2018 World Series of Poker Europe

Event #3: €550 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Handed
Day: 3
Event Info

2018 World Series of Poker Europe

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
9764
Prize
€59,625
Event Info
Buy-in
€550
Prize Pool
€274,417
Entries
572
Level Info
Level
33
Blinds
120,000 / 240,000
Ante
0

Event #3: €550 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Handed

Day 3 Completed

Two Bracelets in One Year for Hanh Tran; Wins Event #3: €550 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Handed (€59,625)

Level 33 : 120,000/240,000, 0 ante
Hanh Tran - Winner of Event #3: €550 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Handed
Hanh Tran - Winner of Event #3: €550 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Handed

Hanh Tran has won his second WSOP bracelet of the year in Event #3: €550 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Handed! At the final table, Tran defeated Oleg Pavlyuchuk heads-up to win €59,625 and the coveted prize. Romain Lewis of France finished in third place. Florian Sarnow, second in last night's Turbo Bounty Hunter, was the first to leave the final table in eight place.

“I’m just here for vacation, have fun with my friends, and party!” said Tran this summer, back when he won his first WSOP gold bracelet in Event #29: $1,500 2-7 Triple Draw. The easy-going nature of the Austrian hasn't changed one bit and today, the same calm stood out as he claimed another career-defining win.

He defeated Pavlyuchuk heads-up after overcoming a 5:1 chip deficit, reminiscent of his first bracelet win where he was able to claw himself back from an even steeper hole.

"I know if I would double-up, I could beat him," Tran explained. "I'm experienced with being the underdog: in Vegas, I was a huge underdog too."

Despite winning two WSOP bracelets in the span of four months, don't call him a tournament player. Tran is still first and foremost a cash gamer.

"Tournaments are only for fun or wasting time," he grinned.

While Tran might be keeping up appearances as a cash game player, his second taste of bracelet gold has left him hungry for more. He's eyeing the €2,200 Pot-Limit Omaha bracelet event, that starts in a few days, and the Main Event might be on tap too.

"Now, I want a third bracelet. I'm going to play more," he admitted.

Perhaps there's a tournament player hidden in Tran after all. And if he, in spite of his accomplishments, still considers tournaments "just for fun", winning multiple WSOP gold bracelets seems the perfect way to go at it.

Official Final Table Results

PlacePlayerCountryPrize in €Prize in $
1Hanh TranAustria€59,625$68,365
2Oleg PavlyuchukLatvia€36,851$42,242
3Romain LewisFrance€25,473$29,201
4Sebastian ObermeierGermany€17,095$20,525
5Tarek SleimanChile€12,802$14,675
6Manish GoenkaIndia€9,313$10,676
7Michael MagalashviliIsrael€6,896$7,906
8Florian SarnowGermany€5,198$5,959

Tran was driven to perform in this tournament, due to a promise he made to a friend of him: Andreas Klatt. Klatt won this very tournament at the 2017 WSOP Europe but couldn't make it this year. Tran had to step up to keep the bracelet streak within the group of friends going.

"I told him from the beginning: if you're not coming, I have to win it for you. And I did! That's funny," he laughed.

Action of the final day

At 3 p.m. local time, the 8 remaining players out of a 572-strong field gathered to play down to a winner and claim the biggest slices the €274,417 prize pool had to offer. Eyes at the start were locked on Florian Sarnow, who etched his name in World Series of Poker history by becoming the first player to make two WSOP final tables in a single day.

Final Table
Final Table of Event #3: €550 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Handed

Earlier this day, at 5:30 a.m. to be precise, Sarnow was eliminated in second place in the single day €1,100 Turbo Bounty Hunter and narrowly missed out on a bracelet. He would get a second shot in Pot-Limit Omaha a few hours later, but that attempt lasted only for two hands. In the first hand, Sarnow lost a chunk to Hanh Tran, then dropped the rest to Oleg Pavlyuchuk.

