Select Event:
The third stop of the 2025 Pure Poker Tour kicks off on July 17 at Pure Casino Edmonton, with live coverage by Lyle Bateman throughout the series.
-
Trevor Emir-Ahmet Wins Event #8 for $3,590
Trevor Emir-Ahmet 
Trevor Emir-Ahmet After playing down to three-handed very quickly, the game ground to a near-halt. It took almost 3 hours to play from three to a winner, and that was despite the fina three making a deal about 90 minutes in.
Trevor Emir-Ahmet was an early leader in the game, but once they got three-ways and blinds started climbing, the chips started moving around. All three players had the lead at some point, but once Benny Sarnelli sent Bernice McLennan to the rail in 3rd place, Emir-Ahmet found himself on the bottom end of the counts, with Sarnelli on top.
That changed when Emir-Ahmet shoved with a suited king and Sarnelli called with queen-ten of clubs. Sarnelli flopped a flush draw but then bricked the runout to leave the high-high best. That gave Emir-Ahmet a slight lead, and he chipped Sarnelli down a bit more before the final confrontation.
By the time it all ended, there were less than 30 big blinds in play, and Sarnelli had only about four of them in his stack. He called a button shove from Emir-Ahmet with seven-six of hearts against ace-four off. Once again, Sarnelli flopped a flush draw, and, once again, he bricked the runout while Emir-Ahmet found trip fours on the turn and held for his first PPT trophy.
-
Benny Sarnelli Out in 2nd Place for $3,200
Level: 25 (25000/50000/50000) Entries: 1/73 Prizes: $13,870 
Benny Sarnelli It was a marathon three-way session, taking around 2 hours to play from 3 to a winner. Heads up went fairly quickly after Benny Sarnelli sent Bernice McLennan out in 3rd, but it still wasn’t easy, despite the growing blinds.
In the final level, there were less than 30 big blinds total in play. Sarnelli started with the chip lead, but Trevor Emir-Ahmet doubled to take a slight lead, then whittled Sarnelli down a bit more over the next few hands. When the money finally went in, Emir-Ahmet shoved his button, and with his stack down just a few big blinds, Sarnelli called it off with suited connectors.
He had seven-six of hearts against the ace-four off for Emir-Ahmet. Sarnelli flopped a heart draw, but that was a recurring theme for him this evening, along with the eventual brickyard runout on the board of 3♥Q♥4♠4♣3♣, while Emir-Ahmet hit trip fours on the turn.
Sarnelli made $3,200 after the final three made an even chop (leaving $390 extra to play for), but fell just short of scoring another PPT trophy for his growing collection.
-
Emir-Ahmet Doubles to Even it Out
Level: 24 (20000/40000/40000) Entries: 2/73 Prizes: $13,870 Trevor Emir-Ahmet shoved his button and Benny Sarnelli called with more. He had Q♣10♣ against K♠5♠ for Emir-Ahmet. Sarnelli flopped massive flush draws on the 4♥3♣8♣J♦3♦ runout, but then bricked turn and river to leave Emir-Ahmet’s king-high as the winner.
-
Bernice McLennan Out in 3rd Place for $3,200
Level: 24 (20000/40000/40000) Entries: 2/73 Prizes: $13,870 
Bernice Mclennan They are heads up now, after Benny Sarnelli hit the river on Berice McLennan. She shoved a short stack from the small blind and Benny Sarnelli called from the big. He was on queen-jack against ace-ten for McLennan. The board of K♦5♦2♠3♥Q♦ ran clean for McLennan until the river, when Sarnelli sent her home. She secued $3,200 in the three-way deal
-
Sarnelli Doubles Back
Level: 23 (15000/30000/30000) Entries: 3/73 Prizes: $13,870 In a virtual reversal of the previous hand, Benny Sarnelli shoved his button and Trevor Emir-Ahmet called from the small blind. Sarnelli was in rough shape with king-queen into ace-queen, but K♣6♦K♠7♦9♣ runout gave him trip kings for the win.
-
Emir-Ahmet Doubles
Level: 23 (15000/30000/30000) Entries: 3/73 Prizes: $13,870 Trevor Emir-Ahmet shoved the button for 311k, and Benny Sarnelli called from the big blind. It was a race between Sarnelli’s pocket sevens and the king-jack for Emir-Ahmet.
