2026 Pure Poker Tour Series #2 – Event #5: $340 NLH

It was a crazy end to the side game tonight. I wasn’t able to catch much of the action until they got into the money, but from three down to the finish was quite a ride.

The final three players cut a deal with Jody Fayant in the lead. That gave him the biggest payout of $4,875, with Duke Saddleback & Jeff Clarke agreeing to $4,275 each. After that, they played down for the trophy.

Saddleback was the first to fall, sending his chips to Clarke. Shortly after they got heads up there was a massive cooler that everyone at the table initially thought Fayant won to take down the game.

They both connected with the flop and the money went in. Fayant was on top pair, and held against Clarke’s bottom pair, but when the stacks were counted, Clarke had a slight lead, giving Fayant the double but leaving Clarke with about 200k still behind.

What followed next was a series of doubles for Clarke that eventually ended with the comeback win. In one example, Fayant had Clarke dominated preflop, leaving Clarke’s seven as his only live card.

He flopped it and held for his first double, then doubled again in the next hand. In the final showdown, Clarke was once again behind when the money went in preflop, but ahead by the river when his queen-eight rivered the snowman to crack Fayant’s suited king-ten.

Clarke was back on top by a bit at that point, and that ended the improbable comeback. In the end, Clarke won the final four hands all in, and in every case, he was behind Fayant when the chips went in. Heads-up poker is a strange game, and a lot of time, it’s Mr. Variance that actually wins the tournament.

Place	Player	Prize
1	Jeff Clarke	$4,275*
2	Jody Fayant	$4,875*
3	Duke Saddleback	$4,275*
4	Resul Dauti	$1,795
5	Brian Wells	$1,195
6	Brad Bishop	$685

They are heads up now after Duke Saddleback couldn’t crack the ace-king for Jeff Clarke. That gave Clarke a slight lead, but he was nearly felted immediately after Jody Fayant’s king-queen flopped top pair against Clarke’s bottom pair, and the king held to double Fayant into a huge lead.

Clarke has just come back with two doubles and is back in the small lead.

Resul Dauti was down to fumes, with just 10k behind. That went in with ace-jack, but he ran into ace-king for Duke Sadlleback and couldn’t find the knave he needed.

The final three players made a deal that saw chip leader Jody Fayant secure $4,875, with Saddleback and Jeff Clarke both taking $4,275. They are now playing it out for the trophy.

Brian Wells shoved with ace-four, and Jody Fayant reshoved with pocket sevens. Wells bricked the runout and the sevens held to send him to the cage for 5th-place money.

I missed the action as I am still watching the bubble of Event #3, but Brad Bishop took the first cash spot tonight, earning $685 for 6th place.

The side game is in the money now. Adam Riddell was the first player off the final table, followed by Benny Sarnelli in 8th place. Marin Kulusic just bubbled the money in 7th place.

The side game is on the final table now, with 9 players left. I’m still watching the endgame of Day 1b of Event #3, but that game is now on the end-of-day bubble, so I should be over on this one shortly.

The side game is down to 12 as Level 15 draws to a close and they head out for a break. Resul Dauti is the leader with about 280k in front of him. Jody Fayant looks to be second with about 180k. Jeff Clarke has about 160k with Rob Lothian playing about 130k

The side game is down to 15 players left as Level 14 ticks down to the end. That leaves them 9 eliminations away from the 6 paid spots tonight.

The prizes are in, and the field is confirmed at 60 entries for prizes of $17,100. 6 players will get a piece of the action, with the winner set to pocket $6,330.

The side game is down to 18 players left on the final two tables, which should put them 12 off the money spots. I’ll confirm those numbers once the prizes are posted.

The side game field is down to 20 left, which should put them 14 off the money spots. I’m still waiting for the prizes to be posted, however, so the numbers aren’t fully confirmed. It should be 6 players paid regardless of a minor change to the field, but the total prizes may change.

Entries are closed on the side game, and the final number on the clock is 60 entries. That is still unofficial, but if it holds, 6 players will share in $17,100 later tonight.

Level 9 is just beginning, which puts the end of entries about 35 minutes away. The current field is 56 entries for prizes of $15,960, but it’s likely rebuys will be brisk through the start of Level 10.

The side game in on the first break of the day, with five levels of play in the books. The field is now at 41 entries with more than 90 minutes left to enter. I had a bit of a brain fart earlier, saying this game closed for entries at 8:30. That was an hour early, and entries are actually open until 9:30 PM tonight.

The side game prizes are 1 entry shy of $10k, with 35 entries on the board as Level 5 begins. Just over an hour remains for entry in this game, and with the current pace it looks like this one will end up with around 60-70 entries.

About 15 minutes remain in Level 2, with the field at 19 entries. That puts the prizes just shy of $5.5k with around 2 hours left to enter the game.

The side game is now underway, with about 10 minutes to play in Level 1. The field is at 13 entries for prizes of almost $4k, and entries are open for more than two more hours.

Event #5: $340 NLH ($300 + $40)

The Saturday side game kicks off at 6 PM for a regular NLH game. Players get 25k in chips for their $340, and levels are 20 minutes long throughout the night (heads-up blinds will drop to 10 minutes).

Entries are open for nine levels of play, putting the close of entries at about 8:30 PM tonight. That should give a few of the E3 1b players who bust after entries close the chance to jump into this one late. This is a one-day event, so they’ll hand out the trophy before they go home for the night.

In the opening series of the year, Jo Teliani bagged the trophy in this one after a late-game chop with Adam Bishop. Bishop had the big stack at the end, but the deal included him getting the bigger payout, while Teliani took home the crystal and the win.

