The PokerStake player Jeremy Ausmus is on the brink of yet another title, leading the way into tonight’s PokerGO Venetian Las Vegas Classic final table in search of the $250,000 top prize. Just seven players remain, so with six people standing between Ausmus and the 22^nd ranking poker title of his career, where would it rank on the list of wins for the reigning PGT Player of the Year?

Who Stands Between Ausmus and More Glory?

With just half a dozen players between him and the latest major title of his career, can anyone stop PokerStake seller Jeremy Ausmus from landing his next big win? Going into the final, Jeremy has a sizeable chip lead, with a massive pile of 4.48 million chips some way clear of Lily Kiletto’s stack of 2.6 million chips.

Other players who could prevent Ausmus lifting the trophy at the PokerGO Studio at ARIA on the Las Vegas Strip include Daniel Marcus (2.3m), Doug Lee (2.17m), Ryan Leng (1.98m), Santiago Montes (1.77m) and the short stack Daniel Lee, who starts play on 1.54 million. With the chips fairly evenly spread beneath him on the leaderboard, Jeremy’s hopes may depend on his ability to tide out the crucial early phase of play by using his stack to bully opponents.

With so many of his opponents losing out to him over the years, it would be an easy assumption to make that others can’t bear his enviable record at the felt. Not a bit of it, if there’s a more universally loved player around the world with his fellow player, we’re yet to see them.

Just take a look at the reaction of his peers when Jeremy won his first Triton Poker Series event in February in Jeju, South Korea:

Where Would This Title Rank?

With a $250,000 top prize, where would the Venetian Las Vegas title rank among Ausmus’ other wins in his professional poker career? Well, surprisingly far down the list is the answer! Six of his ranking titles earned more than the $250,000 up in this event, while in terms of cashes, Jeremy has won more than a quarter of a million dollars on 21 occasions in his career.

It’s an astonishing record that Jeremy has in live poker tournaments, but what is his biggest win? Well, another surprise in some ways, as that remains the $2.15 million that Ausmus banked for coming fifth in the WSOP Main Event in the year that Greg Merson beat Jesse Sylvia to the title and $8.5m as world champion. Jeremy’s biggest outright win was the Triton Poker Series event in Jeju earlier this year for $1,892,000.

In January, of course, Jeremy won the PGT Freeroll Championship for $500,000. Coming into the event as the PGT Player of the Year, and with the biggest chip stack, Jeremy dominated the opposition and beat Nick Schulman heads-up to deny the now seven-time WSOP bracelet winner the title.

The Motivation of a Master

Heading into the summer’s World Series of Poker action, we spoke to Jeremy to discuss his approach to the WSOP and other big festivals, and he spoke about how he focuses on the process in order to build success. Speaking about his proficiency in big tournaments with chunky buy-ins, Jeremy was very honest, saying: “I play everything so I will cash a lot, but I do put a lot into preparation. I study GTO outputs and final table sims along with watching video of high stakes tournaments to try to get some information on my opponents.”

Jeremy also told us that his motivations as a family man drive him on, and when he’s in that tournament zone, his ability to stay on the right path is precious. He’ll spend time alone to prepare, such is his huge respect for the many peers that he battles at the felt. From his fellow PokerStake players Brock Wilson and Justin Saliba to other American friends such as Isaac Haxton and Nick Petrangelo, Jeremy is much loved by those around him, but they know his talent.

With Jeremy sure to be selling again soon via his personal PokerStake staking page, the chance to watch him in action tonight on PokerGO shouldn’t be missed. Winning has become the happiest of habits to one of poker’s greats and one of PokerStake’s most successful ever players on the site.