By Alex Drummond, Editor-in-Chief · April 23, 2026 · Fact-checked by Maya Chen
David Coleman captured the 2026 U.S. Poker Open $25,000 Championship on Wednesday evening, defeating Kristen Foxen heads-up to claim the $420,000 top prize and his sixth career PokerGO Tour title. The Canadian star, who had entered the final table second in chips and had already taken down Event #4 earlier in the series, finished runner-up for $264,000 after running pocket tens into Coleman's queen-eight on the final hand. A queen on the flop was enough to send the final chips across the table and end Foxen's bid for a second series title.
The result capped an extraordinary two-week stretch at the PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas that saw two Foxens win events and both reach series-closing deep runs. Combined with Kristen's $198,000 Event #4 victory and husband Alex Foxen's $210,000 Event #7 win, the household cleared $672,000 across the 10-event series. No married couple has performed at that level at the same U.S. Poker Open, and while the outright championship eluded them, the financial result alone places them among the series' top earners.
How the Finale Unfolded
The Event #10 final table drew attention before the first card was dealt. Three women, Kristen Foxen, Cherish Andrews, and Ebony Kenney, reached the seven-handed final day from a 48-entry field, a notable occurrence at a $25,000 buy-in event. Coleman led the counts at 1,945,000, with Foxen close behind at 1,760,000. Richard Green, Darren Elias, and Jesse Lonis filled the next three spots, with Andrews and Kenney holding shorter stacks.
Kenney fell first in seventh, followed by Andrews in sixth, a result that had leaderboard implications beyond the prize money. Andrews had entered the day as the only player with a mathematical path to overtaking Brock Wilson for the Golden Eagle trophy. A deep run could have closed the 211-point gap, but her sixth-place finish left Wilson's lead intact.
Jesse Lonis exited in fifth, Darren Elias in fourth, and Richard Green in third, setting up heads-up play between Coleman, a six-time PGT title holder with more than $18.7 million in career earnings, and Foxen, the all-time leading female tournament earner with more than $15 million. Coleman entered the duel with roughly a six-to-one chip advantage, having built his lead through a series of steady pots in the three-handed portion of play.
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | David Coleman | United States | $420,000 |
| 2nd | Kristen Foxen | Canada | $264,000 |
| 3rd | Richard Green | United States | $174,000 |
| 4th | Darren Elias | United States | $126,000 |
| 5th | Jesse Lonis | United States | $96,000 |
| 6th | Cherish Andrews | United States | $72,000 |
| 7th | Ebony Kenney | United States | $48,000 |
The Heads-Up Battle
What followed showed why Foxen has built her reputation on ICM discipline and big-spot calm. Down to 460,000 at one point, she found a double-up, then a second, and steadily rebuilt her stack to something resembling parity before the decisive hand. When it came, she held pocket tens against Coleman's queen-eight, a roughly 80 per cent favourite. The flop of queen-high flipped the equities entirely. No ten arrived on the turn or river.
The bad beat was swift enough that it almost felt understated. Coleman, reigning Poker Masters champion from 2025 and a well-known presence in high-stakes mixed-game and no-limit rotations, collected his sixth PGT title. His career earnings now exceed $18.7 million, pushing him into the top ten on the PGT Championship leaderboard and establishing him as one of the most consistent tournament performers of the 2025-26 season.
Wilson Crowned Overall Champion
With Andrews' sixth-place exit, Brock Wilson officially secured the 2026 U.S. Poker Open Golden Eagle trophy and the accompanying $25,000 PGT Passport. Wilson had gone to bed on the eve of the final event with a 211-point leaderboard lead, a cushion so comfortable that his Day 1 elimination from Event #10 in eighth place, on the bubble at Coleman's hand, did not change the outcome.
Wilson finished the series with two wins (Events #1 and #6), six cashes, and 495 PGT points. The victory is his second consecutive major-series title, following his overall win at the PokerGO Cup in March. No player has won back-to-back Player of the Series titles on the same tour in such quick succession since the format was revamped. His bank for the series alone was $345K, though his overall PGT haul since February now exceeds $1.1 million across titles at three separate flagship events.
For Andrews, the near-miss will sting. She entered the Championship in third on the leaderboard with 282 points, the only player with a realistic path to overtaking Wilson. A top-four finish would have erased the gap. Her sixth-place exit left her final total at 315 points, with Wilson's 495 untouched.
The Foxen Household Ledger
| Player | Event | Finish | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kristen Foxen | Event #4 ($10K NLH) | 1st | $198,000 |
| Kristen Foxen | Event #10 ($25K NLH) | 2nd | $264,000 |
| Alex Foxen | Event #7 ($10K NLH) | 1st | $210,000 |
| Combined Household Total | $672,000 | ||
Between them, Kristen and Alex Foxen cashed in four of the ten events, won two of them, and finished runner-up in the series finale. For Kristen specifically, the six-week stretch beginning with her fourth-place finish at the Triton Super High Roller Series Main Event in Jeju ($1,449,000), through her Event #4 win here ($198,000), and capped by this runner-up finish ($264,000), represents a cumulative $1.91 million over three events. Her career earnings now approach $16 million, extending her lead as the all-time leading female tournament player.
Why It Matters for Canadian Poker
Foxen's run extends a thread that has been visible throughout the 2026 live circuit. Canadian players, led by the New Brunswick native, have been increasingly present at the game's top tables, and this series has reinforced the trend. The fact that a Canadian reached the heads-up stage of a U.S. Poker Open Championship, the series flagship, is itself meaningful. The closest she came to matching that feat was in 2025, when she won Event #1 for $158,000 but did not reach the final event's final table.
For Ontario poker players who follow the international circuit through GGPoker Ontario and other regulated platforms, her visibility matters in practical terms as well. The GGPoker World Festival begins May 3 with a record $300 million guaranteed across 375 events, and satellites for the upcoming 2026 WSOP at Las Vegas (May 26 to July 15) are running daily. Both Foxens, as GGPoker ambassadors, are expected to feature prominently in coverage during the festival.
The U.S. Poker Open now concludes until next year. The 2026 PGT calendar continues with smaller events through May before attention shifts to the WSOP, where both Foxens will compete for bracelets alongside what will likely be a strong Canadian contingent led by WSOP Player of the Year contenders Michael Leah and Corel Theuma.