Every year, the PokerGO Cup attracts some of the best poker players in the world to PokerGO Studios in Las Vegas. This year was no different, as not only were the likes of Daniel Negreanu, Chino Rheem, and David Peters in attendance, but our very own Brock Wilson, Aram Zobian, Justin Saliba, and Jonathan Little have been making some noise as well!
Last year, Justin and Aram represented Team PokerCoaching well at the PokerGO Cup, with each coach winning events in the 2023 series. Not wanting to be out-shined by his fellow coaches, Jonathan came to Las Vegas looking to secure some hardware of his own, and would not be disappointed.
Running deep in Event #3 of the 2024 PokerGO Cup, Jonathan found himself at a stiff final table that included the likes of Negreanu, Alex Foxen, Jesse Lonis, and fellow PokerCoaching coach Brock Wilson. To secure his first career PokerGO Cup victory, Jonathan would have to play his A-game facing a competitive final table. With premium members and YouTube subscribers rooting him on from their computers, Jonathan looked to do us proud at the PokerGO Cup and put on a poker masterclass.
Winning Event #3, Jonathan not only won $229,500, but put himself in contention to win the overall PokerGO Cup series title. In the final, $25,000 buy-in event of the series, Jonathan as well as Justin Saliba reached the final table. Going the distance and winning another PokerGO Cup tournament, Jonathan secured an additional $453,750 as well as the PokerGO Cup series title. A major addition to an already lengthy poker resume, Jonathan’s success at the 2024 PokerGO Cup helped bring his career winnings to over $8.8 million.
Congratulations to PokerCoaching.com founder Jonathan Litttle for winning the 2024 PokerGO Cup title! To get caught up on Jonathan’s journey to the title, read the full recap of his tournament wins below.
PokerGO Cup Event #3 Final Table
Event #3 of the PokerGO Cup may have featured the toughest final table out of the whole series. Not only did it feature PokerCoaching.com coaches Jonathan Little and Brock Wilson, but it also featured Poker Hall of Famer Daniel Negreanu as well as WSOP bracelet winners Jesse Lonis and Alex Foxen. To take down his first ever PokerGO title, Jonathan would have to not only outplay a fellow PokerCoaching.com coach, but the world’s best poker players as well.
PokerGO Cup Event #3 Final Table
| Player | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
| Jesse Lonis | 2,500,000 | 41 |
| Alex Foxen | 2,205,000 | 36 |
| Daniel Negreanu | 2,110,000 | 35 |
| Jonathan Little | 1,460,000 | 24 |
| Daniel Weinand | 1,390,000 | 23 |
| Dan Shak | 600,000 | 10 |
| Brock Wilson | 360,000 | 6 |
JCardShark Doubles-Up Through Jesse Lonis
Before Jonathan would see any meaningful hands at the final table, he would witness the eliminations of Negreanu (7th place for $34,000), Brock (6th place for $42,500), and Daniel Weinand (5th place for $59,500).
With four players remaining, Foxen stood as the decisive chip leader with almost 1,000,000 more chips than Lonis in second place. Lacking playable hands, Jonathan remained the shortest stack with only 15 big blinds to his name. Other than some preflop shoves that got no calls, Jonathan stayed out of the action until he looked down at A♥-10♥ in the cutoff. Moving all-in for his 11 remaining big blinds, Jonathan would get action from Lonis in the small blind who three-bet all-in for protection. Ahead of Lonis’ K♠-Q♥, all Jonathan needed was a clean board to double up and stay alive.
Little: A♥-10♥
Lonis: K♠-Q♥
Runout: 10♦-5♥-2♣-2♥-3♣
Securing a much-needed double-up, Jonathan’s stack grew to 2,550,000 and moved him into second place behind Foxen.
Two-time WSOP bracelet winner Jesse Lonis.
Dan Shak gets his Queens cracked
Following the elimination of Jesse Lonis in 4th place for $76,500, Jonathan, Foxen, and Dan Shak would have fairly even stacks heading into three-handed play.
After a fold from Foxen, Shak looked down at Q♦-Q♣ in the small blind and raised 325,000 with the blinds standing at 75,000/150,000 (150,00 big blind ante).
Jonathan defended in the big blind and called holding 10♠-9♥.
Flop: 9♣-8♥-6♠
Flopping top pair and a gutshot straightdraw, Jonathan called Shak’s 250,000 continuation bet.
