One-time dominant chip leader Thai Ha was down to 430,000 chips when he raised to 210,000 in the small blind. Ray Henson moved in from the big blind and Ha called off his last 220,000.
Thai Ha: J♠J♥7♣5♦
Ray Henson: A♣K♦K♣10♠
Henson's bigger pair had him in the lead, and after the 10♥6♥5♠ flop Ha had only improved with an alternate pair of fives.
The turn 2♣ changed nothing, and the 4♥ on the river eliminated Ha, who adds a fourth place finish in this event to his Monster Stack victory earlier in the series.
Ray Henson raised to 200,000 on the button and got three-bet potted by Carson Wieland in the big blind to just over 700,000.
Henson moved all in for 925,000 total and Wieland called. The duo had very similar hands, but there were still five cards to come.
Ray Henson: A♥K♠J♣10♣
Carson Wieland: A♣K♦Q♦J♦
The flop came 9♠5♦4♥ which appeared to be a big nothing burger, but the turn 8♠ gave Henson a straight draw. Sure enough, it came in with the Q♥ on the river to give him an unlikely double-up.
After Ray Henson raised to 200,000 on the button, Jason Daly three-bet potted it to 720,000 in the small blind. Henson then moved all in and Daly called off for 1,575,000 effective to put himself at risk.
Jason Daly: A♠Q♣Q♦6♦
Ray Henson: A♥A♣9♥5♠
The flop came J♦9♦8♥, bringing Daly a flush draw. "GG" joked Daly, and without fail, the 4♦ rolled off on the turn for him to make his flush. The 10♦ added insult to injury as Daly scored a massive pot to leave Henson short again after he had just gotten back into the mix.
Jason Daly raised to 200,000 on the button with A♠Q♣9♣6♠ and got a call from Ray Henson in the big blind with J♠8♠8♥7♠.
Henson hit a dream flop of 8♦5♣2♠, giving him top set. He led out for 320,000 and Daly chose to make a move, raising all in for 870,000 effective.
Henson of course called, and Daly would need some very dramatic help to avoid doubling up Henson.
The 3♦ on the turn changed nothing, leaving Daly one pull at a seven to fill his gutshot.
The dealer obliged, placing the 7♣ on the river, ending Henson's day in third place after battling throughout the final table to give himself a chance at the win.
Carson Wieland raised to 240,000 with K♦7♠5♦4♠ and got called by Jason Daly with 9♠9♥6♥2♥.
The Q♥3♠2♣ flop gave Wieland an open-ended straight draw, but Daly's nines were still the best hand. Daly checked, and Wieland fired 350,000 with his draw which got called by Daly.
The best hand got better on the turn with the 9♦, giving Daly trips. Again he checked.
This time after some thought, Wieland opted to check and try to hit his draw.
It didn't come in though, instead pairing the board with the 3♥, giving Daly a full house. The trapping continued as he checked a final time.
With no pair, Wieland chose to bluff at it, betting 725,000. Daly of course raised the pot and Wieland quickly folded, as Daly took a massive lead heads-up.
Carson Wieland raised to 325,000 with 10♠9♦7♦4♠ and Jason Daly called with Q♥J♠10♦7♠.
The flop came J♦8♣6♥ and after Daly checked his top pair and straight draw, Wieland bet his wrap to the tune of 750,000. Daly then moved all in and Wieland called for 2,410,000 total.
The turn was the 2♥, changing nothing, and the 3♦ fell on the river, leaving Daly's pair of jacks as the winner to eliminate Wieland and take home the championship.
It turned into a war of attrition, ending at nearly 4 a.m. local time, but Jason Daly outlasted Tuesday’s final 26 players from a total field of 199 to claim victory in the Champions Club Winter Poker Open $1,100 PLO Championship.
Daly completed his night with a heads-up win over runner-up Carson Wieland, when his flopped top pair held up against Wieland’s wrap. For the win, Daly claimed $41,635 and the champions’ trophy, while Wieland took home $35,070 for his second-place finish.
The duo agreed to flatten the top of the $192,035 prizepool once they got heads-up, leaving $5,000 and the trophy to play for. With the win, Daly’s impressive resume of career tournament earnings now sits just a hair under the $1,000,000 mark.
PLO Championship Final Table Results
Place
Player
Hometown
Prize (USD)
1
Jason Daly
Friendswood, TX
$41,635
2
Carson Wieland
Montgomery, TX
$35,070
3
Ray Henson
Houston, TX
$17,680
4
Thai Ha
Houston, TX
$11,970
5
Danylo Turov
Houston, TX
$9,250
6
George Abi-Zeid
Miller Place, NY
$7,860
7
Sung Keem
Houston, TX
$6,600
8
Kevin Kaylor
Houston, TX
$5,850
9
Jason Fitzpatrick
Houston, TX
$4,800
Champion’s Reaction
The 5 p.m. local start time of Day 2 with 26 players left to get down to a winner promised a likely late night for whoever was to be the eventual champion. Daly said that even though the field he battled was tough, the comradery he felt with many of the players made the late night an enjoyable one.
“It was a good time. A lot of good guys, a lot of guys I know. Ray (Henson) is a great player and a nice guy, it was just fun, that made it not bad.”
While the $41,635 first prize isn’t the largest of Daly’s tremendously accomplished career, he said that this is still a very special title for him.
“I love it. It’s the first PLO tournament I’ve won, that’s my favorite game, it’s the one I play at home all the time, I don’t get to play it often, so yah, it felt good.”
Ha Builds Big for the Final Table
Daly, and every other player on Tuesday’s road to the final table went through Thai Ha, who took his start-of-day chip lead and consistently added to it with several notable pots along the way.
Ha used his stack to continually apply pressure to his opponents, leading to him having nearly a two-to-one chip lead on his closest opponents as they began the final table.
One of those was Daly, who was still confident entering the final table despite having half the chips of Ha at the start of the final table.
“I felt like I was the best player at the final table to be honest. I had good reads on everybody, I felt like I was making the right plays. I’ve played with them all enough to know kind of where they were and I felt really good. I felt like I was in the zone today.”
Final Table Action
Once down to nine, it took about half an hour of play before the first elimination as Jason Fitzpatrick fell at the hands of Daly, who had begun his ascent to take over chip lead.
At that point, Daly wouldn’t stay on top for long as he dropped a pair of pots to Wieland that brought him into the mix for the chip lead along with Ha. Henson and Danylo Turov were the notable short stacks during five-handed play.
Ha's run at the title fell short in fourth place after Wieland picked off a river bluff to drop the Monster Stack champion under a million chips for the first time since the start of the day. Ha was eliminated shortly after by Henson.
This concludes PokerNews’ coverage of the PLO Championship here at Champions Club Texas. Stay with us though for our continuing coverage of the Winter Poker Open with the $1,000,000 guaranteed Main Event starting on Monday, February 12.