Tommy Le Win
Tommy Le won his second PLO Championship WSOP bracelet at the Rio on Day 27

Tommy Le claimed his second $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha Championship title on Day 27 of the 2021 WSOP as he saw off Jordan Spurlin heads-up to win the top prize of $746,477. Plus, two other titles were won on a day with seven bracelet events in progress at the Rio in Las Vegas.

Tommy Le Scores Another PLO Win

Tommy Le’s victory in the PLO Championship finale should come as no surprise, with Le also winning the event back in 2017. This time around, the champion defeated plenty of big names at the final table, including four-time WSOP winner Eli Elezra before the day had begun. Just five started in seats as Le took a large lead into the action.

The first player to depart was WSOP bracelet winner Jeremy Ausmus, who busted in fifth place for $168,689 when his two pair couldn’t find running cars to top Chris Sandrock’s top set. That pot put Sandrock second in chips and suddenly in contention for the gold, but while Sandrock would take the lead, two hours of play without an exit saw the stacks see-saw wildly and it was during that period that Le took control. Ausmus voiced concerns about the playing cards used at the WSOP earlier the same day.

Le’s high variance mastery has led to him winning this particular bracelet before and as Artem Maksimov busted in fourth place for $232,236, it wasn’t hard to see why. Piling up 15.3 million, Le’s challengers three-handed had a lot fewer chips, with Sandrock on 4.1 million and Spurlin totaling 1.3 million.

If Sandrokc knew that attack was the best form of defense then he was prepared to display it too, taking the lead right back after surging through the next hour of play. PLO is known for wild swings, however, and within a few pots, the gregarious player was on the rail. Sandrock busted in third for $324,800 when his pocket kings in the hole lost to Jordan Spurlin’s aces after the board played out.

Heads-up, Spurlin actually had a marginal lead with 10.8 million playing Le’s 9.8 million chips. Le, however, is imperious in the format and he took control before a Spurlin double-up hinted at a miraculous comeback. It was not to be, snuffed out by Le’s aggression and ability to play the variance like a rodeo cowboy mastering control of something so many others find hard to tame. The final hand saw Le river a full house after Spurlin had been all-in on the flop with bottom pair and Le’s top two had ridden the river home to improve even more.

Le’s victory wasn’t just worth the top prize of $746,477, but the tile of double WSOP champion in an event so many top pros desire above most others. Spurlin’s consolation prize of $461,360 was not insignificant, but like every player at the final table of the PLO Championship in two of the last four occasions, he had to watch as Le took the gold and the glory.

WSOP 2021 Event #45 $10,000 PLO Championship Final Table Results:

  1. Tommy Le – $746,477
  2. Jordan Spurlin – $461,360
  3. Chris Sandrock – $324,800
  4. Artem Maksimov – $232,236
  5. Jeremy Ausmus – $168,689
  6. Eli Elezra – $124,508
  7. Arthur Morris – $93,406
  8. Ashly Butler – $71,242

Denove Wins Double Stack, Jeff Platt Finished 4th

The $1,000-entry Double Stack Event #43 saw Anthony Denove outlast the mammoth field of 3,990 opponents as he closed out a memorable victory on the final day of the four-day event.

The drama began with 17 players still in seats, but two big names never made it to the final table, with Jonathan Dokler (15th for $23,877) and Sejin Park (13th for $29,602) both eliminated before the business end of the event.

Once the final table of ten players was reached, the bust-outs came quickly, with the first two departees going in the same hand. It was Denove who benefitted from the three-way all-in and emerged with 49 million chips, at the time a huge lead, as Matthew Raffoul was busted in tenth place for $36,949 and former chip leader at the start of the day Michael Wang went in ninth for $46,430. Denove held KhKc, with Raffoul’s AdTs and Wang’s 9c9h both committed pre-flop after much thought. The board of Ks8c6d7h3h meant that Denove made top set on the flop and put paid to both player’s hopes of a miracle on the river.

Out in eighth place for $58,735 was Joshua Harrison, who big blind all-in call with As8d came after Frank Lagodich had shoved from the button with KsQh. The flop of AcKcTd kept Harrison ahead, but the Jh turn gave Lagodich Broadway and on the 5c river, the field was reduced to seven players.

