From Short Stack to Sprint Champion: Wilson Turns the Tables on Zamani for $110,600

Brock Wilson turned a short-stack struggle into a $110,600 PGT Sprint victory, overcoming Martin Zamani to earn his fifth tour title of 2026.

Martin Zamani looked to have the final table moving in his direction. He had built a commanding stack, removed major rivals and carried the advantage into heads-up play. Opposite him was Brock Wilson, who had begun the final seven among the shorter stacks and spent much of the closing stretch finding ways to survive.

The final result reversed that storyline. Wilson came from behind, doubled through Zamani twice in heads-up play and eventually claimed PGT Sprint Event #2 when his ace-king held against Zamani's ace-three. The victory was worth $110,600 and 166 PGT points. It also delivered Wilson his fifth PokerGO Tour title of 2026, an important addition to an already formidable season.

For Zamani, the runner-up finish was a rare result of its own: PokerGO described it as his first heads-up loss in live tournament play. For Wilson, it was a demonstration of what can happen when a shorter stack stays in a contest long enough to change the balance of power.

The final table began with Wilson chasing

The $5,300 no-limit hold'em event attracted 79 entries, generating a $395,000 prize pool shared by the top 12 finishers. Jamie Dwan led the seven-handed final table. Wilson did not begin from a position of strength; an early double-up through Andrew Lichtenberger gave him crucial breathing room.

Adam Owen and Lichtenberger were the first two finalists eliminated, in seventh and sixth respectively. As the lineup tightened, the most dramatic change came from Zamani. Holding king-queen, he beat Dwan's ace-king in a major preflop confrontation, a hand that helped shift command of the table toward him and sent Dwan out in fifth.

Zamani did not simply coast from there. Wilson and Jesse Lonis both found double-ups through him, briefly checking his momentum. But Zamani rebuilt, eliminating Joe McKeehen in fourth place and then Lonis in third. PokerGO's report records ten-nine as his winning hand in both of those eliminations.

That left Zamani with a substantial chip advantage and Wilson with one final opponent to overcome.

A heads-up lead is not a trophy

Every head-to-head match has a mathematical starting point and a sporting story. At this one, the larger stack belonged to Zamani. The temptation would be to frame Wilson as beaten before the last phase began, but tournament poker's structure makes the lead only a position—not a result.

Wilson secured two doubles, closed the gap and worked his way in front. The exact significance is in the progression: survival first, then parity, then control. Each stage made the next possible. The official report supplies that sequence without requiring us to invent table talk or unrecorded hands.

The final confrontation was decisive. Zamani moved his remaining chips in with ace-three and Wilson held ace-king. Wilson's superior ace stayed ahead, ending the match. The two players had reached the final through very different paths; it was Wilson who finished with all the chips.

The runner-up prize for Zamani was $71,100. Lonis received $51,350 for third, and McKeehen earned $37,525 for fourth.

The fifth title changes the season conversation

Wilson's win was not a sudden appearance on the leaderboard. According to PokerGO's 29 October report, the victory was his fifth PGT title of 2026, lifting him to 1,942 points and second place in the season-long standings at that point, behind Sean Winter.

That is a meaningful snapshot, but the date matters. A Player of the Year race is not frozen at the moment a news report is published. Further Sprint results—and the rest of the late-season schedule—could change rankings. What Wilson added in Event #2 was measurable: 166 new points, a $110,600 payday and another winner's entry in the official tour record.

The contrast with the previous event was sharp. Chino Rheem had won Event #1 for $119,600, sealing that final against Andrew Lichtenberger. Twenty-four hours later, a different sort of finish took the spotlight: a short-stack comeback against an opponent who had controlled much of the table.

This is why the Sprint needed separate result stories rather than a single line reading 'two PGT winners crowned.' Each event produced its own pressure points and a different route to victory.

The finishing order

| Finish | Player | Prize | |---|---|---:| | 1 | Brock Wilson | $110,600 | | 2 | Martin Zamani | $71,100 | | 3 | Jesse Lonis | $51,350 | | 4 | Joe McKeehen | $37,525 | | 5 | Jamie Dwan | $27,650 | | 6 | Andrew Lichtenberger | $19,750 | | 7 | Adam Owen | $15,800 |

What remains after the final card

A winner's cheque provides the headline number; the decisive action explains why the result will be remembered. Wilson had to battle out of a difficult final-table position, survive Zamani's surge and reverse a sizeable heads-up deficit. That is a more compelling account than describing the 79-entry tournament as another successful day at the PokerGO Studio.

The finish did not settle the entire PGT season, but it carried consequences for that race. It also put a distinctive episode in Wilson's fifth title-winning campaign of 2026: a final in which the leader was not the player who won, and patience mattered just as much as a premium hand at the end.

Primary sources

• PokerGO Tour: Brock Wilson Wins 2026 PGT Sprint Event #2 (29 October 2026)
• PokerGO Tour: Event #2 live reporting and final-table results

Original Poker Pulse match report drawn from official hand reporting. The described tournament play and payout figures are sourced; no invented participant quotations, emotions or eyewitness access are implied.