Gary Gelman wins Golden Nugget’s PokerNews Cup’ record-breaking prize

The 2022 PokerNews cup drew in 1,245 entries, running up the prize pool to a record-breaking $1,207,650. Gary Gelman took the lion’s share of the prize pool with his 1st place finish, pocketing $202,725 for himself.

The prize pool went well above the guaranteed $1,000,000 PokerNews Cup prize, as the $1,207,650 was the highest in Golden Nugget Las Vegas history.

This is great news for Golden Nugget’s brand exposure. This is on top of the fact Golden Nugget is making amazing strides online. The brand’s online-facing product is regarded as one of the best online casinos across most states where online gambling is legalized.

What’s more, this win was a record for Gary Gelman himself. The New Yorker had never managed to take out close to $200,000 from any tournament in his career so far.

Thrilled and emotional, this is what the poker pro had to say:

“This is definitely my biggest cash and this has been a long time coming. It is special to me. I was born in Ukraine, I lived there with my parents when I was a kid. I also married a Ukrainian a few years ago. It has been real hard these last few months. We were actually in Kyiv in February when the war started. We had to make our way out and we brought her mother back with us.”

He continued to share his thoughts on poker and the final rounds:

“When I made the final table I thought I would represent and luckily one of my friends on the rail had a flag and I decided to wear it today. Many players are robotic now and so are their games. I understand there is money involved but money is not everything and I just like to play cards and have fun.”.

Here are the full results and prize pool share. The PokerNews Cup was generous, and 2nd and 3rd place got a hefty paycheck as well.