Sarnelli called it a “Fair fight”, but Emir-Ahmet landed a haymaker on the 4♥J♣J♦ flop. Sarnelli could still take it with a seven, but 5♥5♣ on the runout didn’t help him, and he sent Emir-Ahmet into the lead.
-
McLennan Chips Up
Level: 22 (15000/25000/25000) Entries: 3/73 Prizes: $13,870 Trevor Emir-Ahmet and Bernice McLennan limped to the A♥5♣9♣ flop, where they both checked to the 7♦ turn.
Emir-Ahmet fired 40k and got the call to see 10♣ on the river. He checked, then folded when McLennan fired 90k.
-
Deal Time
Level: 22 (15000/25000/25000) Entries: 3/73 Prizes: $13,870 With the blinds climbing and the stacks nearly equal, the final three players have decided on an even chop. They’ll all take $3,200 guaranteed, and leave $390 on the table with the trophy to play for.
-
Even Stacks
Level: 22 (15000/25000/25000) Entries: 3/73 Prizes: $13,870 Three-handed play has dragged out a bit, with action still going. Trevor Emir-Ahmet has a slight lead over the rest with about 500k, while Bernice McLennan and Benny Sarnelli are on about 460k each.
-
McLennan Doubles, Still Short
Level: 20 (10000/15000/15000) Entries: 3/73 Prizes: $13,870 In the final hand of the last level, Bernice McLennan raised to 25k, and Benny Sarnelli and Trevor Emir-Ahmet both called from the blinds. McLennan led for 30k on the K♠5♦3♥ flop, but Sarnelli same over the top to 150k. McLennan called it off for her stack.
Both players had hit the king, with McLennan’s ace kicker playing. Sarnelli too the lead on the [invalid notations] river for the better two pair.
The leaves her on about 300k, while Sarnelli and Emir- Ahmet are on about 600k each.
-
Sarnelli to the Lead
Level: 19 (60000/12000/12000) Entries: 3/73 Prizes: $13,870 I was out of the room for a second, so I’m not sure how it happened, but when I returned, Benny Sarnelli was the chip leader with almost 700k in front of him, while Bernice McLennan and Trevor Emir-Ahmet are about tied on ~350k each.
-
Sarnelli Takes Small One
Level: 19 (6000/12000/12000) Entries: 3/73 Prizes: $13,870 It was limped three ways preflop, and it checked to Trevor Emir-Ahmet on the 5♣A♥4♠ flop. He fired 20k and was called by both Bernice McLennan in the small blind and Benny Sarnelli in the big.
They all checked the J♠ turn, and after a check from McLennan on the 8♦ river, Sarnelli fired a bet of 20k, and got two folds, albeit after a bit of a tank from chip leader Emir-Ahmet. He has more than 600k in front of him, about half the chips in play.
-
Down to Three Left
Level: 18 (5000/10000/10000) Entries: 3/73 Prizes: $13,870 It’s been very quick action at the final table. While I’ve been finishing up Event #7 and getting the pictures for this event sorted, they’ve played from seven down to 3. See below for the recetn prizes, with the full list under the Payouts tab.
Place Player Prize 4 
Curtis Lomanski$1,385 5 Louis Collette$915 6 Shihao Zhao$665 7 Daniel Luczyk$515 8 James Hollar$400 -
Money Shots
Level: 17 (4000/8000/8000) Entries: 6/73 Prizes: $13,870 Below is a look at the final seven players in the side game tonight. Daniel Luczyk just hit the rail for 7th place, leaving 6 players still in the game.
Trevor Emir-Ahmet 
Shihao Zhao 
Daniel Luczyk 
Curtis Lomanski 
Louis Collette Bernice Mclennan Benny Sarnelli -
Final Table & In the Money
Level: 16 (3000/6000/6000) Entries: 7/73 Prizes: $13,870 While the 6-Max game was finishing up, the side game went from 11 down to 7 in just moments. James Hollar was the first player out in the money tonight for a min-cash of $400. Stay tuned for pictures of the final 7 players, and I should be able to get into coverage on this shortly.
