Brandon Mueller Gets Aces 14 Times En Route to PLO Championship

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Jul 22, 2026 4 min read

When one first begins their journey in the great game of Pot-Limit Omaha, they will quickly realize that aces do not quite have the same power that the hand possesses in their Hold'em counterpart.

However, this did not seem to be a problem today for Brandon Mueller. The Pennsylvania native and long-time circuit grinder Mueller made aces work out for him all day on his way to his first live PLO title.

A total of 197 entries were tallied in Event #8: $650 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship here at the 2026 Borgata Summer Poker Open, generating a prize pool of $112,290 to be split amongst the final 25 contenders.

All eyes would be set upon the $24,575 first-place prize, which eventually made its way to Mueller after he defeated Danny Chang in a long heads-up battle. The champ went wire-to-wire, holding the chip lead for almost the entirety of the day on his way to the title.

$650 PLO Championship Final Table Results

Winner's Reaction

"I'm just super, super excited," Mueller explained to PokerNews shortly after the victory, "This is my first live PLO win."

"I have no idea how to play PLO. I don't know how I won, but here we are."

Mueller came into the day second in chips, but he won a massive pot in the first level of the day after his aces held in a three-way all-in against two high equity draws. Mueller became the largest stack in the room, and he held that role for almost every hand the rest of the way.

Getting dealt aces, and more importantly getting them to hold, was a theme for Mueller throughout the entire day.

"The first nine hands we played today, I had aces seven times. I'm not even joking," Mueller continued, "I don't know if the dealer was shuffling or what was going on."

However, winning with aces is another struggle altogether, but one that did not seem to be an issue for him today.

"I literally had aces a minimum of 14 times, and they held every time except one."

Mueller has plans to play the rest of the tournament schedule here at the Borgata over the next ten days.

"I'll probably win at least six more events," the champion joked, "I'm not sure though, but most likely if I have time to play."

Day 2 Action

A total of 25 players would return for action today after two starting flights on Monday, all of whom were in the money and guaranteed a minimum cash of $1,525.

The eliminations were fast and furious to begin the day with many short stacks returning after the bubble. Nine players busted in the first 30 minutes of play, bringing the field to its final two tables.

It would take just another hour for the final table to be reached, with Mueller holding a substantial lead, collecting nearly double the chips of his closest competitor in eventual runner-up Danny Chang.

Piotr Sowinski was the first to fall in ninth before the eliminations finally took a break, with eight-handed play lasting for 75 minutes of play before the deadlock was broken. It was eventually Brian Cole to hit the rail after turning trips with top kicker against a full house.

Joseph Arena and the vivacious Elan Chabi joined the fallen before Mario Damiao did the same, exiting in fifth after failing to improve against the aces of Chang.

Shortly after, Terence Beaman was the next casualty in fourth before start-of-day chipleader Mark Aridgides secured his podium spot in third place. He became short-stacked before flopping top pair against the two pair of Mueller, who held on to send Aridgides to the rail.

Mueller held a small lead over Chang to begin the heads-up match, but he extended his lead quickly after a cagey first few hands. Chang was caught bluffing on multiple occasions, and Mueller always seemed to know where he was at, with effective value-betting and bluff-catching.

After another failed bluff, Chang was left with fewer than ten big blinds. He mounted a small comeback before eventually giving it right back. In a single-raised pot, Chang check-raised with a five on a king-king-five flop. He told the story of a strong hand, but Mueller flopped trips with top kicker and slow played the whole way. Chang jammed the rest of his stack into the middle on the river, and Mueller snap-called to secure himself the title as the two shared a sporting handshake.

Borgata Summer Poker Open Winners So Far

• Tags Borgata Summer Poker Open Brandon Mueller BetMGM Poker Brian Cole Danny Chang Elan Chabi Joseph Arena Mario Damiao Mark Aridgides Piotr Sowinski Terence Beaman