In between snow cyclones and snow shoveling, MGM National Harbor hosted its 2026 Potomac Winter Poker Open (PWPO). There were 23 trophy events and more than $1,700,000 in guarantees on the line. But despite Old Man Winter (different from Old Man Coffee) trying to dampen its impact, the PWPO attracted players in droves, crushing guarantees and doling out big money to its winners.
The PWPO Main Event alone surpassed its guarantee by nearly $200,000, with the full series delivering $2,758,520 in prize money, more than $1 million dollars past the guarantee total.
Propst and Fleishman Win Early Events
In the 23 tournaments of 2026 Potomac Winter Poker Open, there was just one player who almost captured more than one trophy. Semsettin Ilyas won the Black Chip Bounty (Event 6) and Double Stack (Event 12) events. (Note: The recap noted Brett Hankins captured the trophy, but the official results sheet put Ilyas in the number one spot.)
There were a couple of highlighted tournaments in this series, other than the PWPO Main Event, of course.
Event 1 was a $600 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event (the Opener) with a $500,000 guarantee. After the seven starting flights, the guarantee was a distant memory.
- Total entries: 1,635
- Total prize pool: $825,675
- Winner: Edgar Propst / $109,787
In the end, there was a three-way chop among Propst, Matthew Sherman, and Liam Schmidt. Despite Propst not being the chip leader, he was able to capture the most prize money and trophy to close it out. And his winning amount more than doubled his lifetime tournament poker earnings.
Event 10 was another $600 buy-in No Limit Hold’em (Monumental Stacks), this one with a $100,000 guarantee. Two starting flights left this number in the dust by a large margin.
- Total entries: 309
- Total prize pool: $156,045
- Winner: Barry Fleishman / $22,237
The speedy final table thinned to just five players before the five survivors made a deal for the rest of the prize money. That left Barry Fleishman as the champion, enabling him to donate a hefty sum to a charity organization to which he recently pledged.
2026 Potomac Winter Poker Open Main Event
The largest buy-in of the series also promised the largest prize pool. Players could buy in for $3,000, though a solid number of them satellited in through BetMGM Poker online. No matter the way they earned their seats, they were all guaranteed at least $750,000 in the prize pool.
Day 1A delivered 144 entries into action, with just 25 of the players bagging chips at the end of that night. Frank Bonacci was the chip leader when the dust settled.
Day 1B added another 205 entries, setting the final numbers at:
- Total entries: 349
- Total prize pool: $942,300
- Total paid players: 44
That second flight ended with just 38 of the players surviving, and Kash Corpening was the night’s chip leader, though he trailed Bonacci and several others from the previous flight.
Day 2 Starts Main Event Payouts
Sunday (February 22) began with 63 players unbagging their chips and hoping to play a long day of poker. Some didn’t make it to the money bubble, and the unfortunate bubble player was Joan Bousman, out in 45th place with only memories and a bubble story to tell.
Some of the players who began to line up to collect at least $4,806 for their efforts were Justin Liberto, David Savage, Frankie Zeta, and Faraz Jaka. By the dinner break, just two tables of 14 players remained, and Aaron Gao was the chip leader, followed by Ryan Kirkpatrick, Frank Bonacci, and Valeriy Pak.
After the break, a few more players exited to put the 10 survivors at one table. Stacks had evened out quite a bit since dinner, and one more bustout set the official final table set. John Hall had the chip lead, followed by Pak, Bonacci, and Gao. Play continued to find Kirkpatrick starting strong by eliminating Chong Han in ninth place, and Gao sent Jimmy Chen home in eighth and Corpening in seventh.
Six to One: Final Table Finds PWPO Champion
The final six returned on Monday to close out the Main Event and the Potomac Winter Poker Open series. Gao was the far-and-away chip leader with 7,445,000 chips, followed in the distance by Kirkpatrick with 4,920,000. Pak was third in chips, trailed by Hall, Bonacci, and Hatmaker.
Bonacci started strong, but Gao kept the pressure on and eliminated Hatmaker in sixth place. Hall doubled through Gao, but the latter then eliminated Pak in fifth place and Kirkpatrick in fourth. Hall managed another double through Gao to stay alive, only to have Bonacci bust Hall in third place. Then, Bonacci scored a massive double through Gao on the first hand of heads-up play to take the lead and leave Gao short. Gao then shoved with K-J only to see Bonacci call with A-J. Bonacci claimed victory.
The final payouts were:
- 1st place: Frank Bonacci / $200,164
- 2nd place: Aaron Gao / $140,205
- 3rd place: John Hall / $90,140
- 4th place: Ryan Kirkpatrick / $58,375
- 5th place: Valeriy Pak / $44,995
- 6th place: Casey Hatmaker / $37,221
Teamwork Made the Dream Work
From MGM National Harbor Poker Director Adam Boone to the Poker.org team and everyone in between, the series ended on a very high note.
Online Poker Available Daily on BetMGM Poker
With a break in the live poker tournament schedule on the East Coast – a good time to thaw from the latest snowpocalypse – poker players need not worry, as BetMGM offers tournaments and cash games online all day, every day. It’s the perfect time to put in practice and for new players to set up their real-money poker online account. (Don’t forget to use our exclusive online poker welcome bonus!)
Why is this such a good time to get into the action? There may be some big satellite action (the Borgata Spring Poker Open!) coming up, as well as another online poker series on tap. Stay tuned for details.
