2025 Pure Poker Tour Series #2 – Event #8: $230 NLH

DJ Sharma has been close to a trophy on the PPT before, and he’s won a variety of other tournaments, but one thing he’s been wanting since he started playing poker was a trophy from his hometown poker tour. Tonight, he ticked that goal off his list by taking down the Little NLH in his typical boisterous fashion.

There are few, if any, people who enjoy the game as much as Sharma does — he brings it all every time he sits at the table, and he’s never afraid to mix it up. When he’s running hot, everyone in the casino knows it from his loud, infectious laugh and frequent shouts of “SHARMA TIME!” when he wins an all-in.

Tonight was a textbook example of Sharma Time poker. He was all over the map in terms of his chip stack, but that’s pretty normal for him. He was almost out with play eight-handed when Brad Stevens got there for a huge double with a dominated ace, but in typical Sharma fashion, he was all in a couple of hands later with eight-three suited and hit the running flush, sending Daryl Roberts out in 7th for the start of his respin.

After runner-up Zachary York got there against Stefan Maloney to make it five ways, Sharma was once again on his way out the door. In a massive hand, Stacey Diederich shoved her short stack with a suited king-seven and Sharma woke up with pocket sevens to her left, reshoving for more. It folded to York on the big blind, and he snapped with the most and pocket queens.

Somehow, Sharma found the case seven on the flop, even as Diederich hit two pair. York’s queens were left twisting in the wind as the board ran bricks that kept the set of sevens in the lead. That gave Sharma the huge lead 4 ways, and he extended that by sending Pat Wilson home in 4th when he won a race.

York then sent Brad Stevens to the cage for 3rd, but was still about 2:1 down against the McDonald’s magnate. He managed to double back to even, but in the end, couldn’t find what he needed against the hot-running Sharma. He got the last of his money in with a flopped open-ended straight draw, but couldn’t find the cards he needed to complete. Sharma was on a flopped pair of nines, and held for the win.

Last year’s API runaway winner, Mike Malm, made a bet with play still seven-handed where he took Sharma to win against the rest of the field. Rob Lothian took him up on it, and happily paid out the bet at the end. As Malm said when he made the bet — “I’m not betting because I think he’ll win. I’m betting because I KNOW he’ll win.”

This was his seventh win, but his first actual trophy. His motivation isn’t really the prize money; he’s here for the love of the game and the desire to win. He mentioned that he’s wanted a trophy in all of his previous wins, but they’ve all been in series that didn’t award hardware, just money. Getting his first tangible proof of a poker win, something he can put on his bar at home, was something pretty special for him tonight. Doing it on his hometown poker tour was just the icing on an already delicious cake.

Zachary York was one player away from his second trophy in this series, after taking down the half & half on opening day. Unfortunately for him, the player between him and the second win was the boisterous, unpredictable DJ Sharma on a hot run.

York held his own in the endgame, but ultimately couldn’t find his groove this time around. He managed to double back to even after getting heads up at a big disadvantage. Then Sharma chipped him back down again, and in the final hand, he got it in on the flop with an open-ended straight draw, but bricked against Sharma’s flopped pair of nines.

This was just the third recorded cash for York, whose brother Skylar is a regular in AB tournaments, but in his first three recorded cashes, he has a fourth place, a win, and a runner-up. Not a bad kickoff for a Hendon Mob profile.

The final two players are on a break now. Zachary York has 590k of the 1.66m in play with Sharma holding the rest.

The money went in preflop when DJ Sharma woke up with ace-ten and shoved over a limp from Zachary York. York snapped it off for a race with eights against Sharma’s overs. Sharma found an ace on the flop, but York also found an 8 for a big lead. He held, and they are now pretty much dead even with 800k each.

Brad Stevens went from second stack to 3rd place in two hands. In the first hand, raised to 45k, then called off when Zachary York shoved. York was on big slick against queen-jack, and York hit his ace.

That left Stevens short, and when he flopped a flush draw in the following hand against chip leader DJ Sharma, the money was in. He bricked the flush and Sharma’s pocket sixes held for the win.

DJ Sharma is running over the table now, as he’s just set Pat Wilson to the cage for 4th-place money. Sharma shoved sevens and Wilson called with ace-king. The board bricked for Wilson and the sevens held. Sharma usually says he loves any hand with a six in it, but tonight he may just be on the sevens instead.

