Event #54: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Day 1 | 2025 World Series of Poker

Jun 18, 2025

Ladenburg Gets Counterfeited to Bust

Tim Baker

Level 4 : Blinds 200/400, 400 ante

Erik Ladenburg was short-stacked and committed the last of his 5,000 chips before the flop, with William Meeks making the call to try to bust him.

Erik Ladenburg: Q♣9♣3♠2♦ All in
William Meeks: K♣K♦6♣2♠

Meeks was ahead with his two kings, but a lot could change with five cards to come. The 9♥4♦A♦ flop gave Ladenburg a pair of nines. Ladenburg improved to two pair on the Q♦ turn, but the A♥ appeared on the river to counterfeit that two pair. Meeks' pocket kings won the pot, and Ladenburg was out.

Tags: Erik Ladenburg William Meeks

Jun 18, 2025

Peter de Jong

61,200 14,700

Table 262Seat 2

Jun 18, 2025

Broadway for Morris

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Jacob Wilson

Level 4 : Blinds 200/400, 400 ante

Action was picked up on a board reading Q♦7♦A♥8♥ with 45,000 in the middle. Ryan Conrad ripped his stack of 15,000 into the middle, and Arthur Morris snapped him off, saying, "I'm on a flush."

Ryan Conrad: A♦Q♠9♦6♦ All in
Arthur Morris: K♠J♥10♠6♥

Conrad was in the lead with top two, the nut diamond draw, and an open-ender. Morris, however, had plenty of outs, with any non-board pairing card above an eight giving him the nut straight. He also had hearts working for him. The K♣ river did indeed improve him to the nuts, and he sent Conrad home.

Tags: Arthur Morris Ryan Conrad

Jun 18, 2025

A Little About Newman, One of the Big Stacks

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Tim Baker

Level 4 : Blinds 200/400, 400 ante

Michael Newman, originally from New York and now a longtime South Florida grinder, has come close to WSOP success on more than one occasion. In 2017, he finished 10th in the $10,000 Tag Team Championship alongside teammate and his former coach, Paul Snead, narrowly missing out on the final table after losing aces to kings in a brutal one-outer. He followed that up with another deep run in the 2021 $1,000 Tag Team event, where he and partner Robert Ormont ended up placing fourth.

Now in his mid-50s, Newman has 36 first-place finishes according to TheHendonMob and boasts over $2,400,000 in live tournament earnings. He remains a familiar face in the WSOP fields and is still in the hunt for that elusive bracelet.

Tags: Michael Newman

Jun 18, 2025

PLO Big Stacks

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Jacob Wilson

Level 4 : 200/400, 400 ante

Current top 20 stacks according to the WSOP+ app.

Level: 4

Blinds: 200/400

Ante: 400

Jun 18, 2025

Peter de Jong

46,500

Table 262Seat 2

Jun 18, 2025

Break Time

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Jacob Wilson

Level 3 : Blinds 200/300, 300 ante

The players head off to their first break of the day, which will last 20 minutes. Play resumes at 2:20 p.m. local time

Jun 18, 2025

Zektser Going For Second of the Series

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Jacob Wilson

Level 3 : Blinds 200/300, 300 ante

Igor Zektser, as of recent, has become an Omaha aficionado, having cashed in a whopping 21 Omaha events, since making the switch from Hold'em to PLO back in 2021. Of these 21, five have been at this year's series already, despite only having just passed the halfway mark.

Zektser plays any variation: this year alone, he made the money in:

Event #15: $1,500 Mixed: Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better (95th, $3,381)
Event #21: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better (63rd, $4,391)
Event #24: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Double Board Bomb Pot (46th, $6,784)
Event #44: $10,000 Big O Championship (36th $21,052)

To cap off an already extremely impressive series, Zektser went one step further and won his first-ever WSOP bracelet in Event #27: $1,500 Big O, taking home a whopping $297,285, along with a win he'd been chasing since his first WSOP cash back in 2013.

Back in the original PLO streets, he'll be searching to double his bracelet tally for the year, and his career, along with a sixth cash of the summer.

Tags: Igor Zekster

Jun 18, 2025

Vega Doubles to Stay in the Tournament

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Tim Baker

Level 3 : Blinds 200/300, 300 ante

Arriving at the table to see Alfredo Vega was all-in before the flop against Felipe Campins.

Alfredo Vega: A♥Q♦10♦6♦ All in
Felipe Campins: K♥Q♠J♦9♠

Vega was slightly ahead, but on the Q♥10♠2♠ flop, Campins picked up straight and flush draws. The 4♦ turn didn't change anything, and neither did the 2♣ river. Vega took down the pot with two pair, and Campins was back to the starting stack.

Tags: Alfredo Vega Felipe Campins