For the first time since 2013, Daniel Negreanu emerged victorious in a poker tournament, beating David Coleman to win Event #7 of the PokerGO Cup. (PokerGO photo)

Somewhere inside the PokerGO Studio is a dragon with a sword through its heart. Not in the literal sense, but after dropping 13 consecutive heads-up duels, Daniel Negreanu defeated David Coleman in Event #7 ($50,000 NLHE) of the PokerGO Cup to win $700,000 and slay the figurative dragon that has haunted him since his last tournament victory in the 2013 WSOP Europe $25,000 High Roller.

All five players had made final tables in earlier PokerGO Cup events and chip leader Ali Imsirovic was in position to put a wrap on the PokerGO Cup leaderboard with a win. Instead, two other distinct narratives developed over the five hours of play.

In the first, Coleman, sitting at his fourth PokerGO Cup final table, put on a big stack clinic and made his arrival on the high stakes tournament scene officially official. The second was Negreanu finally getting a victory after months of frustration dating back to his heads up battle with Doug Polk and three consecutive High Stakes Duel II losses to Phil Hellmuth.

Ali Imsirovic, who already has two PokerGO Cup titles after emerging victorious in Event #2 ($10,000 NLHE) and Event #4 ($15,000 NLHE), started the final table with the chip lead. Nothing went right for Imsirovic on Tuesday night, however. Nearly 90 minutes after play began, Imsirovic was headed to the exit. Down to just 520,000, Imsirovic raised to 220,000 from UTG with TdTh. From his direct left, Negreanu moved all in for 665,000 with AdAs and Imsirovic called all in. The board ran out 7d7h3cKdAc to give Negreanu an unneeded full house as Imsirovic was unable to find any help and was out in fifth place.

Just 13 minutes later, Sergi Reixach saw his run end in brutal fashion. Reixach moved all in for 275,000 with KcKh and Negreanu called with 8c8d. Reixach was safe through the 7h4d2d flop but the 8s turn gave Negreanu top set and left Reixach down to two outs on the river. The 5h was not one of those outs and Reixach was eliminated in fourth.

On the very next hand, Coleman folded the button, Negreanu moved all in from the small blind with Qc7c and Alex Foxen called off his last 620,000 with AdJs. The Kc5c5s flop made Negreanu a slight favorite even though he was still behind. The 4d turn was a blank, but the 7h river gave Negreanu second pair and eliminated Foxen in third place.

Coleman held 56% of the chips when heads up play began and while it took just under two hours to go from five players to two, neither Negreanu nor Coleman was willing to give an inch. Over the next two hours, each player took multiple turns in the driver seat with the chip lead before Negreanu took the lead for the final time. After sparring with Coleman for an hour, Negreanu finally put the former #1-ranked American online poker player away.

Down to 1,900,000 with blinds of 50,000/100,000 (100,000 BBA), Coleman shoved with 5d5h. Negreanu took a full minute, using one of his allotted time banks, before calling with KcTd. Negreanu whiffed on the 7d6d2c flop, but began talking about the backdoor flush draw possibility. The Jd turn kept the flush draw alive. The Th river gave Negreanu a pair of tens to eliminate Coleman in second place and give Negreanu the win and a $700,000 score.

Coleman has finished fourth, third, sixth, and now second in his four PokerGO Cup final table appearances and has $710,000 in earnings. He sits just 27 points behind Imsirovic for the leaderboard title. Prior to the start of the PokerGO Cup, Coleman had just $176,000 in live earnings with his largest score being $ 26,563.

Negreanu meanwhile had made the final table of Event #5 ($25,000 NLHE) and now sits third on the leaderboard, trailing Imsirovic by 29 points.

The winner of the leaderboard will be determined by Event #8 ($100,000 NLHE), which wraps up on Wednesday beginning at 4 PM ET on PokerGO.

PokerGO Cup Event #7 Payouts

  1. Daniel Negreanu – $700,000
  2. David Coleman – $455,000
  3. Alex Foxen – $280,000
  4. Sergi Reixach – $192,500
  5. Ali Imsirovic – $122,500