It was another case of Sharma Time that sent Stacey Deiderich to the rail. She open-shoved a short stack from the middle, and DJ Sharma reshoved a bigger stack from the cutoff. It folded to Zachary York in the big blind, and he called them both with more.

York had the best with queens, against pocket sevens for Sharma, and king-seven suited for Diederich. There was a king on the flop, but Sharma somehow found the case seven, leaving Diederich’s two pair and York’s over pair in big trouble. The rest of the board bricked and Diederich was out in 5th place while York dropped to about 330k. Sharma now has about 900k for the lead.

Earlier in the night, Mike Malm, who has been railing the table, bet on Sharma to win. “It’s not because I think he’ll win; I know he’ll win!” It looks like he just might …

Brad Stevens opened to 30k under the gun, and Pat Wilson called from the big blind. They both checked the 9♠6♠10♥ flop and Wilson led for 35k on the 5♥ turn. Stevens called, then called 20k on the Q♣ river, showing king-jack for the straight while Wilson mucked his hand.

The players will be on a break in about 7 minutes, and I’ll get a full count then.

Stefan Maloney shoved with ace-nine, and Zachary York called with ten-jack of spades. The board ran out eight-six-four-seven-nine to give York the nut straight. York took down the NLH/PLO Mix on the opening day of the series.

I missed the action while writing the Sharma time action, but Daryl Roberts was the 7th place finisher tonight for $660.

It was a bit of reverse Sharma Time on the final table. DJ Sharma shoved the button with ace-queen, and Brad Stevens woke up with ace-jack of clubs and called it off. He flopped the flush draw and turned the clubs to flip the script on Sharma.

The hand left Sharma short, but Sharma Time was just called as he shoved eight-three suited, and got called by Zachary York in the big blind. There was only one spade on the flop, but Sharma ran out to spades on the turn and river for a full double back into the game.

They are down to 7 left in the side game now after Joe Herlein and Iano Bliss ended their runs tonight. I haven’t been able to watch much of the action as I’m still watching the bubble of the 6-Max game, which should be bagging shortly.

They are in the money now after a huge cooler saw Brent Baxter bubble the game tonight. Both he and Pat Wilson flopped trip eights, but Wilson had a better kicker. All the money went in on the flop with Baxter drawing to one of three queens for two pair. He bricked, and the final nine were in the money. The players agreed to a bubble deal that saw Baxter at least get some of his money back after the cooler.

The side game is now on the money bubble with hand-for-hand play in progress. After the next elimination, all side event players will be in the money, and I’ll grab some final table photos then.

They are down to the final 15 players in the side game now. Among the remaining players are DJ Sharma, Mike Malm, Stefan Maloney, and Stacey Diederich. Sharma just managed to pick up some chips with a shove on a crazy board that was showing kings full of queens. Brad Stevens open-mucked a pair of jacks, and Sharma folded without showing, but said after that he had ace-queen, which would have been a chop had Stevens called.

Just before the hand Sharma commented that he only has “!4 players to go before I win it.”

The prizes are in and the field for the side game tonight is set at 83 entries for prizes of $15,770. Nine players will share in those prizes later tonight with the winner set to pocket just over $5k.

Event #8 Prizes

The side event is on its second break of the day with 79 entries on the board. Registration closes at the end of this break, and it looks like either 8 or 9 players will get paid, depending on the reg-desk action as the break concludes. I’ll confirm the numbers as soon as the prizes are posted shortly after the break.

Level 9 has just begun and this is the final level of poker with entries open. They’ll take a 15-minute break following this level, and entries are closed when they return for Level 10 in just over 30 minutes.

The side game is underway now with 19 entries on the board and 18 players still alive. Cindy Grabia, Stacey Diederich, Tom T, Zsuzsanna Spence, Brady O’Hara, and Kelly Gall are among the players in the mix early for this one.

The side game on Monday night is a little NLH game. For $230, players get 20k in chips for 20-minute levels. There are 9 levels of late entry, meaning the desk should shut down at about 9:30 PM. After that, they’ll play to a winner late Monday night.

As this is the side game on Monday, I likely won’t have much time for it until after Event #7 bags for the day, but I should make it over to this one for the endgame at least.

