Daniel Lee emerged as the champion of the first-ever PGT Venetian Las Vegas Classic, winning $250,000 and etching his name in poker history.
The $3,300 Main Event drew 418 entries across three opening flights and generated a $1,254,000 prize pool. A total of 64 players finished in the money, with notable names including Josh Arieh, Jonathan Little, Kathy Liebert, Ryan Laplante, and Jeff Platt.
“When you play a tournament, you never expect to win,” Lee said after his victory. “You always bust and keep trying. But after all those efforts, it feels great for it to finally pay off.”
Daniel Lee’s Final Table Run
Lee entered the final table as the short stack but wasted no time climbing the chip counts. His pivotal moment came against chip leader Jeremy Ausmus, when Lee picked off a bluff with top pair top kicker. Ausmus could not recover and exited in seventh place.
From there, Lee continued his dominance. He eliminated Santiago Montes after his pocket tens held against ace-queen.
Next, Ryan Leng fell in fifth when his king-queen could not hold against Lee’s ace-jack, which made a straight.
Shortly after, Lee again wielded ace-jack to defeat Daniel Marcus’ king-seven, sending Marcus out in fourth place.
Doug Lee exited in third place after Lily Kiletto scored a knockout, setting up the final heads-up duel. Both Lee and Kiletto were nearly even in chips at the start.
Kiletto pulled ahead briefly, but Lee scored a crucial double-up with top pair against her flush draw. He never looked back, sealing the win when his king-jack flopped top pair against Kiletto’s ace-ten.
PGT Venetian Las Vegas Classic Final Table
| Place | Player | Country | Prize | PGT Points |
| 1st | Daniel Lee | United States | $250,000 | 250 |
| 2nd | Lily Kiletto | United States | $170,000 | 170 |
| 3rd | Doug Lee | Canada | $120,000 | 120 |
| 4th | Daniel Marcus | United States | $82,000 | 82 |
| 5th | Ryan Leng | United States | $63,000 | 63 |
| 6th | Santiago Montes | Colombia | $48,000 | 48 |
| 7th | Jeremy Ausmus | United States | $35,000 | 35 |
The PGT Venetian Las Vegas Classic a Success
The inaugural PGT Venetian Las Vegas Classic showcased poker talent from across the globe. With its $3,300 buy-in and over $1.2 million prize pool, it highlighted the growing popularity of live poker events.
For many fans, the tournament carried the same excitement found on US online poker sites, but with the added prestige of a live title.
Daniel Lee’s victory sets a high bar for future editions of the PGT Venetian Las Vegas Classic and cements his place among poker’s rising stars.