-
2 Off the Money
Level: 16 (3000/6000/6000) Entries: 10/73 Prizes: $13,870 They are just two off the money in the side game tonight, and the remaining players are on their break between Level 15 & 16. I’m still watching the 6-Max, but I had a quick look around and Trevor Emir-Ahmet looks to be the big leader right now. He’s playing 322k, and looks to be the only player with 300k or more in front of them.
-
Five Off the Money
Level: 14 (2000/4000/4000) Entries: 13/73 Prizes: $13,870 The side game is down to 13 players remaining, just five eliminations away from the 8 paid spots tonight. Daiel O’Leary, Ali Razzaq, Rob Lothian, Jeff Clarke, and Bernice McLennan are among the players still alive in this one.
-
73 Entries on the Side
Level: 13 (1500/3000/3000) Entries: 15/73 Prizes: $13,870 The field for the side game tonight is confirmed at 73 entries for prizes of almost $14k. 8 players will get a piece of that prize pool later tonight, with the winner set to pocket $4,720. Full prizes are below and under the Payouts tab.
Place Prize 1 $4,720 2 $3,190 3 $2,080 4 $1,385 5 $915 6 $665 7 $515 8 $400 -
Just Under an Hour to Enter
Level: 8 (500/1000/1000) Entries: 32/68 Prizes: $12,920 Level 8 has just begun, and that means there are about 55 minutes until entries are closed for the side game. The current field is at 68 entries, so it’s looking like the final field will be somewhere between 80 and 90 entries. Currently, the prizes are just shy of $13k.
-
More than $10k in Prizes
Level: 5 (300/500/500) Entries: 40/54 Prizes: $10,260 The prizes for the side game are now over $10k with 54 entries on the board. There are 15 minutes to play in Level 5, with the first break scheduled following this level. After that, there are 4 more levels of poker, plus another break, before the end of entries at about 9:30 PM.
-
Nearing 50 Entries
Level: 4 (200/400/400) Entries: 40/47 Prizes: $8,930 The prizes are just shy of $9k now with 47 entries on the board. There are still 40 players at the felt, and among them are Francis Fan, Josie Brown, and Bernice McLennan, who was in the 6-Max earlier but now looks to be at a seat in this one.
-
Nearing $8k in Prizes
Level: 3 (200/300/300) Entries: 38/41 Prizes: $7,790 The side event field is up to 41 with about 15 minutes to play in Level 3. That puts the prizes at $7,790, a couple of entries short of $8k. 12 more entries will put the prizes into 5 digits, and with a couple of hours left to enter, it looks like they’ll go well beyond that.
-
Up to 33 Entries
Level: 2 (100/200/200) Entries: 30/33 Prizes: $6,270 The field is now up to 33 entries for the side game with about 15 minutes to play in Level 2. Among the players active right now are Devon Jacobs, who was the winner of Event #5, as well as Jeff Clarke, who was at the final table of last night’s Big Bounty game.
-
22 Players to Start
Level: 1 (100/100/100) Entries: 22/22 Prizes: $4,180 The side game is underway with the action in Level 1. There were 22 players in their seats to start the day, and there’s still fairly brisk action at the buy-in desk, so numbers will be increasing fairly quickly I’d expect. Bijon Emmanuel, Daniel O’Leary, Brent Baxter, Brady O’Hara, Rob Lothian, and Chris Lahey are among the players in action to start the day.
-
Little NLH on the Side for Monday
2025 Pure Poker Tour Series #3 – Event #8: $230 NLH ($200 + $30)
Date: Jul 21, 6 PM Blinds: 20 Minutes Starting Stack: 20k Late Entry: 9 Levels (~9:30 PM) Day 1 Ends: One-Day Event The side game on Monday is Event #8: $230 NLH ($200 + $30). The action kicks off at 6 PM, and players sit down with 20k in chips. Blind levels will be 20 minutes long, and entries are open for nine levels. Including the breaks, that will put the final chance to enter this one at about 9:30 PM tonight.
I’ll be watching Day 1 of the 6-Max for the early part of Monday, so I won’t be following this one very closely until later in the evening, after the 6-Max bags up for the night, but I expect I’ll be able to cover most of the in-the-money play for this game.
