PGT PLO Series Events #3, #4 and #5 Provide Thrills as Wantman Seizes Series Lead

The PokerGO Tour 2024 PLO Series is into its second half and after a very busy weekend, it is an all-American podium in the overall championship. With players such as Alex Foxen and Dyland Weisman comfortably inside the top 10, Matthew Wantman leads the field heading into the final three events, with Isaac Haxton and James Chen chasing in his wake.

Event #3 Won by Matthew Wantman

With 155 entries, 23 places were paid and players such as Josh Arieh (22^nd for $7,750) and Daniel Negreanu (17^th for $11,625) helped themselves to some profit along the way. Finnish player Eelis Parssinen was the player to miss out on the official six-handed final table, cashing for $31,000 when his double gutter failed to catch against Michael Duek’s pocket kings in the hole.

Israel’s Eran Carmi cashed for $38,750 when he too lost to pocket kings as Matthew Wantman began a long sprint for the line. The eventual winner was also the man to take out Michael Duek in $46,500, as Wantman won with a superior full house of tens over nines to beat Duek’s nines over tens.

The chip lead changed hands multiple times during four-handed play but when Jonas Kronwitter took out Joe Serock in fourth place, the Austrian looked to have a key advantage at a critical time. Wantman got a crucial double-up, though, and when Zachary Schwartz was busted by Kronwitter, heads-up began.

Wantman started with just 5.6 million chips to Kronwitter’s 13.7 million but after two chopped pots, the American doubled up twice to stabilize. A pair of queens gave Wantman a 2:1 chip advantage before his flopped pair of aces needed to hold against Kronwitter’s double gutter. That it did and the American had the Event #3 title along with $178,250.

Event #4 Won by James Chen for First PGT Crown

James Chen won his first PGT event when he beat Nacho Barbero heads-up in the fourth event of the festival as the PGT PLO Series reached its halfway stage. With 100 entries in the $10,000-entry PLO Event #4, just 15 players got paid as Russia’s Maksim Pisarenko bubbled the event in 16^th place.

Cashes for Sam Soverel (14^th for $20,000), Isaac Haxton (11th for $30,000) and Erik Seidel (8^th for $40,000) all busted before the final showdown on Day 2 of the event which was broadcast as live on PokerGO. Eelis Parssinen was in line for another deep run, but his event blew up with six left. All-in against James Chen, the Finnish player had 18 outs twice to overtake the eventual winner but couldn’t manage it and bowed out in sixth place for a score of $50,000.

After the eliminations of Parssinen’s fellow Finn Samuli Sipila in fifth ($65,000) and the Event #3 winner Matthew Wantman in fourth for $90,000, it was Sean Rafael who was eliminated in third place for $115,000. Rafael’s was no good against Chen’s aces in the hole and soon, Chen had 11.4 million going into the heads-up, with Nacho Barbero on just 1 million chips.

Despite the disparity in chips, the Argentinian Barbero fought back and incredibly doubled up a sufficient number of times to take a shock lead. A hand that didn’t go to showdown put Chen back into the lead, however, and when Chen moved all-in on the flop with top pair, Barbero’s call with worse meant he needed to hit. Chen turned a flush draw to take away some outs and after the river landed, the places were confirmed as James Chen won his first-ever PokerGO event.

Isaac Haxton Claims Title in Event #5

An increase to the entry fee in Event #5 saw 82 entrants at $15,000 each produce excitement to the last card as American poker legend Isaac ‘Action’ Haxton claimed the win. Just 12 players were paid, including a fourth cash in five events for Wantman in 11^th place for $22,140.

Others to cash included Jess Lonis (9^th for the same amount), Dylan Weisman (7^th for $29,520) and Bryce Yockey (6^th for $36,900), before another Finnish player, Joni Jouhkimainen, ended his event in fifth place for $51,660. Joe Serock busted in fourth place for $70,110 when pocket kings in the hole were unable to hold against Isaac Haxton’s pocket sixes when he rivered two pair to reduce the field to three players.

Alex Foxen was super short when he shoved with pocket kings in the hole but although Isaac Haxton had queens, he also had a jack and ten in his hand. A queen on the flop was perfect for the eventual winner as he set up Foxen’s exit in third for $95,940. Heads-up, Haxton had a 5:1 chip lead and won soon after when his pair of queens on the flop and subsequent trip nines on the river were enough to beat Ben Lamb’s pair of tens in his hand to end the event. Lamb carved out a $169,740-sized slice of the prizepool but Haxton’s win was worth over $300,000 including bounties and that put him second in the overall leaderboard with Matthew Wantman leading the runners to the final corner.

Here’s the PGT PLO Series Leaderboard as it stands with just three events to play.