Simon Lofberg Wins First Bracelet in Event #40: $2,500 Pot Limit Omaha ($224,493)
The third Pot Limit Omaha tournament of the 2020 GGPoker World Series of Poker Online Bracelet Events has played down to a champion and it took more than nine hours of play to whittle down a field of 532 entries in Event #40: $2,500 Pot Limit Omaha to a winner. In an all-Scandinavian heads-up battle for the lion's share of the $1,263,500 prize pool it was Klas Simon Löfberg who defeated Andreas Torbergsen and claimed a maiden WSOP gold bracelet to his name along with the top prize of $224,493.45.
Lofberg ended the year 2019 on a high when he scored a career-best prize of €352,230 on the live poker circuit after finishing second to Tsugunari Toma in a €10,300 High Roller at the 2019 European Poker Tour Prague festival. While the cash value for finishing one spot better on the virtual felt may not be as big, it comes with the one prize most poker players dream of.
For Torbergsen, the runner-up finish comes with a consolation prize of $164,552.93. Third-placed Shyngis Satubayev scored a payday of $120,616.86 but missed out to become the first player from Kazakhstan to join the winner's circle. Just five days ago, Satuyabev bubbled the final table of Event #35 $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha when yet another Scandinavian in Juha Helppi claimed his second WSOP bracelet.
Final Result Event #40: $2,500 Pot Limit Omaha
| Place | Winner | Country | Prize (in USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Simon Lofberg | Sweden | $224,493 |
| 2 | Andreas Torbergsen | Norway | $164,553 |
| 3 | Shyngis "somebodyelse" Satubayev | Kazakhstan | $120,617 |
| 4 | Leon Tsoukernik | Czech Republic | $88,412 |
| 5 | Sai Wah "sws79" Shek | Hong Kong | $64,806 |
| 6 | Arvi "Catman777" Vainionkulma | Finland | $47,502 |
| 7 | Paul Teoh | Malaysia | $34,819 |
| 8 | Benjamin "dr100percent" Juhasz | Hungary | $25,522 |
| 9 | “Brahman33” | Ukraine | $18,708 |
Leon Tsoukernik Reaches Final Table and Finishes Fourth
The other big story of the final table was certainly the appearance of Leon Tsoukernik. The first entry had gone up in flames but he was one of the chip leaders once the bubble had burst. On the final two tables the King's Resort owner caught heat and carried that momentum over to the final table, which he entered as the chip leader.
Tsoukernik sent Paul Teoh as well as Arvi Vainionkulma to the rail in spectacular hands but the run-good stopped soon after as Torbergsen took control and took chunks out of his stack several times. He was able to double up once but ultimately sent over the remainder of his stack to Torbergsen to bow out in 4th place for $88,411.76.
Early Action of the Day
Around 80 players were in their seats when the cards went in the air and it took all but two minutes for the first contenders to bust and re-enter. It would be symbolic for the three hours of late registration as the four-card aficionados boosted the field by the minute and create a seven-figure prize pool.
The field raced towards the paid places without showing any signs of slowing down, yet it took an entire level to let the bubble burst. Adam Owen saw his aces cracked two spots away from the money and in the very next hand four players bowed out at once. Only five minutes were left until the next break, yet more than two dozen players headed to the virtual payout desk.
Lofberg appeared among the bigger stacks after knocking out Mike McDonald and Samuel Bernabeu in the same hand. Other notables such as Dario Sammartino, Ami Barer, Tomas Ribeiro, Philip Long, Erik Seidel and Jens Lakemeier all joined the rail soon after.
Late Stages and Final Table
Online legend Liviu Ignat reached the final four tables and Joao Vieira made it one step further before bowing out in 18th place. Craig Timmis and Paul Teoh were both aiming for their second PLO final table of the festival after achieving that feat a few days ago in Event #37 $1,050 Bounty Pot Limit Omaha. Timmis came up short in 14th place whereas Teoh made the final eight after "Ross_Geller" and "Brahman33" bowed out on separate tables.
As the momentum of Tsoukernik started to vanish with five players remaining, it was Andreas Torbergsen who jumped into the lead and dominated with sheer aggression. Sai Wah Shek fell to the Norwegian and Tsoukernik suffered the same fate after losing multiple pots in short order. Lofberg then doubled through Torbergsen and knocked out Satubayev in third place to enter heads-up with a narrow lead.
More than half an hour filled with fireworks followed as the lead switched back and forth. Torbergsen was on the brink of elimination but pulled a rabbit out of the hat when cracking aces to even out the chips again. Soon after, Lofberg doubled into a commanding lead when he flopped the nut straight and Torbergsen turned an inferior jack-high straight. Ultimately, the Norwegian missed out on a flopped open-ender, gutshot and flush draw as the turn and river were both bricks to keep Lofberg's king-jack high in the lead and seal his victory.
That wraps up the PokerNews updates for this event on the second Super Sunday and the next WSOP gold bracelet will be awarded in two days as the prestigious Event #43: $10,000 Short Deck No Limit Hold'em Championship takes place on July 28th.
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