Moment of the Week: Deeb Takes Over 2018 WSOP POY Lead w/ $25K PLO Win

June 24, 2018

Chad Holloway PR & Media Manager

On Saturday evening, Shaun Deeb put himself in great position to make a run at the 2018 World Series of Poker Player of the Year winning Event #42: $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Handed High Roller for a career-high $1,402,683 and his third gold bracelet.

In fact, the win allowed him to leapfrog a long list of players into the top spot with 2,662.25 points. Among those he surpassed were John Hennigan (2,566.43 points), Elio Fox (2,010.14), and Eric Baldwin (1,738.42).

Deeb has already cashed ten times this summer for a combined $1,583,197. You can view the current 2018 WSOP POY leaderboard top ten at the bottom of this article.

Deeb’s victory was due in large part to a single gut-wrenching hand against defending champ James Calderaro. The hand was so pivotal that it’s our Global Poker Moment of the Week.

With four players remaining in the field, the stacks were fairly even when a big pot began to brew in Level 29 (100,000/200,000). It started with Calderaro raising to 500,000 and Ben Yu calling on the button. Deeb came along from the big blind and three players went to the flop, which came down 2♣A♣9♠.

Deb: "It was a 12-million chip pot and really set me up three-handed to have a good chance of closing it out.”

Deeb checked, Calderaro bet 1,000,000, and Yu folded. Deeb then woke up with a pot-sized check-raise and Calderaro called off for 3.1 million total.

Deeb: A♠9♥6♠3♠
Calderaro: A♥9♦8♥K♦

Both players had flopped top two pair and it looked like things were headed for a chop. The 4♥ turn meant Calderaro just needed to dodge a five to at least split the pot, and he could still win it outright with a river king.

The dealer burned and delivered the 5♠ on the river. An excited Deeb made a runner-runner straight and sent the defending champ to the rail in fourth place for $414,134.

“I want to apologize to Caldo, I kind of fist pumped in his face,” Deeb said when discussing the hand with PokerNews. “That was obviously a huge river card. We’re gonna chop that all but for a few cards in the deck. Very likely we’re going to chop that hand and then I hit my one extra card for the freeroll, but I had to turn that out first.”

Indeed, according to an online PLO odds calculator, there was a 77.20% chance of a chop while Calderaro would double 15.85% of the time. As for Deeb, he had just a 6.95% chance of winning on the flop. On the turn, the chances of a tie increased to 82.5%, Calderaro would catch a king 7.5% of the times, and Deeb would win 10% of the times.

“He’s a slight favorite on the flop and when we get it in, with that stack-to-pot ratio, I’m not folding top two,” Deeb continued. “He could have a whole bunch of hands. I’ve seen him continuation-bet ace-high boards light. So, if he doesn’t have it, I have him in bad shape. I just got very lucky. That’s the key to this game, winning those pots. It was a 12-million chip pot and really set me up three-handed to have a good chance of closing it out.”

Deeb did finish it out against Yu, the man he had gone heads-up for a bracelet before in the past. Deeb lost the first go around but had his revenge. It happened when Yu raised the pot to 900,000 and Deeb three-bet the pot to 2.7 million. Yu, who had a stack of around 6.4 million, called, and the flop came 5♥4♣2♥. Deeb bet the pot and Yu called all in.

Yu: J♥6♥6♦5♦
Deeb: A♠A♥9♠8♣

Deeb was in the lead with his pair of aces, but Yu had plenty of outs with a straight and flush draw. Fives and sixes were live, too, but the 2♣ turn and 8♠ river failed to improve Yu to send him to the rail in second place for $866,924.

Current 2018 WSOP POY Standings

Place	Player	Points
1	Shaun Deeb	2,662.25
2	John Hennigan	2,566.43
3	Elio Fox	2,010.14
4	Mario Prats Garcia	1,751.25
5	Eric Baldwin	1,738.42
6	Paul Volpe	1,733.12
7	Joe Cada	1,692.71
8	Ben Yu	1,587.71
9	Ryan Bambrick	1,431.46
10	Jesse Martin	1,427.52