Out in seventh was Kennth Inouye, who won $74,796 when his shove with QhTh ran into David Guay’s Ah8h with Guay making a full house on the turn. Inouye was followed from the felt by Steven Stolzenfeld as he busted in sixth for $95,878. Stolzenfeld’s all-in for 8.3 million chips equated to ten big blinds with 8s8c and he was in good shape when Timothy Little called with Ad5d. That wasn’t the case after the board of Ac2hTd4d8d as Little flushed his opponent away along with his hopes of WSOP gold.

Lagodich left in fifth place for $123,710 as he shoved on the river with AsQs on a board showing Qh5s7dTs5h as his two pair was trumped by Guay’s turned set of tens with ThTc. Guay was to deliver another player from the table too as he next took out a man many on the rail were hoping would clinch gold.

Jeff Platt, famous commentator of PokerGO streams and No Gamble, No Future co-host, busted in fourth place for $160,662. Moving all-in for eight big blinds with Ad9c from under the gun, Platt saw Guay call with KsJd and a disastrous flop of Jh7h4c set him behind. After the Tc turn, only one of the three available aces would save Platt, but the 9s fell on the river to send him home in fourth and increase Guay’s lead over his two remaining opponents after back-to-back bust-outs.

Some on the rail felt it was unfair to ask Platt to get in front of the camera to set up the final he was taking part in himself!

Little couldn’t improve his stack in the next few hands and busted to Guay too. Little’s Ah3c shove was dominated by Guay’s call with As8h and after the KcTs9hKs8s board rivered Guay the pot, play was heads-up, with Denove at only a slight disadvantage, holding 76.5 million to Guay’s 83.2 million chips.

It took only a short time after a break to decide the winner, with Denore stealing the lead then four-betting all-in with TdTc, gaining a call from Guay with 9h9d. The flop of Js5s5h kept Denove in the lead and after the 8s turn and Kd river, he was the champion and winner of his first WSOP bracelet and the $446,983 top prize, with Guay claiming $276,269 for second.

WSOP 2021 Event #43 $1,000 Double Stack Final Table Results:

  1. Anthony Denove – $446,983
  2. David Guay – $276,269
  3. Timothy Little – $210,004
  4. Jeff Platt – $160,662
  5. Frank Lagodich – $123,710
  6. Steven Stolzenfeld – $95,878
  7. Kenneth Inouye – $74,796
  8. Joshua Harrison – $58,735
  9. Michael Wang – $46,430
  10. Matthew Raffoul – $36,949

Reard Freezes The Competition

In Event #47, French player Alexandre Reard won the top prize of $428,694 after surviving a short but intense final day where five players were whittled down to one brand-new bracelet winner. Reard was the first player to bust another as he used his stack throughout the denouement of the event to keep his opponents at arm’s length.

It was Qing Liu who busted first of the five, cashing for $97,238 after running 9s7s into Reard’s As4s, with two fours on the flop helping the eventual winner to add another scalp to his tournament haul. Just a few minutes later, play was three-handed as Conrad Simpson busted in fourth for $133,733 when Kd2c couldn’t overtake Daniel Strelitz’ Ac5c.

Three-handed, Strelitz and Reard seemed on collision course and that was borne out by the elimination of Ren Lin in third place for $186,803. Lin moved all-in for ten big blinds with 2s2d and Strelitz had to call with ThTs, the king-high board with no deuce giving Strelitz 10 million, just a little short of the 11 million in front of Reard as both rails cheered on their men.

Heads-up, Reard got off to a strong start and after winning the opening exchanges and growing a big lead, had his opponent exactly where he wanted him. Strelitz was all-in and at risk with Jd9d and Reard called with Ks8d, the board of 7d4h3cQhKd confirming his victory for what his maiden WSOP bracelet. Strelitz, who was hoping to add another piece of poker history to his wrist, had to settle for the $264,953 runner-up prize.

WSOP 2021 Event #47 $5,000 Freezeout Final Table Results:

  1. Alexandre Reard – $428,694
  2. Daniel Strelitz – $264,953
  3. Ren Lin – $186,803
  4. Conrad Simpson – $133,733
  5. Qing Liu – $97,238
  6. Darren Grant – $71,827
  7. Diogo Veiga – $59,913
  8. Jamie Sequeira – $41,132

Ari Engel Makes Shootout Final Table

In Event #48, the $1,500 Shootout saw just 10 players progress as eight 10-anded tables produced a winner. While recognized superstars such as Sam Grafton, Joe Cheong and Brian Yoon all failed to progress, others confirmed their greatness with their second single-table victory in two days.

