It was a grind-it-out Day 2 in the latest Pure Poker Tour event, stretching nearly 11 hours before Jimmy Lee finally closed it out. When the dust settled, Lee had secured another PPT title and crossed the coveted $1 million mark in live tournament earnings on Hendon Mob — a milestone moment for the Canadian grinder.
Lee came into Day 2 with 320,000 and quickly climbed the leaderboard. By the second break, he had built a commanding stack of 970,000, well ahead of his closest competitor, Dallas Larson (635,000). As the field narrowed, Lee stayed in control, regaining the chip lead at the final table with a key hand — ace-king over Eric Wasylenko’s ace-queen — and went on a tear from there.
Heads-up with Larson wasn’t smooth sailing, though. The two swapped chip leads multiple times until a massive cooler ended things in dramatic fashion. Larson slow-played pocket jacks preflop, limping in to induce a raise. Lee obliged with 420,000 — then snapped off Larson’s shove. The trap backfired: Lee held pocket kings and locked up the win on a low board.
Gializis Runs Hot in Big Bounty Final to Claim His First PPT Victory
In the $560 Big Bounty, Georgios Gializis earned his first PPT trophy in style, denying DJ Sharma a second chance at redemption.
The tournament moved briskly to the final table, but things slowed to a crawl three-handed. Eventually, Gializis busted John Phan to set up a rematch-style heads-up battle. Sharma, fresh off a runner-up finish the night before, was back in position — and this time came in strong, holding a 2:1 chip lead and a bounty lead as well (13 to Gializis’ 11).
But the tides turned fast. Gializis flopped a set of fours in a massive pot against Sharma’s ace-queen, doubling up and flipping the script. Sharma fought back with aggressive play, building back to a million, but it wasn’t enough. After a blind shove with 6♣3♠, Gializis looked down at A♥10♥ and made the call. The board ran out with both players hitting boats, but Gializis’ aces full of threes bested Sharma’s threes full of aces.
It was a brutal back-to-back finish for Sharma, who’s been knocking on the door all week. But this night belonged to Gializis, who walked away with the trophy, the bragging rights, and a deep run to remember.
