Cesar Garcia Storms to a Big Lead at the Final Table of the $50,000 PLO Grand Slam
Some of the best Pot-Limit Omaha players in the world joined the field in the Onyx High Roller Series $50,000 PLO Grand Slam. But that was no problem for Cesar Garcia on Day 2.
Garcia dominated the event's penultimate day and built a massive chip stack of 20,260,000, good for more than 250 big blinds, putting him in the overwhelming chip lead heading into tomorrow’s final table.
Final Table Chip Counts
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Danielle Noja | Australia | 2,175,000 | 27 |
| 2 | Nino Pansier | Netherlands | 3,695,000 | 46 |
| 3 | Espen Myrmo | Norway | 1,320,000 | 17 |
| 4 | Gruffudd Pugh-Jones | Wales | 3,305,000 | 41 |
| 5 | Filip Aleksic | Austria | 11,055,000 | 138 |
| 6 | Sean Rafael | United States | 7,115,000 | 89 |
| 7 | Cesar Garcia | Spain | 20,260,000 | 253 |
Already one of the chip leaders approaching the money bubble, Garcia stormed to the top during the later stages of the day. He busted Raphael Schreiner on the money bubble with a pair of kings. Lautaro Guerra then got in his last 2,130,000 on the flop with straight and flush draws, while Garcia had the nut flush draw and a pair. Garcia ended up improving to trips, while Guerra missed his draws and was eliminated in 11th place. Garcia also helped bring the night to a close, making a straight to bust Laszlo Bujtas in eighth.
The Spaniard is no stranger to big final tables. He already has more than $2.3 million in live earnings, including a WSOP bracelet and two EPT final tables, most recently in Barcelona last summer.
Filip Aleksic is his closest challenger with 11,055,000. The online PLO specialist and poker coach, where he’s known as “horseofhell,” Aleksic has already eclipsed his previous live earnings so far in this tournament. Aleksic scored two big eliminations late on Day 2, first hitting two pair to crack Tom Vogelsang’s aces on the soft bubble. He then had Rob Yong all in for 1,485,000 and hit top two pair on the flop, but Yong improved to a flush on the turn. The river, though, gave Aleksic a full house and sent the tournament host to the rail in ninth place.
Sean Rafael (7,115,000) rounds out the podium as the top three players control nearly 80 percent of the chips in play once action resumes tomorrow. Further down the leaderboard are Nino Pansier (3,695,000), Gruffudd Pugh-Jones (3,305,000), Danielle Noja (2,175,000), and Espen Myrmo (1,320,000).
Day 2 began with the 30 remaining players from the two opening flights being joined by 10 new arrivals to create a total field of 98. Only the top 15 players could make the money, and Youness Barakat, Thomas Eychenne, Artur Martirosian, Eelis Parssinen, and Joni Jouhkimainen were among the first bustouts. The money bubble took more than 30 minutes before Garcia dispatched Schreiner. The bustouts came fast afterwards, with Biao Ding (15th), Imad Derwiche (13th), Gergo Nagy (12th), and Carlo van Ravenswoud (10th) falling before the final table.
Final Table Payouts
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,200,000 | ||
| 2 | $840,000 | ||
| 3 | $555,000 | ||
| 4 | $430,000 | ||
| 5 | $340,000 | ||
| 6 | $265,000 | ||
| 7 | $210,000 | ||
| 8 | Laszlo Bujtas | Hungary | $160,000 |
| 9 | Rob Yong | United Kingdom | $160,000 |
The remaining seven players will return to the Onyx Club inside the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel & Spa at 1 p.m. local time to play down to a champion. The action picks up with seven hands remaining in Level 18 with blinds of 40,000/80,000 and an 80,000 big blind ante. Each subsequent level will be 24 hands long. Everyone left has locked up $210,000 for making it this far, while the champion will earn $1,200,000.
A champion of the biggest PLO tournament of the festival will be crowned tomorrow, and PokerNews will be back following all the action and providing live updates until the trophy is handed out.