American pro Matthew Wantman topped the leaderboard at the PGT PLO Series II hosted at the Aria Casino in Las Vegas. He shipped Event #3 $5,100 PLO and cashed six times with four final table appearances. He banked $434,380 in winnings and finished with 453 leaderboard point. He edged out Jeremy Ausmus for the PGT PLO Series II Gold Cup, and held off Alex Foxen and Daniel Negreanu.
Gambooool! The Aria Casino in Las Vegas hosted the latest series on the popular PokerGo Tour. For these nine events, it was PLO action. The winner of the PGT PLO Series II would secure a $10,000 PGT Passport and the coveted Gold Cup for their PLO awesomeness. When the dust settled, Matth Wantman passed over $7 million in career earnings and finished in first place on the PGT PLO Series II leaderboard with the best all-around performance.
PGT PLO Series II Event #1 $5,100 PLO attracted 155 runners who created a prize pool worth $775,000. The top 23 places paid out. Spain's Lautaro Guerra was the last player standing and he banked $178,250 for first place. He outlasted a final table that included Josh Arieh, Sean Troha, and Chris Costa.
Event #2 $5,100 PLO ncluded 159 entrants and a prize pool worth $795,000. The top 23 places paid out. The final table included Daniel Negreanu, Sean Winter, Bruno Furth, John Riordan, Richard Gryko, and Dylan Weisman. Weisman, who cashed in the first event, came into the final day with the lead and he went wire-to-wire for the victory in Event #2, which paid out $88,245.
Event #3 $5,100 PLO also had 155 runners. The prize pool was $775,000 and the top 23 places paid out. Matthew Wantman rallied back from a small stack and snagged $178,250 for the victory when he held off an international final table that included Jonas Kronwitter, Zachary Schwartz, Joe Serock, Michael Duek, Eran Carmi, and Eelis Parssinen. With two cashes, Wantman moved into the top spot on the leaderboard with 198 points and passed Guerra.
Event #4 $10,100 PLO attracted 100 runners who created a prize pool worth a cool million. Only the top 15 places paid out. American James Chen defeated Nacho Barbero heads up to win the fourth event for $220K in cash. Three players from Finland went deep and made the final table including Samuli Sipila, Eelis Parssinen, Joni Jouhkimainen. Matthew Wantman took fourth place and cashed in his third event. He extended his lead with 288 points, while Chen moved into second with 263 points.
Event #5 $15,100 PLO Progressive Bounties included 82 runners and a prize pool worth $1.23 million. Th final 12 places got a cut of the pie. Ike Haxton held off a tough final table that included Ben Lamb, Alex Foxen, Joe Serock, Joni Jouhkimainen, and Bryce Yockey. Haxton won $169,740 plus $214K in bounties. He scooped up 289 points, and tied Wantman for the lead with 319 total. Wantman cashed for the fourth time in five events.
Event #6 $10,100 PLO included 104 runners and a prize pool worth $1.04 million. The top 15 places paid out. Kid Poker was the last player standing. Daniel Negreanu knocked out Alex Foxen in second place to win $266,200 and 265 points. Matthew Wantman padded his lead with 120 more points for 439 total when he finished in third place. The final table also included Jeremy Ausmus, Nick Schulman, and Nacho Barbero.
Event #7 $15,100 PLO featured 64 entrants and a prize pool worth $960,000. The top ten places paid out with $288K set aside to the champion. Jeremy Ausmus won his first PGT event in almost two years and he outlasted a final table that included Gruffudd Pugh-Jones, Nick Schulman, Samuli Sipila, Alex Foxen, and Artem Maksimov.
Event #8 $25,200 PLO Championship had 62 runners who generated a prize pool worth $1.55 million. The top nine places paid out. Ben Tollerene banked $496,000 for the victory when he defeated Finland's Samuli Sipila heads up for the title. The other players who cashed in the PLO Championship included Joni Jouhkimainen, Michael Duek, Ben Lamb, Josh Arieh, Fernando Habegger, Jesse Lonis, and Billy Tarango.
Event #9 $5,100 PLO Bounty was a single-day event that attracted 84 runners. The prize pool was a heady $420K, and the final 12 places got a cut of the dank pie. Anthony Hu won $70,560 plus $16,000 in bounties for his first-place finish. The final table also included Jonathan Bowers, Frank Brannan, Erik Seidel, Chase Steely, Daniel Negreanu, and Matthew Wantman. With a sixth cash and fourth final table, Wantman locked up the PGT PLO Series II victory and secured the Gold Cup.
PGT PLO Series II - Final Leaderboard
1. Matthew Wantman (USA) 453 Points - $434,380
2. Jeremy Ausmus (USA) 420 - $416,140
3. Alex Foxen (USA) 378
4. Daniel Negreanu (Canada) 366
5. Samuli Sipila (Finland) 347
6. Isaac Haxton (USA) 340
7. Ben Lamb (USA) 307
8. Ben Tollerene (USA)298
9. Joni Jouhkimainen (Finland) 268
10. James Chen (USA) 263