-
Trevor Emir-Ahmet Wins Event #8 for $3,590
Trevor Emir-Ahmet Trevor Emir-Ahmet After playing down to three-handed very quickly, the game ground to a near-halt. It took almost 3 hours to play from three to a winner, and that was despite the fina three making a deal about 90 minutes in.
Trevor Emir-Ahmet was an early leader in the game, but once they got three-ways and blinds started climbing, the chips started moving around. All three players had the lead at some point, but once Benny Sarnelli sent Bernice McLennan to the rail in 3rd place, Emir-Ahmet found himself on the bottom end of the counts, with Sarnelli on top.
That changed when Emir-Ahmet shoved with a suited king and Sarnelli called with queen-ten of clubs. Sarnelli flopped a flush draw but then bricked the runout to leave the high-high best. That gave Emir-Ahmet a slight lead, and he chipped Sarnelli down a bit more before the final confrontation.
By the time it all ended, there were less than 30 big blinds in play, and Sarnelli had only about four of them in his stack. He called a button shove from Emir-Ahmet with seven-six of hearts against ace-four off. Once again, Sarnelli flopped a flush draw, and, once again, he bricked the runout while Emir-Ahmet found trip fours on the turn and held for his first PPT trophy.
-
Benny Sarnelli Out in 2nd Place for $3,200
Level: 25 (25000/50000/50000) Entries: 1/73 Prizes: $13,870 Benny Sarnelli It was a marathon three-way session, taking around 2 hours to play from 3 to a winner. Heads up went fairly quickly after Benny Sarnelli sent Bernice McLennan out in 3rd, but it still wasn’t easy, despite the growing blinds.
In the final level, there were less than 30 big blinds total in play. Sarnelli started with the chip lead, but Trevor Emir-Ahmet doubled to take a slight lead, then whittled Sarnelli down a bit more over the next few hands. When the money finally went in, Emir-Ahmet shoved his button, and with his stack down just a few big blinds, Sarnelli called it off with suited connectors.
He had seven-six of hearts against the ace-four off for Emir-Ahmet. Sarnelli flopped a heart draw, but that was a recurring theme for him this evening, along with the eventual brickyard runout on the board of 3♥Q♥4♠4♣3♣, while Emir-Ahmet hit trip fours on the turn.
Sarnelli made $3,200 after the final three made an even chop (leaving $390 extra to play for), but fell just short of scoring another PPT trophy for his growing collection.
-
Emir-Ahmet Doubles to Even it Out
Level: 24 (20000/40000/40000) Entries: 2/73 Prizes: $13,870 Trevor Emir-Ahmet shoved his button and Benny Sarnelli called with more. He had Q♣10♣ against K♠5♠ for Emir-Ahmet. Sarnelli flopped massive flush draws on the 4♥3♣8♣J♦3♦ runout, but then bricked turn and river to leave Emir-Ahmet’s king-high as the winner.
-
Bernice McLennan Out in 3rd Place for $3,200
Level: 24 (20000/40000/40000) Entries: 2/73 Prizes: $13,870 Bernice Mclennan They are heads up now, after Benny Sarnelli hit the river on Berice McLennan. She shoved a short stack from the small blind and Benny Sarnelli called from the big. He was on queen-jack against ace-ten for McLennan. The board of K♦5♦2♠3♥Q♦ ran clean for McLennan until the river, when Sarnelli sent her home. She secued $3,200 in the three-way deal
-
Sarnelli Doubles Back
Level: 23 (15000/30000/30000) Entries: 3/73 Prizes: $13,870 In a virtual reversal of the previous hand, Benny Sarnelli shoved his button and Trevor Emir-Ahmet called from the small blind. Sarnelli was in rough shape with king-queen into ace-queen, but K♣6♦K♠7♦9♣ runout gave him trip kings for the win.
-
Emir-Ahmet Doubles
Level: 23 (15000/30000/30000) Entries: 3/73 Prizes: $13,870 Trevor Emir-Ahmet shoved the button for 311k, and Benny Sarnelli called from the big blind. It was a race between Sarnelli’s pocket sevens and the king-jack for Emir-Ahmet.
Sarnelli called it a “Fair fight”, but Emir-Ahmet landed a haymaker on the 4♥J♣J♦ flop. Sarnelli could still take it with a seven, but 5♥5♣ on the runout didn’t help him, and he sent Emir-Ahmet into the lead.
