A record-breaking turnout for Event #51: $25,000 High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha has drawn to a close with Dennis Weiss reigning victorious for his second World Series of Poker bracelet. The German PLO specialist overcame a field of 489 entries with a prizepool of over $11.4 million, beating some of the best players in the game, to take home a cool $2,292,155.
Weiss was faced with the difficult task of staring across the table at another four-card expert in the likes of Michael Duek, who also has plenty of experience under the spotlight. Weiss was able to make short work of his opponent when they got heads-up, running away with the chip lead and finishing off Duek in their first all-in encounter.
After his first WSOP victory came in the fall of 2024 in Europe, Weiss smashed his largest career score by a long shot, with this being his first seven-figure result in his career. Besides the larger stakes, Weiss said the two victories were very comparable. "The WSOP tournaments in Europe don't have as many people. But the players in Rozvadov played amazing, and my opponents here played amazing, I'm just a lucky boy, I guess."
Dennis Weiss
The talent in this field can compare to no other PLO tournament in the world, with only the best players willing to pony up a minimum of $25,000 to play the game they love. Heading to the final table, Weiss was seated next to one of the greatest of all time in Phil Ivey, and even that didn't shy the German away from just playing his game. "Of course, I've studied for it. But nothing really different, I was just playing. Let the cards fall where they may."
It's not every day that you can find a four-card tournament of this magnitude with a prizepool as substantial as the one that concluded today. For Weiss, he will often be seated at a PLO cash table trying to improve his game and make some money in the process. "I haven't been playing tournaments for very long. It's kind of ridiculous that I've already won two of these. I was a cash game player, that was the plan, but I guess I'm a tournament player."
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There were just five players who returned to the felt for the fourth and final day of this tournament. Each of them had their sights set on the title but with over half of a million dollars already locked up, it would be hard for anyone to go home disappointed. Weiss entered the day with a comfortable chip lead over the rest of the field, and that was maintained through the opening hour with very little chip movement taking place.
Talal Shakerchi was the first to step out and try to make something happen with just top pair on the flop. However, Jeffrey Hakim was waiting to collect his first of many double-ups, holding an overpair in his hand. Shakerchi was left on the short stack and his day only got worse from there. Despite flopping trips against the chip leader, Shakerchi was unable to survive when Weiss hit a runner-runner flush to end the businessman's day early.
On the other hand, Evan Krentzman and his boisterous rail were looking forward to a long day when he also found an early double up. However, things came crashing down just shortly after when a hero-call went wrong. Krentzman turned two pair on a dry board but was already facing hardship against Duek's flopped set. A rivered straight allowed Duek to ask for it all and that was exactly what Krentzman gave him, bowing out in fourth place.
Heads Up
With Duek now holding the chip lead, he started to step on the gas and do what he does best — pick away at his opponents. Although a couple of bluffs didn't go his way, he managed to stay neck and neck with Weiss while Hakim sat as an onlooker for most of the day. Hakim picked some opportunistic times to double up, but was never able to gain any traction and pose any threat to the two runaway leaders. The string of double-ups finally came to a close when Hakim picked up a strong suited ace but ran dead into the pocket aces of Weiss. Another ace on the flop spelled disaster for Hakim who managed to ladder his way to a third-place finish.
Going into their heads-up battle, Weiss once again found himself as the chip leader and he would never look back. Continuous aggression and a deck that tilted the tides in one direction were all Weiss would need. He slowly built up a healthy chip lead over the first 30 minutes and Duek picked the wrong time to wager all of his chips. Both players flopped a pair but it was Weiss who was ahead and looking to close things out. Duek did manage to turn pair and had hopes of extending the match, but a counterfeit on the river locked up the victory for Weiss.