Easily the highest-profile of the 10 to make the final (each on roughly the exact same chips) is Ari Engel, who has already won a WSOP bracelet this Autumn at the Rio and could be extremely hard to catch in the Player of the Year race should he win another. He’ll have some top competition tomorrow battling to stop him from achieving that, though with Orson Young, David Tran, Thomas Boivin and Jonathan Betancur amongst those who conquered their second set of nine opponents to reach the final table.

Negreanu, Glaser To Battle At $10K 2-7 Final Table

In Event #49, British mixed game specialist Benny Glaser collected the most chips as he goes into the final day of the $10,000-entry No Limit Hold’em 207 Lowball Draw Championship final with 2,101,000 chips. Johannes Becker (1,381,000) and Farzad Bonyadi (1,106,000) were Glaser’s closest challengers on the day, but the Brit has a huge lead and will be a big favorite to clinch what would be his fourth bracelet if he can get over the line tomorrow.

Elsewhere, of the eight players remaining, the biggest name is without question Daniel Negreanu. Kid Poker bagged up 517,000 as he made it to the final table where his latest attempt at breaking his WSOP drought continues. Jake Schwartz wasn’t far behind Negreanu, taking 468,000 through to the final day, with Julien Martini the short stack on just 270,000.

WSOP 2021 Event #49 $10,000 NLHE 2-7 Lowball Draw Final Table Chipcounts:

  1. Benny Glaser – 2,101,000
  2. Johannes Becker – 1,381,000
  3. Farzad Bonyadi – 1,106,000
  4. Dustin Dirksen – 953,000
  5. Ben Diebold – 522,000
  6. Daniel Negreanu – 517,000
  7. Jake Schwartz – 468,000
  8. Julien Martini – 270,000

66 Left In Event #50

Event #50, the $600 Six-Handed PLO/No Limit tournament had a big turnout, with 1,569 entries whittled down to just 66 players by the close of play. It was the two-time WSOP bracelet winner Eric Froehlich who finished the day with the biggest stack, holding 2,550,000 chips at the day’s end.

Froehlich was followed in the counts by Kristopher Burchfield (2,530,000) and Alejandro Jaureguireynoso (1,975,000), with players such as Justin Lapka (1,455,000) and Mark Seif (1,230,000) two more bracelet winners who made the top 10 chip counts.

WSOP 2021 Event #50 $600 Mixed NLHE/PLO Six-Max Top 10 Chipcounts:

  1. Eric Froehlich – 2,550,000
  2. Kristopher Burchfield – 2,530,000
  3. Alejandro Jaureguireynoso – 1,975,000
  4. Mario Arribas – 1,730,000
  5. Michael Thomas – 1,620,000
  6. Justin Lapka – 1,455,000
  7. Hanan Braun – 1,255,000
  8. Mark Seif – 1,230,000
  9. Steve Westheimer – 1,190,000
  10. Colten Yamagishi – 1,165,000

Brian Rast, Manig Loeser In $3K Six-Max Top 10

The final poker event to close down for the day was the $3,000-entry Six-Max Event #51, which enjoyed 997 entries with just 41 making Day 2 with 30-minute blinds throughout.

Chip leader at the end of the opening day was Jun Obara from Japan, with Rostyslav Sabishchenko of Ukraine (2,020,000) and American Tuan Phan (2,000,000) rounding out a truly global set of podium positions.  With players such as Brian Rast (1,665,000) Uri Reichenstein (1,660,000) and Jon Vallinas (1,655,000) all well positioned in the top 10, there’s every chance of high drama and quality on the final day.

WSOP 2021 Event #51 $3,000 NLHE Six-Max Top 10 Chipcounts:

  1. Jun Obara – 3,010,000
  2. Rostyslav Sabishchenko – 2,020,000
  3. Tuan Phan – 2,000,000
  4. John Gallaher – 1,700,000
  5. Brian Rast – 1,665,000
  6. Uri Reichenstein – 1,660,000
  7. Jon Vallinas – 1,655,000
  8. Matthew Schwagler – 1,475,000
  9. Lachezar Petkov – 1,415,000
  10. Manig Loeser – 1,375,000

If you see two grown men fighting on the back lot of the Rio close to the midday sun, be warned – it’s a jungle out there.

Finally, no, it’s not just you, Randy Ohel. Makes you wonder who could ever… finish him!