Isaac Haxton beat Maurice Hawkins heads up to win the Poker Masters $10,000 Short Deck title. (Drew Amata/Poker Central)

Take a quick look at Isaac Haxton‘s live tournament results over the past few years and you might be surprised by the lack of first place finishes. Considered by many on the high roller scene to be one of the best poker players on the planet, Haxton hasn’t won a tournament since January 2017.

Haxton’s streak of 32 High Roller event cashes without a win came to an end on Tuesday though as Haxton took down Event #4 ($10,000 Short Deck Hold’em) of the 2018 Poker Masters. The win, coupled with a sixth and a fourth place finish in two previous Poker Masters events, have put Haxton just 30 points behind Brandon Adams for the Purple Jacket.

“It would be very satisfying to win this whole thing, I have a track record of doing pretty well, but with a lot of second through fifth-place finishes,” said Haxton. “Actually winning something is very satisfying.”

Dominik Nitsche started the final table with a narrow chip lead over Andrew Robl, but just 45 minutes after the final table began, Nitsche was on his way to the payouts window with the sixth place ticket. Nitsche open-shoved for 1,440,000 with JdJh from first position, Isaac Haxton re-shoved for 3,180,000 with TdTs from the cutoff and after some time, Andrew Robl folded Th9h from the button. The board ran out Qs8h7c9d6c to give Haston a rivered ten-high straight and eliminate Nitsche in sixth with a $33,000 payout.

Some 40 minutes later, Haxton found yet another victim. Cary Katz limped from early position with KhQh and Haxton moved all in for 3,880,000 behind him with AdTc. When action folded back to him, Catz called. The Qc9c6s flop was a friendly one for Katz, but the Ah turn put Haxton back in the lead. The Ts river gave Haxton an unnecessary two pair and eliminated Katz in fifth for $44,000.

Robl spent the next 30 minutes working a short stack and despite two straight double ups, found no further success. Robl open-shoved for 900,000 with Td9c and Ryan Tosoc moved all in over the for 3,970,000 with QcJs, forcing the rest of the table to fold. The QhQsTh flop put Tosoc in the driver’s seat and the Jd gave him a full house to eliminate Robl. The fourth place finish came with a $55,000 score.

Tosoc, Haxton and Maurice Hawkins battled for almost a full hour before finding the next elimination. Tosoc was down to just 490,000 and decided to open shove with AcTh but Haxton called with AhJd and stayed ahead through the KsQcQh8h7s runout to bust Tosoc in third for $77,000.

Despite never having played short deck before and having zero Poker Masters cashes to his credit, Hawkins got heads up with Haxton with the chip lead. Unfortunately for the 11-time WSOP Circuit ring winner, that’s as far as he could go.

Hawkins open-shoved 4,775,000 with 9d7d and Haxton called with AcQd. The Ad8c8h flop kept Haxton in the lead but also gave Hawkins a straight draw. The Kc changed nothing and when the Qh completed the board, Haxton eliminated Hawkins to win his first Poker Masters title and $176,000.

Final Table Payouts

  1. Isaac Haxton – $176,000
  2. Maurice Hawkins – $115,500
  3. Ryan Tosoc – $77,000
  4. Andrew Robl – $55,000
  5. Cary Katz – $44,000
  6. Dominik Nitsche – $33,000