A Look Back at The Celebrity Poker Tour’s First Season - Women Reign Supreme
Table Of Contents
- Qiyu “Nemo” Zhou Becomes First CPT Champion
- Enclave CPT Invitational Results
- Princess Love Wins CPT Invitational II
- CPT Invitational II Results
- Bachelorette Star Victorious in CPT Invitational III
- CPT Invitational III Results
- Vegas Matt & “Hawk Tuah Girl” Shine in CPT Invitational IV
- CPT Invitational IV Results
- Season 1 Wraps with Maria Ho Becoming a Two-Time Winner
- 2024 CPT Championship Results
- Game Nights Galore
- Celebrity Poker Tour Events & Winners
The Celebrity Poker Tour (CPT), which debuted in 2023 and then continued its first season through 2024, is gearing up for its second season, which officially kicks off tonight with Game Night V, a $10,000 winner-take-all all nine-handed Sit n’ Go with two alternates.
Among those in the lineup are Shane Victorino, Waka Flocka Flame, Frazier Kay, Ethan & Hila Klein, Trent “BookItWithTrent” Attiyah, Bryce Hall, Jorge Masvidal, Steiny, Mackenzie Dern, and Tana Mongeau.
Game Night V will be streamed on the Celebrity Poker Tour YouTube channel as well as on X, Facebook, and Twitch. You can also check it out on streaming platforms like Pluto TV, Fubo, Tubi, Freevee, Sling, and Plex.
The CPT's first season comprised nine events, and amazingly, women won two-thirds of them. That included the first three winners being all women, and one of them becoming the tour’s first two-time winner – poker pro Maria Ho.
In honor of Season 2 getting underway, PokerNews takes a look back at some of the big winners and seminal moments from the CPT’s exciting first season.
Qiyu “Nemo” Zhou Becomes First CPT Champion
It was back on August 27, 2023, that the first-ever CPT Invitational was held. The tournament invited 70 players to PokerGO Studio including “Boston Rob” Mariano, Alexandra Botez, Mike “The Mouth” Matusow, and Bryce Hall, though none of them managed to cash.
The first-ever CPT champion ended up being chess grandmaster Qiyu “Nemo” Zhou.
"I've always wanted to play so much more poker," Nemo told officials after her win. "I took a break this year because there are three holes in my door because I punched it after really bad poker sessions. I'm really glad to be back in poker and I'm super grateful for this opportunity."
She added: "Honestly, I think I got really lucky on some hands. As we were getting shorter and shorter, I just had to shove all in. I kind of started developing this reputation at my table where I was just shoving all in because that's just what you have to do when you have 10 big blinds. There's nothing more you can do."
Enclave CPT Invitational Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Qiyu "Nemo" Zhou | $20,000 |
| 2nd | Bill Pulte | $10,000 |
| 3rd | Chris Grove | $5,500 |
| 4th | Brandon Marshall | $3,500 |
| 5th | Nathan Webb | $2,500 |
| 6th | Joey Hamilton | $2,000 |
| 7th | Manny Kess | $1,500 |
| 8th | Chase DeMoor | $1,000 |
| 9th | Steven "Hoodie Allen" Markowitz | $1,000 |
| 10th | Dan Fleyshman | $1,000 |
| 11th | Alexander Seibt | $1,000 |
| 12th | Hayes Pullard | $1,000 |
Princess Love Wins CPT Invitational II
On February 9, 2024, the CPT Invitational II was held at PokerGO Studio. The field was comprised of 73 entrants including a slew of NFL players such as Calais Campbell, Dalton Kincaid, Austin Ekeler, Keenan Allen, Marqise Lee, Brandon Marshall, Will Levis, Laviska Shenault, Eric Ebron, and Aaron Jones. They were joined by the likes of Perez Hilton, Brad Owen, and Ethan “Rampage” Yau.
Princess Love, an actress who was also known as the wife of Ray J at the time, was also in the field and ended up defeating Keith Smith in heads-up play to become the second CPT champ, good for $20,000. It was her first career win, though she had had larger scores including $80,156 for finishing runner-up in the 2023 StormX Invitational III and $132,500 for placing 40th in the 2023 WPT World Championship.
CPT Invitational II Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Princess Love | $20,000 |
| 2nd | Keith Smith | $10,000 |
| 3rd | Tana Mongeau | $5,000 |
| 4th | Laviska Shenault | $3,500 |
| 5th | Trent "BookItWithTrent" Attyah | $3,000 |
| 6th | Will Levis | $2,500 |
| 7th | Aljamain Sterling | $2,000 |
| 8th | Gordie Gronkowski | $1,334 |
| 9th | Eric Hansen | $1,333 |
| 10th | Eric Ebron | $1,333 |
Princess Love actually talked about her CPT win when she sat down with Connor Richards for an episode of Life Outside Poker, which you can watch below.
Contortionist Goes All In With Her Feet at Celebrity Poker Tour Invitational
Bachelorette Star Victorious in CPT Invitational III
The CPT Invitational III took place on May 4, 2024, with 79 runners competing for the title and $20,000 top prize. Once again the field was a mix of poker players, streamers, online personalities, and sports stars such as Peyton Barber, Prince Amukamara, Kenyon Drake, Jason Verrett, Larry Sanders, Glen Davis, Pacman Jones, Hayes Pullard, Chris Eubank Jr, Amir Johnson, Aljamain Sterling, an Sugar Shane Mosley.
