After a wild Day 1c, the field is now set for Day 2 of the $1,100 PLO Championship at the Champions Club Winter Poker Open in Houston, Texas.
The event’s largest opening flight field of 93 entries brought 11 more survivors through into the money and onto Thursday’s final day of play.
They were led by Vladyslav Shovkovyi, who made a late surge to rocket up the counts to bag 1,194,000 chips, securing the #1 spot overall by a wide margin. Behind him in 1c is Carl Masters who held a steady stack throughout the day but received a huge jump when he hit a one-outer for quads against Roger Franco then busted Dakota Patsfield on the bubble when he hit quads once again.
Day 1c Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vladyslav Shovkovyi | Ukraine | 1,194,000 | 239 |
| 2 | Carl Masters | United States | 562,000 | 112 |
| 3 | Jake White | United States | 439,000 | 88 |
| 4 | David Diaz | United States | 300,000 | 60 |
| 5 | Southisak Seunsom | United States | 260,000 | 52 |
| 6 | George Abi-Zeid | United States | 248,000 | 50 |
| 7 | Andrew Ige | United States | 189,000 | 38 |
| 8 | Jonathan Brown | United States | 164,000 | 33 |
| 9 | Hunter Cichy | United States | 142,000 | 28 |
| 10 | Roger Franco | United States | 135,000 | 27 |
| 11 | John Compton | United States | 85,000 | 17 |
As mentioned, the 93 entries on Monday made for by far the largest opening flight of the event which ended up totaling 212 entries, surpassing last year’s number by 13. This created an unofficial $204,580 total prize pool, easily blowing past the $150,000 guarantee.
The official prize pool as well as payouts will be posted ASAP along with the Day 2 Seat Draw.
The battle for the chip lead and a big bag to take into Day 2 didn’t have a firm contender until late in the day when Shovkovyi scooped a massive pot against Alejandro Jauregui and Alex Green when he hit a gutshot on the river. This sent Green to the rail and left short, Jauregui exited soon after. Shovkovyi was then able to ride this wave until he ultimately bagged up as the overall chip leader.
Day 2 Plan
Play will resume at 3 p.m. local time with just 0:03 remaining in Level 13. Blinds will be 2,000 / 4,000 with a 2,000 big blind ante and will immediately jump to 3,000 / 5,000 with a 2,000 big blind ante. The levels will also increase to 40 minutes in length once it hits Level 14.
Once the field is down to the final nine players, they will relocate to the bright lights of the Champions Club livestream table to continue to a winner.
PokerNews will be there from start to finish until a champion is crowned, so stay with us for the dramatic conclusion of what’s been a thrilling PLO Championship here at Champions Club Texas!
