This week saw the Poker Masters come to a conclusion at the PokerGO Studio, as Adrian Mateos was able to hold on to his slender lead in the race for the Purple Jacket, ahead of the likes of Nick Palma and Jeremy Ausmus.
Over in Texas, the legendary Sammy Farha was once again involved in a major incident, allegedly punching a poker dealer and getting banned from one of Houston’s most popular poker clubs.
In the meantime, the World Series of Poker announced a brand-new event, a $250k Pro-Am tournament that will feature a formula similar to the Triton Invitational, with a little twist.
Things are spicing up as we enter the final stretch of the year, with December just around the corner and some of the biggest poker festivals, including WSOP Paradise, closer than ever.
Adrian Mateos Wins the Poker Masters Purple Jacket
All 10 Poker Masters events are in the books, and Adrian Mateos has been declared the series’ overall winner, an honor for which he received the coveted Poker Masters Purple Jacket.
Adrian’s victory came as a result of three cashes, including a victory in Event #5 and a second place in Event #2, enough for a total of 451 points, just 44 more than Nick Palma, who finished the series in second place.
Even more incredible than his results in this year’s Poker Masters were the five stone-cold money bubbles he suffered. Mateos was eliminated one spot away from the money in five of the ten events, setting another unusual record on the PokerGO Tour.
Despite the bad beats and the incredibly bad run of cards in the later stages, one of the best tournament poker players of all time was able to bounce back and record the results he needed to secure the Purple Jacket ahead of the other contenders.
Adrian Mateos is the 2026 Poker Masters Purple Jacket winner! 🏆 Despite five stone bubbles, @Amadi_17 proved best over the 10-event series to win the series and $25,000 PGT Passport bonus. What a career for Mateos! 🇪🇸 https://t.co/Zo1SXotbtE https://t.co/gPGf54xWPC
— PGT (@PokerGOTour) October 24, 2026
The race came down to the final event, however, as Jeremy Ausmus still had a chance to catch Mateos in Event #10. Ausmus made the final table, but needed to win the event outright in order to overtake the Spaniard at the top.
Instead, Ausmus came fourth, while the tournament was eventually won by Sean Winter, who ended up fifth in the Purple Jacket race.
While Winter may have finished fifth in the player of the series race, his victory in the final event, which came with the highest buy-in, secured him a total of $744,800 in cashes, significantly more than any of the other players in the top 10.
The series ended up being bittersweet for Palma, who came second after winning his first PokerGO Tour title and having a real shot at the Purple Jacket on his first serious try, a solid feat by any standard.
Sammy Farha Banned for Life from a Texas Poker Room
More than two decades ago, Sammy Farha came second in the Main Event to Chris Moneymaker, sparking the Poker Boom and perhaps changing the history of the game forever.
In the years following his Main Event run, Farha was a poker superstar, playing on shows like High Stakes Poker and always battling for every pot, no matter the circumstances.
Now, many years later, Farha is a regular in Texas card clubs, and while he is playing significantly lower stakes than he used to, poker is still very much his passion.
The most recent story on Sammy Farha came this week from the Houston Social Cardroom, where Farha was accused of physically assaulting a dealer by the name of Doug Caillier, who is well known throughout the poker world, having dealt at the WSOP since the 1990s.
According to eyewitnesses, Farha got into the altercation with Caillier after a poker hand he wasn’t even involved in, and things went from verbal to physical fast.
Farha first accused the dealer of making a mistake, and then threatened to “beat the living s*** out of him.” After security approached the table, Farha punched Caillier in the chest before the security could break them up.
Caillier went to the hospital for a brief checkup and filed a police report, while Farha was banned for life from Houston Social Cardroom.
This wasn’t the first time Farha got into an altercation with a Texas poker room staffer, as a similar incident was reported in 2022 at the Legends Poker Room.
Despite his reputation and fame, Sammy has reportedly gone down a darker path in his later years, and he’s become known as an abusive player widely disliked among the dealers and floor staff of the poker clubs he frequents.
WSOP Introduces a Pro-Am Event for Its Paradise Stop
The WSOP has announced it will be hosting a Pro-Am event at this year’s WSOP Paradise festival for the first time in its history, and it should be a fun one for the poker fans.
The $250,000 tournament will pit professional poker players against wealthy recreationals in a unique contest that gives both groups a fair shot.
Somewhat similar to the Triton Poker Series Invitational events, the WSOP Pro-Am tournament will also break players up into two groups on Day 1, but the rules will be slightly different.
The amateur players will need to apply to the WSOP Pro-Am Committee, which will consider their applications to play in the amateur group. If invited, they will get to play with the other amateurs on Day 1.
The pros, on the other hand, will get to simply buy-in to the event directly, without any need to be invited by the Committee or another player. They will, of course, have to pay the $250k entry fee, just like the amateurs.
The tournament will start with the players split into two groups, and they will only be joined together once the money bubble bursts and everyone left is in the money.
The remaining players will play the rest of the event together, all the way down to a single player, who will take home the first-ever WSOP Pro-Am gold bracelet.
The ultra-high buy-in and the venue should spice things up, as many of the world’s best high rollers are expected to be in the Bahamas for WSOP Paradise to begin with, which should secure a decent turnout for this unique new tournament.
WSOP Paradise starts on December 2 at the Baha Mar Hotel & Resort and will feature a total of 20 events, including the $50 million guaranteed Super Main Event, one of the biggest poker tournaments of the entire year.