DJ Sharma has been close to a trophy on the PPT before, and he’s won a variety of other tournaments, but one thing he’s been wanting since he started playing poker was a trophy from his hometown poker tour. Tonight, he ticked that goal off his list by taking down the Little NLH in his typical boisterous fashion.

There are few, if any, people who enjoy the game as much as Sharma does — he brings it all every time he sits at the table, and he’s never afraid to mix it up. When he’s running hot, everyone in the casino knows it from his loud, infectious laugh and frequent shouts of “SHARMA TIME!” when he wins an all-in.

Tonight was a textbook example of Sharma Time poker. He was all over the map in terms of his chip stack, but that’s pretty normal for him. He was almost out with play eight-handed when Brad Stevens got there for a huge double with a dominated ace, but in typical Sharma fashion, he was all in a couple of hands later with eight-three suited and hit the running flush, sending Daryl Roberts out in 7th for the start of his respin.

After runner-up Zachary York got there against Stefan Maloney to make it five ways, Sharma was once again on his way out the door. In a massive hand, Stacey Diederich shoved her short stack with a suited king-seven and Sharma woke up with pocket sevens to her left, reshoving for more. It folded to York on the big blind, and he snapped with the most and pocket queens.

Somehow, Sharma found the case seven on the flop, even as Diederich hit two pair. York’s queens were left twisting in the wind as the board ran bricks that kept the set of sevens in the lead. That gave Sharma the huge lead 4 ways, and he extended that by sending Pat Wilson home in 4th when he won a race.

York then sent Brad Stevens to the cage for 3rd, but was still about 2:1 down against the McDonald’s magnate. He managed to double back to even, but in the end, couldn’t find what he needed against the hot-running Sharma. He got the last of his money in with a flopped open-ended straight draw, but couldn’t find the cards he needed to complete. Sharma was on a flopped pair of nines, and held for the win.

Last year’s API runaway winner, Mike Malm, made a bet with play still seven-handed where he took Sharma to win against the rest of the field. Rob Lothian took him up on it, and happily paid out the bet at the end. As Malm said when he made the bet — “I’m not betting because I think he’ll win. I’m betting because I KNOW he’ll win.”

This was his seventh win, but his first actual trophy. His motivation isn’t really the prize money; he’s here for the love of the game and the desire to win. He mentioned that he’s wanted a trophy in all of his previous wins, but they’ve all been in series that didn’t award hardware, just money. Getting his first tangible proof of a poker win, something he can put on his bar at home, was something pretty special for him tonight. Doing it on his hometown poker tour was just the icing on an already delicious cake.

Zachary York was one player away from his second trophy in this series, after taking down the half & half on opening day. Unfortunately for him, the player between him and the second win was the boisterous, unpredictable DJ Sharma on a hot run.

York held his own in the endgame, but ultimately couldn’t find his groove this time around. He managed to double back to even after getting heads up at a big disadvantage. Then Sharma chipped him back down again, and in the final hand, he got it in on the flop with an open-ended straight draw, but bricked against Sharma’s flopped pair of nines.

This was just the third recorded cash for York, whose brother Skylar is a regular in AB tournaments, but in his first three recorded cashes, he has a fourth place, a win, and a runner-up. Not a bad kickoff for a Hendon Mob profile.

The final two players are on a break now. Zachary York has 590k of the 1.66m in play with Sharma holding the rest.

The money went in preflop when DJ Sharma woke up with ace-ten and shoved over a limp from Zachary York. York snapped it off for a race with eights against Sharma’s overs. Sharma found an ace on the flop, but York also found an 8 for a big lead. He held, and they are now pretty much dead even with 800k each.

Brad Stevens went from second stack to 3rd place in two hands. In the first hand, raised to 45k, then called off when Zachary York shoved. York was on big slick against queen-jack, and York hit his ace.

That left Stevens short, and when he flopped a flush draw in the following hand against chip leader DJ Sharma, the money was in. He bricked the flush and Sharma’s pocket sixes held for the win.

DJ Sharma is running over the table now, as he’s just set Pat Wilson to the cage for 4th-place money. Sharma shoved sevens and Wilson called with ace-king. The board bricked for Wilson and the sevens held. Sharma usually says he loves any hand with a six in it, but tonight he may just be on the sevens instead.

