After an absolutely incredible heads up battle that lasted almost two hours, we have a winner! Danny Clarkson defeated Erik Nowosielski to earn the coveted Atlas trophy and $39,656.
A bit about Danny Clarkson
Danny Clarkson, hailing from Minneapolis, Minnesota, has been immersed in the world of poker for 20 years, with the last four years spent playing professionally. He was drawn into the game during the Moneymaker poker boom while still in high school. Known among peers as the "King of St Augustine," Clarkson's most notable achievement to date is a 6th place finish in a Cherokee main event, where he earned $69,000. Poker is not just a passion but also his full-time occupation.
We will be back tomorrow with full profiles of each player, and a video of the incredible ups and downs of this heads up match. We have nearly fifty videos to sort through and process to find all the important moments. The short stack absolutely could not lose an all-in!
POKERATLAS TOUR: BESTBET ST. AUGUSTINE 2026 — Current Series Totals
Events Completed: 1 | Total Entries: 751 | Total Prize Pool: $180,240
$100K No-Limit Kickoff — Wrap Up
The PokerAtlas Tour stop at bestbet wrapped up the Valuetown™ Kickoff with Danny Clarkson emerging as the winner. Clarkson's victory came after a day defined by steady pressure and a roller coaster of a heads up match. Clarkson navigated the late stages with control, picking his spots well and keeping opponents off balance as the money and final table implications tightened.
The final stretch featured the kind of high leverage pots expected in a deep field, with players forced into thin value bets and timely all in decisions as stacks compressed. Clarkson capitalized on those moments, maintaining momentum through the decisive confrontations and converting his edge into a tournament closing run.
The Valuetown™ Kickoff ultimately reflected the series’ draw at bestbet, leveraging a strong turnout into a monster prize pool. With the event completed and Clarkson crowned champion, attention turned to the next event on the schedule as players looked to get in on the next event.
Each flight seemed to be bigger than the last, and while a $100,000 guarantee in the summer in Florida with a buy-in of $300, but the whole county seemed to show up to support the series and the guarantee was crushed before the final two flights had even started. Free t-shirts disappeared by the end of Flight 1B, with players snapping up free swag as fast as they could get their hands on it, and final table hats from previous years were common. This stop in Jacksonville looks like a bigger hit every year and should be on the schedule for a very long time.
Full Payouts List
1st. DANNY CLARKSON — $39,656
2nd. ERIK NOWOSIELSKI — $24,155
3rd. BRIAN SEIBLER — $14,780
4th. ROY VAZQUEZ — $9,783
5th. ROBERT KALTEUX — $6,949
6th. JONATHAN HOMEM — $5,858
7th. JAMES BROWN — $4,946
8th. SAMANTHA RICHARDS — $3,995
9th. RANDEL VERBOUT — $3,288
10th. KAMVAR RAZAVIAN — $2,754
11th. RAMAZAN TAHHUSOGLU — $2,229
12th. DAVID CARLTON — $2,229
13th. BLAKE ELLINGHAUS — $2,229
14th. STEPHEN STROUT — $1,822
15th. CHARLES KELLEY — $1,822
16th. MATTHEW TATE — $1,822
17th. ERIC BATES — $1,442
18th. RICARDO GONZALEZ — $1,442
19th. HERIBERTO ROMERO — $1,442
20th. JOSE RUIZ — $1,442
21st. GOURG KHANCHAT — $1,091
22nd. MICHAEL MITCHELL — $1,091
23rd. DEE OAKES — $1,091
24th. NIKHIL SUNKU — $1,091
25th. TRACY POTTER — $1,091
26th. KERRY GOLDBERG — $1,091
27th. JACK SHEA — $1,091
28th. JOAO DE — $1,091
29th. CARSON NENNSTIEL — $1,091
30th. COREY MAJOR — $1,091
31st. SHANE SINNOTT — $931
32nd. DAVID TRAGER — $931
33rd. CHARLES KINARD — $931
34th. FRANTZ FLEURY — $931
35th. DANIEL BLANCHARD — $931
36th. PAUL MARMON — $931
37th. DONALD ECKERT — $931
38th. DONALD SIKES — $931
39th. KEVIN LYONS — $931
40th. ZANE LIPSEY — $931
41st. BRIAN WASHINGTON — $811
42nd. SIENNA KASPER — $811
43rd. RYAN YOUNT — $811
44th. CHANTHOU CHAU — $811
45th. JOSHUA BURROWS — $811
46th. LARRY JOHNSON — $811
47th. JACOB LEMAK — $811
48th. MICHAEL RIGGIO — $811
49th. CALVIN TUCKER, JR — $811
50th. ROBERT PRIBBENOW, JR — $811
51st. MERVAN KIZGIN — $721
52nd. STUART BROOKS — $721
53rd. JUSTIN BOLD — $721
54th. KELLY ANDREWS — $721
55th. MICHAEL KNUDSON — $721
56th. JOSHUA GERJEVIC — $721
57th. DEREK RAMIREZ — $721
58th. RANDY STRONG — $721
59th. DARON LONG — $721
60th. NABIL HIREZI — $721
61st. GUY CAUDILL — $641
62nd. DENNIS SEEVERS — $641
63rd. KELLY MCALISTER — $641
64th. TRAVIS SIMPSON — $641
65th. LOUIS ERICKSON — $641
66th. SOKOL CURRI — $641
67th. CRYSTAL MCCUSKER — $641
68th. WILLIAM HILL — $641
69th. ROMMELLE SUCH — $641
70th. PHILLIP WISSER — $641
71st. RADOSLAV KUBICAR — $641
72nd. MICHAEL ROTH — $641
73rd. TUNG CHAN — $641
74th. CATHY GILPIN — $641
75th. KEVIN COSTELLO — $641
