Tony Gregg came to Las Vegas looking for repetitions. He left with a trophy.
The veteran tournament player won Event #7 of the 2026 PokerGO Cup, a $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em tournament at the PokerGO Studio, defeating Darren Elias heads-up to claim $173,075. The two had agreed to an ICM chop beforehand, leaving $10,000 and the title still on the line when heads-up play began. Gregg closed it out shortly after.
Elias collected $158,575 as the runner-up. The tournament drew 67 entries, with seven players returning for the final table.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tony Gregg* | $173,075 |
| 2 | Darren Elias* | $158,575 |
| 3 | Qinghai Pan | $90,450 |
| 4 | Neil Warren | $67,000 |
| 5 | Landon Tice | $50,250 |
| 6 | Chris Hunichen | $36,850 |
| 7 | Jeremy Ausmus | $26,800 |
denotes ICM chop
One Card Away
The final table began quickly when short stack Jeremy Ausmus picked up pocket kings. It did not help him. Chris Hunichen flopped an ace and sent Ausmus out in seventh place.
Hunichen continued building chips and moved close to the chip lead. At one point Gregg was one card away from elimination, with Hunichen holding pocket queens in a massive pot. A king on the river kept Gregg alive. Shortly after, Gregg eliminated Hunichen in sixth place.
The road to heads-up continued with several more eliminations. Elias knocked out Landon Tice in fifth place. Gregg eliminated Neil Warren in fourth. Elias then sent Qinghai Pan out in third, setting up the heads-up match.
The Final Hand
Heads-up began with Elias winning a pot with pocket kings, bringing the stacks back to even. With chips nearly identical, the two players agreed to the ICM chop.
The decisive hand came soon after. Gregg's ace-king held against Elias' ace-deuce, leaving Elias short. Gregg finished the job shortly afterward to secure the title.
"A Nice Reminder"
Gregg, a WSOP bracelet winner who famously captured a One Drop High Roller title for $4,830,619, has not been playing a full tournament schedule in recent years. He described this stop at the PokerGO Studio as "spring training" ahead of the summer, focusing on getting back into rhythm rather than results.
The week had been a rough one before the final table.
"I had been running really bad this trip before this tournament," Gregg said. "But I kept reminding myself that's part of playing tournaments. You lose all the time. The important thing is that you're here playing again and that you still love it."
His preparation has been simple and reflective.
"I've really just been focusing on how much I'm enjoying the process of getting to play every day," he said. "Writing hands in my phone and looking back at them in the evening."
The victory, following his 11th-place finish in the 2025 WSOP Main Event, served as a welcome confirmation.
"It's a nice reminder that I can still win," Gregg said. "My Main Event run last year kind of reminded me of that too."
He also spoke highly of the competition.
"The caliber of players here is really tough," Gregg said. "Seeing how sharp the newer generation is motivates me to keep getting repetitions against them."
Spring training is complete. Summer is approaching.
