Shaun Deeb Wins 5th Bracelet in Event #53: $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha for $1,251,860
Shaun Deeb defeated Ka Kwan Lau heads up to win the 2021 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Event #53: $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller, earning his fifth career WSOP gold bracelet and a $1,251,860 top prize. Deeb prevailed in this prestigious tournament for a second time, defeating a field of 212 entries that produced a prize pool of $5,008,500.
Deeb adds this title to his win back in 2018 and becomes the newest member of the WSOP five-bracelet club. It marked his second final table of the 2021 WSOP and his 12th overall cash, vaulting him up to fourth in the Player of the Year standings.
“Now I’m gonna start multi-tabling, I really took it easy,” Deeb said. “For the rest of the year, you’re gonna see me firing pretty hard so it’s gonna be a battle.”
With a fifth title in hand, Deeb was candid about his WSOP goals moving forward.
“I’m gonna pass Phil (Hellmuth) eventually. It’s gonna take me a while but I’m gonna pass Phil. It’s gonna take me a decade or two but I’ll be there.”
Former WSOP $25,000 PLO Winners
| YEAR | PLAYER | COUNTRY | FIRST PRIZE | ENTRIES | PRIZE POOL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Shaun Deeb | United States | $1,251,860 | 212 | $5,008,500 |
| 2019 | Stephen Chidwick | United Kingdom | $1,618,417 | 278 | $6,602,500 |
| 2018 | Shaun Deeb | United States | $1,402,683 | 230 | $5,462,500 |
| 2017 | James Calderaro | United States | $1,289,074 | 204 | $4,868,750 |
| 2016 | Jens Kyllonen | Finland | $1,127,035 | 184 | $4,370,000 |
| 2015 | Anthony Zinno | United States | $1,122,196 | 175 | $4,156,250 |
Final Table Play
Deeb acknowledged that he was not the most experienced PLO player at the final table.
“Usually I have my one set plan, but I really kept trying to switch it up on these guys and figure out what way worked best versus them, and just running them over and making the nuts a bunch is the way to go.”
Deeb went on to eliminate every opponent of the final five, thanks to a double-up on the very first hand of the day.
“I have a cold four-bet for my whole stack,” Deeb explained, “it was like a crazy, crazy runoff to get me to like seven and a half, eight million right off the start which puts me in second place and from there I never really lost my momentum.”
Veselin Karakitukov began the final day as the short stack and was the first to be eliminated after running into Deeb’s aces. The fifth-place finish marked the Bulgarian’s first cash of the 2021 WSOP and the largest cash of his career. Next to go was Maxx Coleman, who was also taken out by Deeb in fourth place. Coleman now has six cashes and a second final table of the 2021 WSOP, adding to a great year after a win in the Poker Masters $10,000 8-Game Mix and three final tables at the 2021 U.S. Poker Open.
John "KasinoKrime" Beauprez entered the day second thanks to a wild runout on Day 3 that sent Ben Lamb packing. The 2013 WSOP bracelet winner added to his 31st-place run at the same event in 2017 with a third-place finish on Saturday.
Ka Kwan Lau brought the chip lead into the final day after finishing eighth in this event back in 2019. The Spaniard, who was born in Hong Kong, carried some significant tournament experience into his heads-up battle with Deeb. Despite doubling up early on, Lau was never able to mount a serious charge at Deeb’s chip lead and settled for a runner-up finish.
Event #53: $25,000 PLO High Roller Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shaun Deeb | United States | $1,251,860 |
| 2 | Ka Kwan Lau | Hong Kong | $773,708 |
| 3 | John Beauprez | United States | $537,295 |
| 4 | Maxx Coleman | United States | $381,394 |
| 5 | Veselin Karakitukov | Bulgaria | $276,870 |
| 6 | David Benyamine | France | $205,655 |
| 7 | Ben Lamb | United States | $156,387 |
| 8 | Charles Sinn | United States | $121,816 |
The rest of the official final table participants were eliminated on Day 3. Charles Sinn finished eighth, Lamb came in seventh and David Benyamine was knocked out in sixth.
Prior to the final table, a number of WSOP bracelet winners found the money including Ben Yu, Joseph Cheong, Scott Seiver, Chance Kornuth, Bryce Yockey, Joao Vieira, Simon Lofberg, Jeremy Ausmus and Tommy Le.
This concludes PokerNews' coverage of this event, but be sure to check out the live reporting hub where you can continue to follow our coverage of the 2021 World Series of Poker.