-
McLennan Chips Up
Level: 22 (15000/25000/25000) Entries: 3/73 Prizes: $13,870 Trevor Emir-Ahmet and Bernice McLennan limped to the A♥5♣9♣ flop, where they both checked to the 7♦ turn.
Emir-Ahmet fired 40k and got the call to see 10♣ on the river. He checked, then folded when McLennan fired 90k.
-
Deal Time
Level: 22 (15000/25000/25000) Entries: 3/73 Prizes: $13,870 With the blinds climbing and the stacks nearly equal, the final three players have decided on an even chop. They’ll all take $3,200 guaranteed, and leave $390 on the table with the trophy to play for.
-
Even Stacks
Level: 22 (15000/25000/25000) Entries: 3/73 Prizes: $13,870 Three-handed play has dragged out a bit, with action still going. Trevor Emir-Ahmet has a slight lead over the rest with about 500k, while Bernice McLennan and Benny Sarnelli are on about 460k each.
-
McLennan Doubles, Still Short
Level: 20 (10000/15000/15000) Entries: 3/73 Prizes: $13,870 In the final hand of the last level, Bernice McLennan raised to 25k, and Benny Sarnelli and Trevor Emir-Ahmet both called from the blinds. McLennan led for 30k on the K♠5♦3♥ flop, but Sarnelli same over the top to 150k. McLennan called it off for her stack.
Both players had hit the king, with McLennan’s ace kicker playing. Sarnelli too the lead on the [invalid notations] river for the better two pair.
The leaves her on about 300k, while Sarnelli and Emir- Ahmet are on about 600k each.
-
Sarnelli to the Lead
Level: 19 (60000/12000/12000) Entries: 3/73 Prizes: $13,870 I was out of the room for a second, so I’m not sure how it happened, but when I returned, Benny Sarnelli was the chip leader with almost 700k in front of him, while Bernice McLennan and Trevor Emir-Ahmet are about tied on ~350k each.
-
Sarnelli Takes Small One
Level: 19 (6000/12000/12000) Entries: 3/73 Prizes: $13,870 It was limped three ways preflop, and it checked to Trevor Emir-Ahmet on the 5♣A♥4♠ flop. He fired 20k and was called by both Bernice McLennan in the small blind and Benny Sarnelli in the big.
They all checked the J♠ turn, and after a check from McLennan on the 8♦ river, Sarnelli fired a bet of 20k, and got two folds, albeit after a bit of a tank from chip leader Emir-Ahmet. He has more than 600k in front of him, about half the chips in play.
-
Down to Three Left
Level: 18 (5000/10000/10000) Entries: 3/73 Prizes: $13,870 It’s been very quick action at the final table. While I’ve been finishing up Event #7 and getting the pictures for this event sorted, they’ve played from seven down to 3. See below for the recetn prizes, with the full list under the Payouts tab.
Place Player Prize 4 Curtis Lomanski$1,385 5 Louis Collette$915 6 Shihao Zhao$665 7 Daniel Luczyk$515 8 James Hollar$400 -
Money Shots
Level: 17 (4000/8000/8000) Entries: 6/73 Prizes: $13,870 Below is a look at the final seven players in the side game tonight. Daniel Luczyk just hit the rail for 7th place, leaving 6 players still in the game.
Trevor Emir-Ahmet Shihao Zhao Daniel Luczyk Curtis Lomanski Louis Collette Bernice Mclennan Benny Sarnelli -
Final Table & In the Money
Level: 16 (3000/6000/6000) Entries: 7/73 Prizes: $13,870 While the 6-Max game was finishing up, the side game went from 11 down to 7 in just moments. James Hollar was the first player out in the money tonight for a min-cash of $400. Stay tuned for pictures of the final 7 players, and I should be able to get into coverage on this shortly.
-
2 Off the Money
Level: 16 (3000/6000/6000) Entries: 10/73 Prizes: $13,870 They are just two off the money in the side game tonight, and the remaining players are on their break between Level 15 & 16. I’m still watching the 6-Max, but I had a quick look around and Trevor Emir-Ahmet looks to be the big leader right now. He’s playing 322k, and looks to be the only player with 300k or more in front of them.