The popular Michael Magalashvili had many on the rail rooting for him, but the last Israeli standing couldn't do what two of his fellow countrymen did in the days before: win a bracelet. Short stacked, Magalashvili stuck it in with an ace-king-jack-five against Sebastian Obermeier, who turned top set with his kings to end the Israeli in seventh.

Manish Goenka and Tarek Sleiman quickly followed Magalashvili out the door. True to the spirit of 'The Great Game', as Pot-Limit Omaha is affectionally known, Sleiman ran a big blocker bluff but walked right into Pavlyuchuk's nut straight to be left with crumbs.

Oleg Pavlyuchuk
Oleg Pavlyuchuk finished in second place.

Four-handed play lasted for a bit and it was during that time that Pavlyuchuk made a huge fold. On a flop with two queens and two spades, Pavlyuchuk had flopped an open-ended straight flush draw and wrap, but once put to the test by Tran he decided to lay down the monster draw. Tran had a queen and would've flipped against Pavlyuchuk's hand but, had the Latvian called, the outcome of the tournament would've possibly been much different.

Sebastian Obermeier was ultimately the one to finish in fourth place and lost his chips to Romain Lewis, who grabbed the chip lead shortly after. However, stacks were extremely shallow at this point and Pavlyuchuk was able to climb back up and eliminate Lewis in two hands. In the first, Pavlyuchuk held up with aces in a three-bet pot against a flush draw, then Lewis jammed everything he had into Pavlyuchuk's rivered full house to bust in third.

Heads-up, Pavlyuchuk started with a 5:1 lead but like in Las Vegas earlier, Tran got back into it by winning several all-ins in short succession. After winning the first two, the third all-in was the first time Pavlyuchuk was at risk. The Latvian held kings on a queen-seven-six flop but Tran showed him a hand containing seven-six for two pair. The turn and river were blanks and Tran could celebrate his second bracelet win.

That's it for PokerNews for Event #3. Live coverage will be on the floor right up until the end on November 2 with start-to-finish coverage of the six remaining bracelet events so check back regularly for all live updates from King's Casino in Rozvadov!

Tags: Florian SarnowHanh TranOleg PavlyuchukRomain Lewis

Oleg Pavlyuchuk Eliminated in 2nd Place (€36,851)

Level 33 : 120,000/240,000, 0 ante
Oleg Pavlyuchuk
Oleg Pavlyuchuk

After doubling up twice earlier, the third all-in confrontation between Oleg Pavlyuchuk and Hanh Tran was the first time Pavlyuchuk was at risk. Pavlyuchuk started the hand with slightly under three million when all the chips flew in on a {Q-Spades}{7-Clubs}{6-Clubs} flop.

Oleg Pavlyuchuk: {K-Diamonds}{K-Hearts}{4-Diamonds}{4-Spades}
Hanh Tran: {9-Diamonds}{7-Hearts}{6-Hearts}{4-Clubs}

Tran had outflopped Pavlyuchuk and had the lead with two pair. The {5-Diamonds} on the turn brought Tran one card closer to winning his second WSOP bracelet of the year, and he clinched it on the {2-Diamonds} river. Tran cheered and celebrated with his friends on the rail.

Pavlyuchuk's run ended in second place, worth a massive payday of €36,851.

Player Chips Progress
Hanh Tran at
Hanh Tran
11,400,000 4,300,000
WSOP 2X Winner
Oleg Pavlyuchuk lv
Oleg Pavlyuchuk
Busted

Tags: Hanh TranOleg Pavlyuchuk

Tran Takes the Lead

Level 33 : 120,000/240,000, 0 ante
Hanh Tran
Hanh Tran

Hanh Tran raised it up on the button with {k-Diamonds}{j-Diamonds}{9-Hearts}{X-} and Oleg Pavlyuchuk called in the big blind holding {a-Spades}{k-Spades}{q-Diamonds}{6-Hearts}. The flop came {k-Hearts}{j-Hearts}{9-Diamonds} and Pavlyuchuk checked to Tran who bet 1,440,000 with three pair. Pavlyuchuk called and the {9-Spades} paired the board on the turn.

