Phil Hellmuth had just sat down when he got his stack of 56,000 into the middle preflop against Alex Livingston.
Phil Hellmuth: A♥A♠5♦Q♣
Alex Livingston: Q♥Q♦J♥4♦
Hellmuth was in good shape with aces versus the queens of Livingston. A clean runout of 3♠10♠6♣8♥6♠ came out for Hellmuth, and he doubled up at the expense of Livingston.
Ryan Bambrick opened to 7,500 in middle position and Michael Rocco three-bet to 24,000 out of the big blind. Bambrick announced "Pot" and Rocco instantly moved all in. Bambrick called off his stack of just over 100,000 and the cards were tabled.
Ryan Bambrick: K♠K♥10♥9♣
Michael Rocco: A♣A♦8♣7♠
The flop came K♦8♠4♠ and Bambrick flopped a set of kings to take a big lead. Rocco grabbed his chips and threw them across the table towards Bambrick, concluding that Bambrick was about to double up. The Q♣ landed on the turn which changed nothing but it was the A♥ on the river that gave Rocco a bigger set and all of the chips came back his way.
Vivian Saliba raised to 6,000 from the hijack with Justin Gardenhire calling from the small blind, and Jared Koppel defending his big blind.
All three players checked the 8♥2♠8♠ flop to see the A♣ land on the turn. After the blinds checked Saliba bet 15,000. Gardenhire check-raised to 33,000, which only Saliba called.
With 49,000 in his stack, Gardenhire checked the K♠ turn. Saliba put Gardenhire all in, prompting a snap-fold from Gardenhire.
Alex Foxen checked from the hijack on a board of J♣7♣8♣Q♠. Alex Komaromi bet 22,000 from the button, which Foxen called.
Foxen checked for the last time on the A♥ river. Komaromi mulled over his options for a few moments before checking. Komaromi picked the right choice as Foxen turned over A♣J♦J♠5♣ for the ace-high flush.
Thomas Taylor raised it up in middle position and Nacho Barbero just flat-called on his left. The flop came 7♠3♠2♣ and Taylor checked to Barbero who bet the pot for 18,500. Taylor instantly check-raised the maximum and Barbero called off his stack of 42,500.
Nacho Barbero: K♠10♦9♦8♠
Thomas Taylor: A♠K♥Q♥J♠
Both players flopped a flush draw without a pair but it was Taylor who had the distinct edge. However, the 9♥ on the turn gave Barbero the only pair and the 2♥ paired the board on the river.
"You got scammed, man," Barbero said after collecting the pot.
A total of 294 players return today for Day 2 of Event #74: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship at the 2025 World Series of Poker inside the Horseshoe and Paris, Las Vegas. The field of 793 entries has already been cut by more than half, and with late registration open until the start of Level 13, the final number is expected to increase before the prize pool is finalized.
Leading the pack is the Netherlands’ Javier Francort, who bagged 556,500 on Day 1 and is the only player to have crossed the half-a-million mark. He’s followed by Ben Lamb with a stack of 484,500, and Brandon Crawford, who starts today with 455,500.
Top Ten Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Javier Francort
Netherlands
565,500
226
2
Ben Lamb
United States
484,500
194
3
Brandon Crawford
United States
455,500
182
4
Arunas Sapitavicius
Lithuania
450,000
180
5
Ken Fishman
United States
398,500
159
6
Dennis Weiss
Germany
395,000
158
7
Robert Mizrachi
United States
377,000
151
8
Mathew Johnson
Canada
372,500
149
9
Andreas Zampas
Greece
370,500
148
10
Michael Rocco
United States
368,500
147
Plenty of talented players are set to return to the baize today to try and build a stack. Among them are five-time bracelet winner Robert Mizrachi (377,000), Michael Rocco (368,500), Ronald Keijzer (337,000), Frank Brannan (318,000), Simon Lofberg (313,500), 2013 WSOP Main Event champion Ryan Riess (251,500), poker Hall of Famer Erik Seidel (209,500), and six-time bracelet winner Jeremy Ausmus (136,000).
Jeremy Ausmus
Day 2 kicks off at 1 p.m. local time with blinds at 1,500/2,500 and a 2,500 big blind ante. Players will battle through another ten 60-minute levels as the field plays into the money and well toward the final stretch of this four-day championship event.
Event #74 Remaining Schedule
Day
Date
Time
Blind Levels
Day 2
June 29
1 p.m.
60 minutes (play ten levels)
Day 3
June 30
1 p.m.
60 minutes (play down to five)
Day 4
July 1
TBD
60 minutes (play down to a winner)
Stay locked in with PokerNews for all the live updates, chip counts, and all the drama as the PLO Championship rolls on.
