock back in.”
The quick pace of PokerGO Cup’s single-day events also requires a different mental approach compared to multi-day tournaments.
“It’s a bit different because everything moves faster,” Saliba explained. “Average stacks are lower and the swings come quickly. You don’t get to bag chips and go study for the next day. You just have to stay resilient and focus on playing each spot well as it comes up.”
Bubble Boy Back-to-Back Days
One of the early storylines of the day came on the money bubble, where John Riordan fell just short of a payday for the second day in a row. Riordan opened pocket jacks, and it folded to the eventual champion Saliba, who three-bet and then called Riordan's four-bet jam with ace-deuce suited, and flopped an ace to burst the bubble.
Riordan’s elimination marked the second straight day he bubbled an event at the PokerGO Cup, a brutal turn of events for the high-stakes pro.
Despite the relatively modest field size, the tournament attracted several big names. Popular poker vlogger Ethan “Rampage” Yau, along with high-stakes crushers Jesse Lonis, Chris Hunichen, and Shannon Shorr, all took their shots in the $5K event but were unable to navigate their way into the money.
As the field thinned, Saliba found himself among the final contenders and eventually battled his way to heads-up play against Carroll. After the duo agreed to an ICM chop, play continued for the remaining $10,000 and the title, and it was Saliba who ultimately came out on top to add his third PokerGO Tour victory to his resume.
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