Turn: 7♥
Turning a ten-high straight, following a check from Shak, Jonathan elected to slowplay and check as well.
River: Q♥
Having rivered top set, Shak picked up the aggression again and fired out a 500,000 bet. Wary of possible flush draws getting there, Jonathan only called and scooped the pot. Successfully outdrawing Shak’s pocket queens, Jonathan secured the chip lead, and would maintain it heading into heads-up play.
Facing off against Alex Foxen heads-up
After eliminating Shak in 3rd place for $106,250, Jonathan was set to face off against poker tournament crusher Alex Foxen for the top prize. Heading into heads-up play, Jonathan would have a decent chip lead owning 6,425,000 chips (42 big blinds) to Foxen’s 4,200,000 (28 big blinds). Despite having the chip lead initially, Jonathan would sacrifice some chips to Foxen a few hands into heads-up play.
Successfully bluffing Jonathan off of the better hand with only king-high on the turn, Foxen secured the narrow chip lead and showed Jonathan he would have to fight to win his first PokerGO title.
Down to 20 big blinds to Foxen’s 32, Jonathan picked his spot and took a stand against his opponent’s aggressive play. Facing a 500,000 raise preflop, Jonathan shipped his 3,900,000 remaining chips into the middle and got the call. Holding A♣-6♠ to Foxen’s K♣-J♠, if Jonathan could win this flip his odds of winning the tournament would skyrocket.
Little: A♣-6♠
Foxen: K♣-J♠
Runout: 4♠-5♥-8♦-8♥-4♣
With ace-high holding, Jonathan gained not only the chip lead but massive momentum against Foxen.
Alex Foxen
Little shuts the door on Foxen
Having the majority of the chips in play, Jonathan picked up the aggression and worked to bully Foxen. Leveraging a wide range, the two-time World Poker Tour champion began open-ripping preflop forcing Foxen to fold and have his stack dwindle.
Although Foxen would gain some chips back after Jonathan attempted to bluff-catch against a full house, his fate would be sealed when he called off The Boss’ K♣-10♠ preflop all-in with only K♥-2♠.
Unable to find a miracle 2 or some hearts, Foxen was eliminated from the tournament in 2nd place ($148,750).
Jonathan Little wins Event #3 at the 2024 PokerGO Cup for $229,500
Defeating one of the best poker tournament players in the world heads-up, Jonathan won his first-ever PokerGO Cup title along with the $229,500 top prize. With his first career win at PokerGO Studios, Jonathan secured the 7th largest cash of his career and put himself in position to compete for the overall PokerGO Cup series title.
Jonathan Little reaches another PokerGO Cup Final Table
Ending the 2024 PokerGO Cup with a bang, Jonathan as well as Justin Saliba reached the “final” final table of the series by being two of the last six players remaining in $25,000 buy-in event. While JCardShark had already had an impressive series so far following his win in Event #3, if he could take down the final tournament he would secure the overall PokerGO Cup series title along with the $25,000 bonus prize. However, with Seth Davies and Justin Zaki also being in the mix to win the PokerGO Cup, Jonathan would have to bring his A-game to bring home the title.
PokerGO Cup Event #8 Final Table
| Player | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
| John Riordan | 2,510,000 | 83 |
| Justin Zaki | 2,100,000 | 70 |
| Shaneil Stokes | 1,655,000 | 55 |
| Seth Davies | 775,000 | 25 |
| Jonathan Little | 750,000 | 25 |
| Justin Saliba | 465,000 | 15 |
Doubling Up and Surviving
It would be over an hour into the final table before Jonathan Little saw his first instance of serious action. Although Shaneil Stokes’ elimination in 6th place ($82,500) would bring bring him one step closer to the PokerGO Cup title, Jonathan would need some chips as he remained in last place with only 12 big blinds.
First-to-act five-handed, Jonathan looked down at A♠-9♥ and raised 80,000. Sitting as chip leader in the big blind, Zaki made a loose call holding J♣-10♦.
Flop: Q♥-9♣-2♦
Checking to Jonathan, Zaki would leverage his open-ended straight draw and forced JL all-in after FieryJustice made a 60,000 continuation bet. Committed with his paired nine, Jonathan quickly made the call and hoped to win the coin flip.
With a 6♣ on the turn and the 6♦ on the river, Jonathan faded all of Zaki’s outs to double-up and stay alive.