Both players checked and the {8-Hearts} completed the board on the river. Pavlyuchuk checked again and Tran pushed all in for 2,780,000 with his full house. Pavlyuchuk quickly mucked his hand and Tran took over the chip lead.

Player Chips Progress
Hanh Tran at
Hanh Tran
7,100,000 3,220,000
WSOP 2X Winner
Oleg Pavlyuchuk lv
Oleg Pavlyuchuk
4,340,000 -3,220,000

Tags: Hanh TranOleg Pavlyuchuk

Tran Doubles Up Once More

Level 33 : 120,000/240,000, 0 ante
Heads-up
Heads-up

After a preflop raising war, Hanh Tran and Oleg Pavlyuchuk got their stacks in the middle again. This time, Tran was at risk for 1,940,000.

Hanh Tran: {K-Clubs}{Q-Clubs}{Q-Diamonds}{4-Diamonds}
Oleg Pavlyuchuk: {A-Spades}{K-Hearts}{J-Diamonds}{3-Spades}

Once again Tran was able to come out on top after the board ran out {9-Spades}{6-Spades}{5-Diamonds}{5-Hearts}{8-Hearts} for queens and fives.

Player Chips Progress
Oleg Pavlyuchuk lv
Oleg Pavlyuchuk
7,560,000 -1,100,000
Hanh Tran at
Hanh Tran
3,880,000 1,100,000
WSOP 2X Winner

Tags: Hanh TranOleg Pavlyuchuk

Tran Doubles Up

Level 33 : 120,000/240,000, 0 ante

Oleg Pavlyuchuk raised and reraised the first few hands to extend his lead. Hanh Tran was left with 1,390,000 and found a monster in {A-Spades}{K-Clubs}{Q-Clubs}{J-Clubs}, which he potted. Pavlyuchuk repotted with {J-Spades}{9-Spades}{7-Clubs}{6-Diamonds} to get the rest of Tran's stack in.

The {Q-Spades}{J-Hearts}{6-Hearts} flop gave Tran the superior two pair, the {10-Hearts} on the turn locked it up and the {3-Hearts} river was but a formality.

Player Chips Progress
Oleg Pavlyuchuk lv
Oleg Pavlyuchuk
8,660,000 210,000
Hanh Tran at
Hanh Tran
2,780,000 -210,000
WSOP 2X Winner

Tags: Hanh TranOleg Pavlyuchuk

Level: 33

Blinds: 120,000/240,000

Ante: 0

Romain Lewis Eliminated in 3rd Place (€25,473)

Level 32 : 100,000/200,000, 0 ante
Romain Lewis
Romain Lewis

In a limped pot in the blinds, 300,000 went in on the {5-Spades}{7-Spades}{8-Spades} flop before Romain Lewis bet 475,000 on the {9-Hearts} turn. Oleg Pavlyuchuk call in position.

On the {8-Diamonds} river, Lewis shoved all in for 1,785,000 and Pavlyuchuk called after mere seconds.

Romain Lewis: {A-Spades}{Q-Diamonds}{9-Diamonds}{4-Clubs}
Oleg Pavlyuchuk: {J-Diamonds}{5-Clubs}{5-Diamonds}{3-Hearts}

Pavlyuchuk's full house was best to eliminate Lewis in third place. The Frenchman added €25,473 to his lifetime winnings of over $1.5M.

Player Chips Progress
Oleg Pavlyuchuk lv
Oleg Pavlyuchuk
8,450,000 2,750,000
Hanh Tran at
Hanh Tran
2,990,000 440,000
WSOP 2X Winner
Romain Lewis fr
Romain Lewis
Busted
Winamax.fr Team Pro
WSOP 1X Winner

Tags: Oleg PavlyuchukRomain Lewis