Florian Langmann topped a field of 474 entrants to take down Event #54: $3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Low for $297,650. The German had already amassed more than $2 million in live tournament cashes, but this is his first bracelet victory.
Twenty players advanced to Day 3, and Langmann scored plenty of knockouts on the way to his victory. His game plan was clear.
"I guess I'm going to be the guy that's least afraid to gamble and that's worked out so far for me," he told a PokerNews reporter just before the official final table commenced. "You can't be too aggressive in this game."
Langmann backed up his words, finding himself in plenty of all-in situations, sometimes with less-than-stellar preflop holdings. In one of the most key hands of the final table, he knocked out dangerous Omaha Eight-or-Better player Woody Deck in seventh when he attempted to isolate a short stack and got caught by Deck, eventually making two pair with .
After accomplished Frenchman Antony Lellouche was eliminated in sixth, TJ Eisenman busted in fifth, and Doug Baughman bowed out in fourth, three-handed play began with Langmann and eventual runner-up Zach Freeman virtually even in chips. Langmann's aggression again paid off with good fortune, as he busted Dylan Wilkerson on a board with against , dodging seemingly infinite outs when a hit.
At that point, the six-to-one chip deficit was simply too big a hole for Freeman to climb out of heads up.
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On fourth street, the board read , and the two biggest stacks, Dylan Wilkerson and Florian Langmann, clashed all in.
Wilkerson:
Langmann:
Langmann had kings up with a flush draw, but the draw was trumped by Wilkerson, who had seemingly countless outs with the nut low draw, nut flush draw, and a double-gutshot straight draw. The dealer peeled off the last card: the one of the few cards that didn't give Wilkerson any of the pot.
Langmann had a covering stack, and heads-up play begins with him holding a massive lead.
Zach Freeman raised to 125,000 on the button, and Doug Baughman potted from the small blind after staying relatively quiet for most of the final table. That didn't deter Freeman, who only had to call 220,000 more.
Freeman:
Baughman:
The board ran out in Freeman's favor: , giving him the nut straight and the KO.
Antony Lellouche put 105,000 in from the cutoff, leaving just 35,000 behind. Florian Langmann put his opponent all in from the small blind and got called.
Lellouche:
Langmann:
The board gave Langmann eights and threes, while Lellouche was unpaired.
Florian Langmann raised to 100,000 in the cutoff, and Woody Deck called on the button. Zach Freeman shipped in for 335,000 in the small blind, the big blind folded, and Langmann shoved pot over that. Deck called off his 980,000.
Deck:
Langmann:
Freeman:
Freeman had found double-suited kings with in the blinds and rolled with it, and Langmann's isolation play had failed. The flop was , giving Langmann the nut low and Freeman the high. A brutal turned, and Deck was now in danger of busting as Langmann had him scooped with two pair and the nut low. The helped nobody, so Freeman took the main high pot with aces up, while Langmann took the low. The German scooped the whole side pot, leaving Deck going out in seventh with the second-best stack.
Florian Langmann raised to 55,000 in the cutoff, and Jonathan Depa got his 36,000 in from the small blind. Zach Freeman called in the big blind before folding to 50,000 on the flop.
Langmann:
Depa:
The flop was nothing of substance for either besides a gutshot for Depa. A turn and river meant Langmann had run the nut flush, and he finally knocked out the stubborn Depa.
After doubling up Dylan Wilkerson in a preflop all in pot, Shiva Dudani was down to 116,000. He potted from late position and got set all in by TJ Eisenman.
Dudani:
Eisenman:
Eisenman's aces stayed good, making a full house on the board and eliminating Dudani from contention.