Alexandros Kolonias is the new Poker Masters Championship champion after a late surge on the final day of this year’s series.
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Alexandros Kolonias is the new Poker Masters Purple Jacket winner after coming out top in the online series. (Image: Poker Masters)
Despite being moved online due to coronavirus, the 2020 event proved to be another success for Poker Central. With Partypoker stepping up to host the high stakes festival, the $16.5 million guarantee was more than doubled as pros anted up in their droves.
That not only meant the winners shared $34.5 million, but that the Player of the Series race was fiercer than ever.
Purple Patch on Final Day Does it For Kolonias
As the world’s top players battled for supremacy between April 12 and 26, a handful of contenders emerged. Artur Martirosian was the one to watch on the final day thanks to success in eight previous events.
Kolonias was down in fourth but not out of the race. A strong performance and a slip by his closest rivals would be enough for him to take the title and that’s exactly what happened.
As Linus Loeliger cruised to victory in the $51,000 main event, that left Martirosian on the backfoot. Without a cash finish in the main event, the Russian needed a deep run in Event #30 to stay in front. However, that wasn’t to be. On another day, a fifth place finish would have been good enough for Martirosian. On this day though, it wasn’t as Kolonias won Event #30.
As one of his closest rivals fell in fifth, the 2019 WSOPE Main Event champion seized his opportunity. Ousting Jason McConnon in second place, Kolonias won his second Poker Masters of 2020, as well as $367,782.
That win put Kolonias atop of the leaderboard with 11 cashes and $1.26 million in series earnings. Although Martirosian had the slight advantage when it came to total prize money, the combination of consistency and cashes were enough for Kolonias.
Poker Masters Performance Tops All
As well as taking home Poker Masters titles and the Purple Jacket, Kolonias bagged an extra $50,000. He also joins the a list of previous winners that includes 2019 champion Sam Soverel.
Commenting on his victory, Kolonias said he played some of the best poker of his life.
“I played the best poker I have ever played and the competition was really tough. The Purple Jacket is an important title and it feels about the same as winning the WSOP Europe Main Event last year, but that time I had some tears when I won, I was more emotional,” he told Poker Central.
With 30 events in the bag and a new overall champion, the Poker Masters is over for another year. While the 2021 series will (probably) be back in Las Vegas, this year’s online alternative proved players will play wherever the value is, regardless of the medium.
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