-
Five Off the Money
Level: 14 (2000/4000/4000) Entries: 13/73 Prizes: $13,870 The side game is down to 13 players remaining, just five eliminations away from the 8 paid spots tonight. Daiel O’Leary, Ali Razzaq, Rob Lothian, Jeff Clarke, and Bernice McLennan are among the players still alive in this one.
-
73 Entries on the Side
Level: 13 (1500/3000/3000) Entries: 15/73 Prizes: $13,870 The field for the side game tonight is confirmed at 73 entries for prizes of almost $14k. 8 players will get a piece of that prize pool later tonight, with the winner set to pocket $4,720. Full prizes are below and under the Payouts tab.
Place Prize 1 $4,720 2 $3,190 3 $2,080 4 $1,385 5 $915 6 $665 7 $515 8 $400 -
Just Under an Hour to Enter
Level: 8 (500/1000/1000) Entries: 32/68 Prizes: $12,920 Level 8 has just begun, and that means there are about 55 minutes until entries are closed for the side game. The current field is at 68 entries, so it’s looking like the final field will be somewhere between 80 and 90 entries. Currently, the prizes are just shy of $13k.
-
More than $10k in Prizes
Level: 5 (300/500/500) Entries: 40/54 Prizes: $10,260 The prizes for the side game are now over $10k with 54 entries on the board. There are 15 minutes to play in Level 5, with the first break scheduled following this level. After that, there are 4 more levels of poker, plus another break, before the end of entries at about 9:30 PM.
-
Nearing 50 Entries
Level: 4 (200/400/400) Entries: 40/47 Prizes: $8,930 The prizes are just shy of $9k now with 47 entries on the board. There are still 40 players at the felt, and among them are Francis Fan, Josie Brown, and Bernice McLennan, who was in the 6-Max earlier but now looks to be at a seat in this one.
-
Nearing $8k in Prizes
Level: 3 (200/300/300) Entries: 38/41 Prizes: $7,790 The side event field is up to 41 with about 15 minutes to play in Level 3. That puts the prizes at $7,790, a couple of entries short of $8k. 12 more entries will put the prizes into 5 digits, and with a couple of hours left to enter, it looks like they’ll go well beyond that.
-
Up to 33 Entries
Level: 2 (100/200/200) Entries: 30/33 Prizes: $6,270 The field is now up to 33 entries for the side game with about 15 minutes to play in Level 2. Among the players active right now are Devon Jacobs, who was the winner of Event #5, as well as Jeff Clarke, who was at the final table of last night’s Big Bounty game.
-
22 Players to Start
Level: 1 (100/100/100) Entries: 22/22 Prizes: $4,180 The side game is underway with the action in Level 1. There were 22 players in their seats to start the day, and there’s still fairly brisk action at the buy-in desk, so numbers will be increasing fairly quickly I’d expect. Bijon Emmanuel, Daniel O’Leary, Brent Baxter, Brady O’Hara, Rob Lothian, and Chris Lahey are among the players in action to start the day.
-
Little NLH on the Side for Monday
2025 Pure Poker Tour Series #3 – Event #8: $230 NLH ($200 + $30)
Date: Jul 21, 6 PM Blinds: 20 Minutes Starting Stack: 20k Late Entry: 9 Levels (~9:30 PM) Day 1 Ends: One-Day Event The side game on Monday is Event #8: $230 NLH ($200 + $30). The action kicks off at 6 PM, and players sit down with 20k in chips. Blind levels will be 20 minutes long, and entries are open for nine levels. Including the breaks, that will put the final chance to enter this one at about 9:30 PM tonight.
I’ll be watching Day 1 of the 6-Max for the early part of Monday, so I won’t be following this one very closely until later in the evening, after the 6-Max bags up for the night, but I expect I’ll be able to cover most of the in-the-money play for this game.
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Trevor Emir-Ahmet | $3,590* |
| 2 | Benny Sarnelli | $3,200* |
| 3 | Bernice Mclennan | $3,200* |
| 4 | Curtis Lomanski | $1,385 |
| 5 | Louis Collette | $915 |
| 6 | Shihao Zhao | $665 |
| 7 | Daniel Luczyk | $515 |
| 8 | James Hollar | $400 |
