Ten-to-One Down, Then Back Again: Lichtenberger Outlasts Foxen for $192,000

Ten-to-one down against Alex Foxen, Andrew Lichtenberger fought back, lost the lead again and still found the finish to win US$192,000 at the PGT Sprint.

Alex Foxen had eliminated three of the last four opponents standing between him and the trophy. By the time the final duel began, Andrew Lichtenberger faced a chip deficit that PokerGO Tour's account put at roughly ten to one. One double-up would not be enough. Neither, as it turned out, would the first comeback.

Lichtenberger eventually won PGT Sprint Event #6 at PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas, taking US$192,000 from a 60-entry field in the US$10,500 no-limit hold'em tournament. It was his third PGT title of 2026, according to the organiser's 4 November report. Getting there required more than turning a short stack into a big one: both finalists built commanding leads, surrendered them and had to fight their way back.

Foxen builds the lead the hard way

The closing table did not begin as a two-player shootout. Victoria Livschitz departed sixth after losing to Jesse Lonis. Foxen then removed Dylan Linde in fifth, Brandon Wilson in fourth and Lonis in third, accumulating the chips that made the opening heads-up position so lopsided.

Those finishing places carried substantial returns: US$33,000 for Livschitz, US$45,000 for Linde, US$60,000 for Wilson and US$84,000 for Lonis, according to the official result. Lichtenberger had entered the final table second in chips, but surviving while another player collects the eliminations can leave a finalist with a very different problem at the last stage.

Against one opponent, there was no longer a smaller stack elsewhere to outlast. Lichtenberger needed to win chips directly from the player who held almost all of them.

The first escape does not settle the match

PGT's recap describes two early Lichtenberger doubles and another all-in that ended in a split pot. The imbalance then swung so far the other way that Lichtenberger held better than a seven-to-one advantage. Foxen answered with his own recoveries.

The individual hand reports show why that broad description needs more than a single “comeback” label. In the hand report timestamped 8:53 a.m. Pacific on 4 November, Lichtenberger completed the small blind for 125,000. Foxen raised to 475,000 and was called. Foxen then bet 250,000 on the flop, 750,000 on the turn and 1,375,000 on the river. Lichtenberger called each street.

Foxen showed a pair of kings with a queen kicker. Lichtenberger released his hand, and the reported stacks became 5.85 million for Foxen against 1.65 million for Lichtenberger. The player who had overturned the original deficit was suddenly facing another substantial gap.

This was not simply a short stack surviving one favourable showdown. The match repeatedly changed shape. A lead earned earlier had to be defended against an opponent who still had enough chips to contest a significant pot.

A full house provides the decisive reversal

Twelve minutes later in the published reporting sequence, Lichtenberger was defending his big blind after Foxen limped. He check-called a flop bet of 125,000 and used a time extension before calling 750,000 on the turn.

On the river, Foxen announced 2.5 million. Lichtenberger called for his remaining 1.8 million and showed queens full of fives. That full house won the pot and restored him to the lead, with the update listing 5.725 million against Foxen's 1.775 million.

The call changed more than the leader's name. Instead of trying to survive against a stack more than three times his size, Lichtenberger now held a little over three-quarters of the chips. Foxen was the player who needed another recovery.

The key sequence is documented in separate updates, not inferred from the result. The timestamps mark the reporting sequence; they should not be read as independently verified start-to-finish playing times.

The final hand turns advantage into a title

The last elimination update, posted at 9:08 a.m. Pacific, records Lichtenberger moving all in from the button and Foxen calling for approximately 1.55 million in the big blind. Lichtenberger finished with a pair of kings, enough to end the contest.

Foxen received US$120,000 and 120 PGT points. Lichtenberger collected 192 points alongside the first prize. The last pot decided a US$72,000 difference between the listed first- and second-place payouts. More importantly for the tournament record, it finally ended a contest neither player had managed to close at the first opportunity.

A finish can look inevitable when viewed backwards from the winner's photograph. This one was not. The last hand followed a match in which the eventual runner-up had held both an enormous opening advantage and another substantial lead much later.

Four cashes give the victory a wider context

Lichtenberger's Sprint had already included a heads-up defeat. In Event #1, Chino Rheem took the title while Lichtenberger finished second for US$75,900 and 114 points. That opening result makes Event #6 more than an isolated addition to a career tally: the same series offered another chance to turn a final duel into a win.

He also finished sixth in Event #2, earning US$19,750 and 30 points, and fourth in Event #4 for US$28,500 and 43 points. Adding those three results to the Event #6 victory produces US$316,150 across four cashes and 379 PGT points. Those totals combine the four official result records; they are gross tournament cashes, not profit after entries and expenses.

The distribution matters. A second, a sixth, a fourth and a first describe repeated late-stage contention rather than one result carrying the entire week. They also show why a series can remain compelling after a player loses its opening final: there are separate fields to navigate and different opponents waiting at the end.

A ranking gain, not a finished season

In the standings commentary attached to its 4 November report, PGT placed Lichtenberger 13th on 1,392 points, eight positions higher after the victory. Foxen moved to third on 1,897. Those are dated post-event positions, not live rankings for every subsequent day.

The event rewarded both players, but in different ways. Foxen's runner-up finish strengthened his place near the top of the season table. Lichtenberger combined a meaningful ranking advance with the outcome that had escaped him at the start of the Sprint.

The strongest image of this final is therefore not an untouched mountain of chips. It is a lead that changed hands, then changed hands again—until Lichtenberger finally made the last one stick.

Sources

• PGT official Event #6 result and dated standings analysis, 4 November 2026
• PGT Event #6 match recap
• PGT: Alex Foxen retakes the lead
• PGT: Lichtenberger's full-house double
• PGT: final elimination
• PGT Event #1 official results
• PGT Event #2 official results
• PGT Event #4 official results

Original The Poker Pulse match report, reviewed 7 November 2026. Results and hand descriptions are attributed to the linked PGT reporting. Standings are dated to the 4 November report, not presented as a live leaderboard.