It was another case of Sharma Time that sent Stacey Deiderich to the rail. She open-shoved a short stack from the middle, and DJ Sharma reshoved a bigger stack from the cutoff. It folded to Zachary York in the big blind, and he called them both with more.

York had the best with queens, against pocket sevens for Sharma, and king-seven suited for Diederich. There was a king on the flop, but Sharma somehow found the case seven, leaving Diederich’s two pair and York’s over pair in big trouble. The rest of the board bricked and Diederich was out in 5th place while York dropped to about 330k. Sharma now has about 900k for the lead.

Earlier in the night, Mike Malm, who has been railing the table, bet on Sharma to win. “It’s not because I think he’ll win; I know he’ll win!” It looks like he just might …

Brad Stevens opened to 30k under the gun, and Pat Wilson called from the big blind. They both checked the 9♠6♠10♥ flop and Wilson led for 35k on the 5♥ turn. Stevens called, then called 20k on the Q♣ river, showing king-jack for the straight while Wilson mucked his hand.

The players will be on a break in about 7 minutes, and I’ll get a full count then.

Stefan Maloney shoved with ace-nine, and Zachary York called with ten-jack of spades. The board ran out eight-six-four-seven-nine to give York the nut straight. York took down the NLH/PLO Mix on the opening day of the series.

I missed the action while writing the Sharma time action, but Daryl Roberts was the 7th place finisher tonight for $660.

It was a bit of reverse Sharma Time on the final table. DJ Sharma shoved the button with ace-queen, and Brad Stevens woke up with ace-jack of clubs and called it off. He flopped the flush draw and turned the clubs to flip the script on Sharma.

The hand left Sharma short, but Sharma Time was just called as he shoved eight-three suited, and got called by Zachary York in the big blind. There was only one spade on the flop, but Sharma ran out to spades on the turn and river for a full double back into the game.

They are down to 7 left in the side game now after Joe Herlein and Iano Bliss ended their runs tonight. I haven’t been able to watch much of the action as I’m still watching the bubble of the 6-Max game, which should be bagging shortly.

They are in the money now after a huge cooler saw Brent Baxter bubble the game tonight. Both he and Pat Wilson flopped trip eights, but Wilson had a better kicker. All the money went in on the flop with Baxter drawing to one of three queens for two pair. He bricked, and the final nine were in the money. The players agreed to a bubble deal that saw Baxter at least get some of his money back after the cooler.

The side game is now on the money bubble with hand-for-hand play in progress. After the next elimination, all side event players will be in the money, and I’ll grab some final table photos then.

They are down to the final 15 players in the side game now. Among the remaining players are DJ Sharma, Mike Malm, Stefan Maloney, and Stacey Diederich. Sharma just managed to pick up some chips with a shove on a crazy board that was showing kings full of queens. Brad Stevens open-mucked a pair of jacks, and Sharma folded without showing, but said after that he had ace-queen, which would have been a chop had Stevens called.

Just before the hand Sharma commented that he only has “!4 players to go before I win it.”

The prizes are in and the field for the side game tonight is set at 83 entries for prizes of $15,770. Nine players will share in those prizes later tonight with the winner set to pocket just over $5k.

Event #8 Prizes

The side event is on its second break of the day with 79 entries on the board. Registration closes at the end of this break, and it looks like either 8 or 9 players will get paid, depending on the reg-desk action as the break concludes. I’ll confirm the numbers as soon as the prizes are posted shortly after the break.

Level 9 has just begun and this is the final level of poker with entries open. They’ll take a 15-minute break following this level, and entries are closed when they return for Level 10 in just over 30 minutes.

The side game is underway now with 19 entries on the board and 18 players still alive. Cindy Grabia, Stacey Diederich, Tom T, Zsuzsanna Spence, Brady O’Hara, and Kelly Gall are among the players in the mix early for this one.

The side game on Monday night is a little NLH game. For $230, players get 20k in chips for 20-minute levels. There are 9 levels of late entry, meaning the desk should shut down at about 9:30 PM. After that, they’ll play to a winner late Monday night.

As this is the side game on Monday, I likely won’t have much time for it until after Event #7 bags for the day, but I should make it over to this one for the endgame at least.