Cherish Andrews Secures Second PGT Title at 2026 U.S. Poker Open

Cherish Andrews has made a significant mark in the poker world with her recent victory at the 2026 PGT U.S. Poker Open. In the third event of the tournament, Andrews bested a field of 115 entrants in a $5,300 no-limit hold'em event, ultimately defeating Adam Hendrix in a heads-up showdown to secure the golden eagle trophy and $117,407.

This win is particularly notable as it is Andrews’ second career PGT title, following her 2025 NAPT Las Vegas $10,300 mystery bounty victory. The victory has also significantly boosted her standings in multiple poker leaderboards. Andrews pocketed 216 PGT points, making her the early leader in the U.S. Poker Open player of the series race and improving her standing on the yearlong PGT leaderboard. Additionally, she earned 480 Card Player Player of the Year points, increasing her total for the year to 549 points.

The tournament featured a competitive field with 115 players, of which 17 finished in the money, sharing a $575,000 prize pool. Andrews found a moment of good luck against Michael Berk, turning her A♣Q♥ into a straight on the turn of a J♠10♠8♦K♦J♣ runout to eliminate Berk in sixth place ($28,750). She then doubled through Ethan Yau with pocket kings against A♥J♦ and claimed the rest of Yau’s chips when pocket tens flopped a full house to annihilate Yau’s pocket threes, eliminating Yau in fifth ($37,375). Hendrix started the heads-up showdown with a solid lead over Andrews, but the final two soon agreed to an ICM deal, leaving $9,000 and the trophy to play for. Andrews steamrolled the heads-up match, quickly climbing into the lead. The tournament concluded with Andrews’ pocket nines beating Hendrix’s pocket eights in a preflop cooler. Hendrix took home the $115,468 he negotiated for as the runner-up. With this win, Andrews joined Brock Wilson and Clemen Deng as early winners at the 2026 U.S. Poker Open.