As the series winds to a close, the final PLO event of the 2024 WSOP comes in the form of Event #97: $3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 6-Handed, where 844 players came out to give one last shot at a bracelet in this variant. This created an overall prize pool of $2,253,480, of which 127 players saw a piece in the form of at least a payout of $6,021. The final 17 are guaranteed a minimum payout of $20,595, with all eyes on the first-place prize of $390,621 on top of the WSOP gold bracelet.
Leading the way is Andrew Watson, who bagged up 5,200,000 for the third day. The Tulsa, Oklahoma, resident secured his fifth WSOP cash of the year and will be working on getting his first WSOP bracelet. With $1,303,842 in lifetime earnings and multiple deep runs in PLO events this year, he looks to use his massive stack effectively tomorrow in his quest to run deeper.
Others who bagged included Martin Zamani (3,250,000), Ronald Keijzer (2,735,000), Ari Engel (1,880,000), Dylan Weisman (1,825,000), Alex Livingston (1,685,000), and Shaun Deeb (1,675,000). Each of them is looking to carve out a piece of WSOP history as the series approaches its end.
Day 3 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andrew Watson | United States | 5,200,000 | 130 |
| 2 | Martin Zamani | United States | 3,250,000 | 81 |
| 3 | Shai Elbaz | United States | 3,200,000 | 80 |
| 4 | Francisco Benitez | Uruguay | 2,975,000 | 74 |
| 5 | Christopher Roth | United States | 2,850,000 | 71 |
| 6 | Hokyiu Lee | Hong Kong | 2,795,000 | 70 |
| 7 | Ronald Keijzer | Netherlands | 2,735,000 | 68 |
| 8 | Ari Engel | United States | 1,880,000 | 47 |
| 9 | Dylan Weisman | United States | 1,825,000 | 46 |
| 10 | Alex Livingston | Canada | 1,685,000 | 42 |
Day 2 Action
It did not take long for the bubble to burst, as 134 players returned to their seats and 127 places were paid. When the bubble came around, it was Chino Rheem who called off correctly with aces in a massive pot on the flop against Hokyiu Lee who only held second pair. He managed to pair up with one of his other cards to see Lee scoop the sizable pot while Rheem exited the tournament one shy of the money.
After that, an array of big names in the poker world fell as the day progressed. Jared Jaffee (115th - $6,021), Danny Wong (113th - $6,021), and Ray Fishman (88th - $6,172) all fell quickly after the bubble burst. Start of day chip leader Scott Ball (74th - $6,322) saw his hopes for a third bracelet dashed. Last year’s WSOP Player of the Year Ian Matakis (60th - $6,532) was unable to keep the momentum going to secure another bracelet.
After that, the eliminations kept coming as Patrick Moulder (54th - $6,927), Yuri Dzivielevski (48th - $7,534), Ethan “Rampage” Yau (45th-$8,401), Lawrence Brandt (38th - $9,598), and Jim Collopy (24th - $13,439) all fell before night’s end. They will have one final shot tomorrow to win a bracelet this summer before turning their eyes outside of Vegas to claim one.
Play will resume at 1 p.m. on July 17 at Level 23. Blinds will return to 20,000/40,000 with a 40,000 big blind ante. Levels will last one hour each, and play will continue until a winner is crowned.
Stay tuned right here as PokerNews provides live updates throughout the day.