It was a crazy end to the side game tonight. I wasn’t able to catch much of the action until they got into the money, but from three down to the finish was quite a ride.

The final three players cut a deal with Jody Fayant in the lead. That gave him the biggest payout of $4,875, with Duke Saddleback & Jeff Clarke agreeing to $4,275 each. After that, they played down for the trophy.

Saddleback was the first to fall, sending his chips to Clarke. Shortly after they got heads up there was a massive cooler that everyone at the table initially thought Fayant won to take down the game.

They both connected with the flop and the money went in. Fayant was on top pair, and held against Clarke’s bottom pair, but when the stacks were counted, Clarke had a slight lead, giving Fayant the double but leaving Clarke with about 200k still behind.

What followed next was a series of doubles for Clarke that eventually ended with the comeback win. In one example, Fayant had Clarke dominated preflop, leaving Clarke’s seven as his only live card.

He flopped it and held for his first double, then doubled again in the next hand. In the final showdown, Clarke was once again behind when the money went in preflop, but ahead by the river when his queen-eight rivered the snowman to crack Fayant’s suited king-ten.

Clarke was back on top by a bit at that point, and that ended the improbable comeback. In the end, Clarke won the final four hands all in, and in every case, he was behind Fayant when the chips went in. Heads-up poker is a strange game, and a lot of time, it’s Mr. Variance that actually wins the tournament.

Place	Player	Prize
1	Jeff Clarke	$4,275*
2	Jody Fayant	$4,875*
3	Duke Saddleback	$4,275*
4	Resul Dauti	$1,795
5	Brian Wells	$1,195
6	Brad Bishop	$685

They are heads up now after Duke Saddleback couldn’t crack the ace-king for Jeff Clarke. That gave Clarke a slight lead, but he was nearly felted immediately after Jody Fayant’s king-queen flopped top pair against Clarke’s bottom pair, and the king held to double Fayant into a huge lead.

Clarke has just come back with two doubles and is back in the small lead.

Resul Dauti was down to fumes, with just 10k behind. That went in with ace-jack, but he ran into ace-king for Duke Sadlleback and couldn’t find the knave he needed.

The final three players made a deal that saw chip leader Jody Fayant secure $4,875, with Saddleback and Jeff Clarke both taking $4,275. They are now playing it out for the trophy.

Brian Wells shoved with ace-four, and Jody Fayant reshoved with pocket sevens. Wells bricked the runout and the sevens held to send him to the cage for 5th-place money.

I missed the action as I am still watching the bubble of Event #3, but Brad Bishop took the first cash spot tonight, earning $685 for 6th place.

The side game is in the money now. Adam Riddell was the first player off the final table, followed by Benny Sarnelli in 8th place. Marin Kulusic just bubbled the money in 7th place.

The side game is on the final table now, with 9 players left. I’m still watching the endgame of Day 1b of Event #3, but that game is now on the end-of-day bubble, so I should be over on this one shortly.

The side game is down to 12 as Level 15 draws to a close and they head out for a break. Resul Dauti is the leader with about 280k in front of him. Jody Fayant looks to be second with about 180k. Jeff Clarke has about 160k with Rob Lothian playing about 130k

The side game is down to 15 players left as Level 14 ticks down to the end. That leaves them 9 eliminations away from the 6 paid spots tonight.

The prizes are in, and the field is confirmed at 60 entries for prizes of $17,100. 6 players will get a piece of the action, with the winner set to pocket $6,330.

The side game is down to 18 players left on the final two tables, which should put them 12 off the money spots. I’ll confirm those numbers once the prizes are posted.

The side game field is down to 20 left, which should put them 14 off the money spots. I’m still waiting for the prizes to be posted, however, so the numbers aren’t fully confirmed. It should be 6 players paid regardless of a minor change to the field, but the total prizes may change.

Entries are closed on the side game, and the final number on the clock is 60 entries. That is still unofficial, but if it holds, 6 players will share in $17,100 later tonight.

Level 9 is just beginning, which puts the end of entries about 35 minutes away. The current field is 56 entries for prizes of $15,960, but it’s likely rebuys will be brisk through the start of Level 10.

The side game in on the first break of the day, with five levels of play in the books. The field is now at 41 entries with more than 90 minutes left to enter. I had a bit of a brain fart earlier, saying this game closed for entries at 8:30. That was an hour early, and entries are actually open until 9:30 PM tonight.

The side game prizes are 1 entry shy of $10k, with 35 entries on the board as Level 5 begins. Just over an hour remains for entry in this game, and with the current pace it looks like this one will end up with around 60-70 entries.

About 15 minutes remain in Level 2, with the field at 19 entries. That puts the prizes just shy of $5.5k with around 2 hours left to enter the game.

The side game is now underway, with about 10 minutes to play in Level 1. The field is at 13 entries for prizes of almost $4k, and entries are open for more than two more hours.

Event #5: $340 NLH ($300 + $40)

The Saturday side game kicks off at 6 PM for a regular NLH game. Players get 25k in chips for their $340, and levels are 20 minutes long throughout the night (heads-up blinds will drop to 10 minutes).

Entries are open for nine levels of play, putting the close of entries at about 8:30 PM tonight. That should give a few of the E3 1b players who bust after entries close the chance to jump into this one late. This is a one-day event, so they’ll hand out the trophy before they go home for the night.

In the opening series of the year, Jo Teliani bagged the trophy in this one after a late-game chop with Adam Bishop. Bishop had the big stack at the end, but the deal included him getting the bigger payout, while Teliani took home the crystal and the win.