On the celebrity front, former Season 25 Bachelor contestant and The Bachelorette Season 17 star Katie Thurston was in the field, and actually took it down to become the third female winner of a CPT Invitational event. She defeated a final table that included former champs Princess Love and Qiyu "Nemo" Zhou.
CPT Invitational III Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Katie Thurston | $20,000 |
| 2nd | Miguel Nú?ez Jr. | $10,000 |
| 3rd | Carson Lueders | $5,000 |
| 4th | Ethan Yau | $3,500 |
| 5th | Steven "Hoodie Allen" Markowitz | $3,000 |
| 6th | Princess Love | $2,500 |
| 7th | Qiyu "Nemo" Zhou | $2,000 |
| 8th | Mark Dohner | $2,000 |
| 9th | Alex Bachman | $2,000 |
Vegas Matt & “Hawk Tuah Girl” Shine in CPT Invitational IV
On August 31, 2024, 80 celebrities packed the PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas for the CPT Invitational IV, which offered up a $50,000 prize pool. After six hours of play, Stephen Matt Morrow, better known as high-stakes slot icon Vegas Matt, came out on top of the invite-only event to win a $20,000 top prize.
In the process, he defeated chess grandmaster Qiyu ‘Nemo’ Zhou in heads-up play to deny her a second CPT title.
Vegas Matt started the night at the feature table alongside the likes of eight-time NBA All-Star Dwight Howard, Blac Chyna, Steiny, Ethan Klein, and Haliey Welch, known as the “Hawk Tuah Girl” thanks to a viral video earlier this year. Unfortunately, all of those players wound up falling short of making the money. While Welch didn’t cash, she was arguably the most popular star of the night and played some big hands as recapped here on PokerNews.
CPT Invitational IV Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vegas Matt | $20,000 |
| 2 | Qiyu ‘Nemo’ Zhou | $10,000 |
| 3 | Rachel Cook | $5,000 |
| 4 | Cash Baker | $3,500 |
| 5 | Marqise Lee | $3,000 |
| 6 | John Ferguson | $2,000 |
| 7 | Hila Klein | $2,000 |
| 8 | Teli Swift | $2,000 |
| 9 | 5Up | $2,000 |
“Hawk Tuah Girl” Gets Distracted and Folds Flopped Two Pair in CPT Invitational IV
Season 1 Wraps with Maria Ho Becoming a Two-Time Winner
The first season of the Celebrity Poker Tour wrapped on November 20, 2024, which is when Maria Ho topped a 62-entry field to win the 2024 CPT Championship for $50,000 and become the tour’s first two-time champ.
"I definitely got a lot of big hands as you could see at the final table," Ho told PokerGO's Natalie Bode and CPT's Blake Wynn after the victory. "But everybody played really well. Like a lot of the women especially. We hung in there, we were trying to get an all-women final table today. It didn't quite happen, but I'm super proud of everybody's showing tonight."
More than 60 celebrities competed ranging from retired professional athletes Mike Bibby, Mario Chalmers, and Adrian Peterson to influencers Bryce Hall, Tana Mongeau, and Vegas Matt and content creators Ninja, Ethan Klein and Sketch.
Ho added of the experience: “This is all about the fun. If anybody’s watched a CPT stream, they know that everybody here is trying to have a good time. They want to win, but it’s not going to be the stone-faced sunglasses, hoodie situation.”
2024 CPT Championship Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maria Ho | $50,000 |
| 2 | Brian Quinn | $20,000 |
| 3 | Sofie Dossi | $10,000 |
| 4 | CJ So Cool | $5,000 |
| 5 | Hayes Pullard | $4,000 |
| 6 | Adrian Peterson | $3,500 |
| 7 | Lena Ayad | $2,500 |
| 8 | Bryce Hall | $2,500 |
| 9 | Hila Klein | $2,500 |
Game Nights Galore
While the CPT Invitationals are larger multi-table tournaments, the popular Game Nights are single-table events. The first one was held on March 15, 2024, which is when Maria Ho won her first CPT title and a $10,000 top prize.
The following month on April 19, poker vlogger Alexander “Wolfgang Poker” Seibt became the first man to win a CPT event when he took down Game Night II for $10,000, and then Bryce Hall followed in his footsteps on August 12 by winning CPT Game Night III for $15,000.
CPT Game Night IV was the final one of the year and was held on October 7. H3 Executive Assistant Lena Ayad won it for $5,000.
Celebrity Poker Tour Events & Winners
| Date | Event | Entries | Winner | Celebrity | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 20, 2024 | 2024 CPT Championship | 62 | Maria Ho | Poker Player | $50,000 |
| October 7, 2024 | CPT Game Night IV | 10 | Lena Ayad | Executive Assistant H3 | $5,000 |
| August 31, 2024 | CPT Invitational IV | 78 | Vegas Matt | Slot Streamer | $20,000 |
| August 12, 2024 | CPT Game Night III | 9 | Bryce Hall | Media personality & influencer | $15,000 |
| May 4, 2024 | CPT Invitational III | 79 | Katie Thurston | TV personality | $20,000 |
| April 19, 2024 | CPT Game Night II | 9 | Alexander “Wolfgang Poker” Seibt | Poker Vlogger | $10,000 |
| March 15, 2024 | CPT Game Night I | 8 | Maria Ho | Poker Player | $10,000 |
| February 9, 2024 | CPT Invitational II | 73 | Princess Love | Actress & personality | $20,000 |
| August 27, 2023 | CPT Enclave Invitational | 70 | Qiyu “Nemo” Zhou | Chess Grandmaster | $20,000 |
*Images courtesy of CPT & PokerGO.