PokerCoaching.com coach Justin Saliba reached three final tables in the PokerGO Cup series.
Jonathan Little Eliminates Seth Davies in 5th Place
With the blinds at 25,000/50,000 with a 50,000 big blind ante, Jonathan faced a 120,000 raise from Zaki in the hijack holding A♠-6♠ and elected to only call holding A♣-K♦ in the cutoff. In the big blind with only 190,000 and holding A♥-9♣, Seth Davies called leaving only 20,000 behind.
Flop: 10♥7♦5♦
All three players checked the flop.
Turn: Q♦
Again, all three players would check, with Jonathan remaining in the lead with the better kicker.
River: K♣
Pairing his king and securing the check-mark, checked to Jonathan bet 150,000, forcing Davies all-in with only ace-high. Not having much of a decision with only 20,000 behind, Davies called while Zaki quickly mucked his hand. Seeing the bad news, Davies was eliminated in 5th place ($110,000) while Jonathan added to his slowly growing chip stack.
Stealing the chip lead from Justin Zaki
No longer the short-stack but not quite the chip leader, Jonathan gained much momentum when he squared off against Zaki. Folded to in the small blind with a stack worth 3,435,000, Zaki raised 175,000 with 5♣-4♣. In the big blind and not going anywhere with A♦-5♦, Jonathan called with just under two million chips behind.
Flop: K♦-Q♣-7♣
Flopping a flush draw, Zaki made a 135,000 continuation bet and got the call from Jonathan.
Turn: 4♦
Pairing his four, Zaki bet again, this time for 280,000. Now having a flush draw, Jonathan called to see the river.
River: A♥
With only a pair of fours on the river, Zaki knew he had to represent strength if he hoped to take down the pot. Zaki fired out a 740,000 bet, but little did he know Jonathan literally had an ace up his sleeve. Making the call, Jonathan scooped a sizeable pot and took the chip lead from Zaki.
Continuing to add to his growing chip lead and steadily pull away from the competition, following the elimination of John Riordan in fourth place ($137,500) and our very own Justin Saliba in third ($192,500), Jonathan was set to face Zaki heads-up for the PokerGO Cup title!
Little versus Zaki for the PokerGO Cup title
Jonathan’s heads-up opponent Justin Zaki.
Being the two remaining players in the final tournament of the 2024 PokerGO Cup series, Jonathan and Justin Zaki not only eliminated David Peters from title contention, but would play heads-up for the PokerGO Cup.
Coming into heads-up play with 81 big blinds to Zaki’s 56, Jonathan would have the advantage chips wise, but would need to bring his A-game to take on the young pro.
FieryJustice applies aggression and chips away at Zaki
Despite starting heads-up play deep stacked, Jonathan was committed to playing fast and leveraging his chip lead against Justin Zaki, to the point where he even warned his opponent!
“You can do whatever you want, but I’m not going to take 10 seconds with every decision.”
Keeping his word, Jonathan played fast and quickly chipped away at Zaki’s stack. Winning small pot after small pot and scooping the blinds, Jonathan eventually had 75% of the chips in play. Eventually, Zaki decided it was time to make a stand, and called Jonathan’s preflop all-in with K♥-7♥. Holding A♣-3♣, all Jonathan had to do was win a favorable flip, and he would be declared the 2024 PokerGO Cup champion.
Jonathan Little: A♣-3♣
Justin Zaki: K♥-7♥
Flop: A♥-9♦-7♠
Turn: J♣
River: J♥
Hitting an ace on the flop and having the board run clean, Jonathan eliminated Zaki and won the 2024 PokerGO Cup title!
Jonathan Little is the 2024 PokerGO Cup Champion
Image courtesy of PokerGO
Throughout the 2024 PokerGO Cup, Jonathan cashed in four tournaments, reached two final tables, and won two tournaments to win $730,350 total throughout the series. Taking home over $750,000 as well as the PokerGO Cup title, Jonathan not only proved to the poker world he could play with the best, but represented Team PokerCoaching well in the process.
On behalf of the entire PokerCoaching.com community, a special congratulations to PokerCoaching.com owner and founder Jonathan Little on becoming the newest PokerGO Cup champion. We cannot wait to see you break down hands from the series in your next live stream.
Congrats J.L ! Awesome victory. You are the G.O.A.T 👍