The latest high roller series on the PokerGoTour in in the books at the Aria Casino in Las Vegas. Samuli Sipila from Finland secured the PGT Gold Cup when he claimed the PGT PLO Series championship by finishing at the top of the leaderboard. Sipila won two events -- Event #4 #10K PLO and Event #7 $15K PLO Progressive Bounty and banked over $1 million in prize money and bounties at the PGT PLO Series.
Ship it to Finland. There's something about the drinking water in Finland that makes it fertile ground for PLO stars. During the peak of the online poker boom in the mid-2000s, some of the top PLO players in the world hailed from Finland. And it's 2024, two players from Finland finished first and second on the leaderboard with four tournament victories in the latest PLO-centric high roller series in Las Vegas.
Samuli Sipila, a pro from Finland, dominated this year's PGT PLO Series at the Aria Casino in Las Vegas. He shipped two events and was a runner-up in the $25K PLO Championship en route to hoisting the PGT Gold Cup. Sipila finished the series with 749 PGT points including 205 for his second-place finish in Event #9 to lock up the title.
Finland went one-two at the PGT PLO Series when Eelis Parssinen took second overall with 565 points thanks to two tournament victories. The top five on the final leader board included a trio of Americans... Seth Davies (313), Dylan Weisman (309), and Stefan Christopher (302).
Allan Le shipped PGT PLO Series Event #1 $5,100 PLO when he outlasted 132 runners in the opening event. Le picked off Bryce Yockey heads up to win the first tournament on the docket for a $161,700 score. Among the notables who cashed in the top ten included Joao Estanislau, Fernando Habegger, Freddie Hoban, Sean Troha, Steve Z, Adam Hendrix, Kyle Merron, and Eran Carmi.
Event #2 $7,600 PLO Bounty attracted 103 runners and Finland claimed their first title of the series. Eelis Parssinen outlasted a tough field to win $131,325 and denied Isaac Kempton the title after a tough heads-up joust. Holland's Ronald Keijzer took third place, Lautaro Guerra from Spain finished in fourth, American Brad Ruben finished in fifth, and Josh Arieh cashed in sixth place. Parssinen secured 175 points and moved into second on the leader board behind Le with 183.
Daniel Negreanu was the last player standing in Event #3 $5,100 PLO. Kid Poker outlasted 118 runners and knocked out Anuj Agarwal heads-up to snag a first-place prize worth $147,500. The final table included Bruno Furth, Curtis Muller, Dylan Weisman, and Lance Patel. With 148 points, Negreanu moved up to third in the leader board standings behind Le and Parssinen.
Samuli Sipila won his first title this series in Event #4 $10,100 PLO. Sipila outlasted 89 runners to win $240,300. The final table included Stefan Christopher, Arthur Morris, Chris Frank, Andre Cruz, and Artem Maksimov. With the victory, Sipila claimed 240 points which rocketed him to the top of the leader board.
Event #5 $5,100 PLO Progressive Bounty attracted 139 runners. Holland's Ronald Keijzer was the last player standing, and he won $80,275 plus $80,000 in bounties. Josh Arieh finished in second place. Other noteworthy players who went deep and cashed included Kamel Mokhammad, Bruno Furth, Ben Lamb, and Blake Hanson. Thanks to his victory, Keijzer moved into first place on the leaderboard with 246 points.
Event #6 $10,100 PLO attracted 85 runners. Dylan Weisman, who is no stranger to the winner's circle, secured his first title this series and third title overall in 2024 when he edged out Spain's Lautaro Guerra to win $229,500. The final table also included Jordan Spurlin, Isaac Kempton, Ian Matakis, and Stefan Christopher. Weisman added 240 points with the victory and moved into first place on the leader board with 277 points. Sipila bubbled the final table when he cashed in seventh place, but he added 34 points and trailed Weisman by just three points on the leaderboard.
Sipila added a second title with a victory in Event #7 $15,100 PLO Progressive Bounty. He outlasted 71 entrants to win $159,840 plus $239,000 in bounties. The victory included 270 leaderboard points and he moved into first place. With 544 points, Sipila had almost twice as much as Weisman in second with 277. Jim Collopy finished in second place, Nick Schulman took third, Chris Frank finished in fourth, Sean Winter was fifth, and Negreanu took sixth place.
Eelis Parssinen won his second event this series when he was the last player standing in Event #8 $15,100 PLO. Players from Finland won four out of the first eight events. Parssinen outlasted 83 runners and picked off Alex Foxen heads up for the victory and $346,000 in cash. The final table also included Mike Duek, Joao Simao, Erik Seidel, and Lou Garza. Parssinen added 349 points and seized first place on the leader board with 565 versus Sipila's 544.
Event #9 $25,200 PLO Championship was the anchor event that attracted 72 runners. Seth Davies defeated Sipila heads up to claim his first title of the series and $522,000. The final table also included Bruno Furth, Stefan Christopher, Allen Le, Sean Winter, and Joao Simao. For a runner-up finish, Sipila added 205 points and regained the top spot on the leaderboard with 749 points versus Parssinen's 565. Seth Davies moved into third overall with 313. With the final event not expecting to draw a huge field, Sipila essentially locked up the championship and the Fins finished one-two.
The final event of the PGT PLO Series was Event #10 $5,100 Dealer's Choice. American James Calderaro outslugged 21 runners to claim the victory and $56,700. He also denied Allan Le a second title. Le would finish sixth on the leaderboard with 291 points.
Sipila won the PGT Gold Cup and a $10,000 PGT Passport for his excellence throughout the PGT PLO Series.
