PGT Leaderboard Top 100: Collopy, Smith, Livingston, Shak On The Outside

Isaac Haxton, Chris Brewer, Stephen Chidwick, and Alex Foxen may have locked up their seats in the PGT Championship $1,000,000 Freeroll, but there are plenty of players who will be using PGT Last Chance as their last opportunity to qualify for the PGT Championship.

The final series for the 2023 PokerGO Tour (PGT) season is PGT Last Chance, running from January 2-7, 2024. The six-event series will be the last opportunity for players to earn PGT points and finish in the Top 40 on the PGT leaderboard. Finishing in the Top 40 will guarantee players a seat in the PGT Championship $1,000,000 Freeroll, but during PGT Last Chance, there will be two Dream Seats awarded to the two highest-ranked players on the PGT Last Chance leaderboard who don't finish in the Top 40 after PGT Last Chance. The two players awarded the final two Dream Seats will receive direct entry into the PGT Championship on January 9-10, 2024.

Having discussed players on the fringe of dropping out of the Top 40, which included Jason Koon, Daniel Negreanu, Adam Hendrix, Chino Rheem, Andrew Lichtenberger, and Ben Lamb, the attention will now be turned to those players further down the PGT leaderboard who will need to rely on a strong showing at PGT Last Chance to qualify for the PGT Championship.

Collopy, Smith, Livingston, and Oganyan Just a Podium Finish Out of Top 40

Jim Collopy headlines this group in 46th place on the PGT leaderboard with 982 PGT points, while Dan Smith (964 PGT points), Alex Livingston (930 PGT points), and Aram Oganyan (920 PGT points) fill the final few positions of the Top 50 on the PGT leaderboard. These four players will need more than just a min-cash if they are to qualify for the PGT Championship, as their distance from Arthur Morris (40th - 1,048 PGT points) ranges from 67 PGT points to 129 PGT points. Consequently, it is also expected that they will put in the most volume during PGT Last Chance in a bid to not just qualify for the PGT Championship by finishing in the Top 40, but also by giving themselves the best chance to win one of the final two Dream Seats.

Bonomo, Rast, Shak, and Zobian Sitting Below 900 PGT Points

Just below the 900 PGT points threshold is a group of players who are regulars in PGT events. Justin Bonomo (54th - 870 PGT points), Brian Rast (55th - 852 PGT points), Dan Shak (57th - 832 PGT points), and Aram Zobian (59th - 816 PGT points) will all need to put in a solid performance during PGT Last Chance if they are to qualify for the PGT Championship. Since they are more than a victory outside of the Top 40, their best chance to qualify for the PGT Championship will be either to run hot during PGT Last Chance and secure a victory and another final table, or by amassing enough PGT points to be in contention for the two Dream Seats.

Will Weisman and Martirosyan Take a Shot?

Dylan Weisman (51st - 917 PGT points) and Artur Martirosyan (60th - 778 PGT points) are the dark horses for PGT Last Chance, but both are due to different circumstances. Weisman is based in Las Vegas and is always the first to arrive for any Pot-Limit Omaha event, but he rarely plays No-Limit Hold'em - let alone Hold'em events in the PokerGO Studio. However, the allure of the PGT Championship $1,000,000 Freeroll may pull up off the bench and onto the field as he is only 132 PGT points out of the Top 40 and has been known to rip off a victory in events he isn't experienced in.

Martirosyan is fresh off winning his second WSOP bracelet at WSOP Paradise before he finished sixth in the WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas for more than $1.2 million. Martirosyan is incredibly experienced in high-stakes tournaments, but the biggest hurdle to his participation in PGT Last Chance is if he traveled home for the holidays. Will Martirosyan want to travel back to Las Vegas without a guaranteed seat in the PGT Championship?

Last Chance Long Shots

Joao Simao (62nd - 750 PGT points), Bill Klein (64th - 735 PGT points), Matthew Wantman (67th - 703 PGT points), Martin Zamani (75th - 686 PGT points), Michael Rocco (77th - 669 PGT points), Brian Kim (80th - 646 PGT points), Vladas Tamasauskas (83rd - 639 PGT points), Jonathan Jaffe (84th - 636 PGT points), Nick Petrangelo (87th - 624 PGT points), Joey Weissman (94th - 558 PGT points), and David Peters (95th - 554 PGT points) are all within a strong PGT Last Chance showing from scooping up the final two Dream Seats. 

These players have all been regular players at the PokerGO Studio during the 2023 PGT season, but with results not falling their way, they'll need to double down during PGT Last Chance and position themselves on the PGT Last Chance leaderboard to be the two highest-ranked players that don't qualify for the Top 40 and be awarded the final two Dream Seats.

PGT Leaderboard: Looking Beyond the Top 40

Rank	Player	PGT Points
46th	Jim Collopy	982
47th	Dan Smith	964
49th	Alex Livingston	930
50th	Aram Oganyan	920
51st	Dylan Weisman	917
54th	Justin Bonomo	870
55th	Brian Rast	852
57th	Dan Shak	832
59th	Aram Zobian	816
60th	Artur Martirosyan	778
62nd	Joao Simao	750
64th	Chino Rheem	735
67th	Matthew Wantman	703
75th	Martin Zamani	686
77th	Michael Rocco	669
80th	Brian Kim	646
83rd	Vladas Tamasauskas	639
84th	Jonathan Jaffe	636
87th	Nick Petrangelo	624
94th	Joey Weissman	558
95th	David Peters	554

Leaderboard standings as of Thursday, December 28, 2023. See the complete and current PGT leaderboard at pgt.com/leaderboard.

PGT Last Chance Schedule

Date	Event	Start Time	End of Registration
January 2, 2024	PGT Last Chance #1: $10,100 No-Limit Hold'em	12 p.m. PT	~4:30 p.m. PT
January 3, 2024	PGT Last Chance #2: $10,100 No-Limit Hold'em	12 p.m. PT	~4:30 p.m. PT
January 4, 2024	PGT Last Chance #3: $10,100 No-Limit Hold'em	12 p.m. PT	~4:30 p.m. PT
January 5, 2024	PGT Last Chance #4: $10,100 No-Limit Hold'em	12 p.m. PT	~4:30 p.m. PT
January 6, 2024	PGT Last Chance #5: $10,100 No-Limit Hold'em	12 p.m. PT	~4:30 p.m. PT
January 7, 2024	PGT Last Chance #6: $10,100 No-Limit Hold'em	12 p.m. PT	~4:30 p.m. PT
January 9, 2024	PGT Championship $1,000,000 Freeroll	12 p.m. PT	~2:15 p.m. PT

For full PGT schedule information, check out pgt.com/schedule.

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