On Friday night, the 2021 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Event #80: $3,000 6-Handed Pot Limit-Omaha ended and after nearly twelve hours of blazing play on Day 3. It was Robert Cowen who emerged from an original starting field of 496 runners as the winner of his first WSOP Bracelet and the grand prize of $280,916.
It took a few minutes for the reality to set in for the poker pro hailing from Swansea, Wales who looked to be still in the zone from the grueling day of poker but was starting to loosen up thanks to a boisterous rail of friends who were over the moon for their friend.
“It’s not quite sunk in yet. It’s a big load off," he said. "I have been wanting one of these (WSOP Bracelet) for 15 years after watching the main and stuff on ESPN”.
It was a great event for Cowen to win as he stated he is primarily a PLO cash game specialist and loves to compete in the game of PLO first and foremost.
Despite the preference for PLO, Cowen is fresh off a 39th-place finish in the Main Event just a few days ago as he was able to ride that deep run momentum to a bracelet.
“I have had quite a few deep runs. I played well all series really; I have not made many mistakes it’s just that this one landed as the big winner,” he said referring to his other four cashes, including three top 70 finishes in PLO events.
One of the key hands that propelled Cowen to the bracelet came three-handed when he was down to one card, drawing to a king against eventual second-place finisher Robert Emmerson and that king would come to breath new life into Cowen’s bid to win.
“I don’t often cheer when I win a hand but that one was big. And I had no doubts that I was going to win the tournament," said Cowen.
Event #80 Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize Money |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Robert Cowen | United Kingdom | $280,916 |
| 2 | Robert Emmerson | United Kingdom | $173,613 |
| 3 | Uri Reichenstein | Israel | $116,106 |
| 4 | Dylan Weisman | Canada | $79,368 |
| 5 | William Benson | United States | $55,485 |
| 6 | Karel Mokry | Czech Republic | $39,688 |
| 7 | Mike Matusow | United States | $29,063 |
Action of the Day
The day began with 24 players and action was red hot from the first spark as the players were engulfed left and right until the inferno scorched over half the field before the first break, leaving only ten remaining amidst the smoldering ruins.
Play would cool down with ten remaining as it would take an hour and a half before a bombastic double elimination claimed the stacks of David Coleman and Naor Slobodskoy in one fell swoop. The next victim would not come for another 90 minutes as Raphael Schreiner was eliminated in eighth place to bring the field down to its unofficial final table.
Mike "The Mouth" Matusow navigated the fiery early parts of the day with his short stack, having a hose ready to douse his stack each time it got close to being completely consumed. He was able to keep himself alive all the way down to the unofficial final table, but that is where his journey ultimately ended as he was swallowed up in seventh place.
Two hours later after the dinner break, Karel Mokry went from big stack to short stack in a hurry and was eliminated in sixth place.
Five-handed play ended up being a marathon as it took about two and a half hours of back and forth play before William Benson was sent to pack up his bags in fifth place when he ran into a full house.
The eliminations went bang-bang as Dylan Weisman was taken out in fourth place only a couple of hands later when his aces were cracked by the nut flush as his bid for a second pot-limit Omaha bracelet of this WSOP came just short.
Uri Reichenstein had a deep run in a rare PLO event for him as he departed in third place after navigating his way through the field before eventually falling when he could not find a flush to overcome trips.
That would set up the heads-up battle of the Brits named Robert, which appeared to have the potential to be an epic and long battle as both players were very deep and Cowen held just a slight lead over Emmerson. But Cowen took a commanding lead quickly as he grabbed a hold of the proceedings with some aggressive play. Emmerson would claw back close to even until Cowen eventually took control again and capped it off with a dramatic final hand where he would win with a king-high flush that Emmerson called off on the river after a tortured tank.
Congratulations to Robert Cowen, winner of Event #80: $3,000 6-Handed Pot Limit-Omaha!
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and both players checked to the turn 
. Cowen bet 1,100,000 and Emmerson potted to 4,420,000. Cowen took some time before calling.
and Cowen bet of 2,000,000, enough to cover Emmerson.
for a rivered heart flush and Emmerson's hand went into the muck.
Emmerson sized up to 750,000, Cowen potted and Emmerson called all in.
and Reichenstein check-called a bet of 400,000.
. Weisman jammed all in and Emmerson snap-called. 
and Weisman was gone in fourth place as he tossed his cards in frustration and stood up to leave.
and saw the turn 
playing his pocket queens but Cowen had it beat with 
and all the chips got into the middle.
and Mokry became the first victim at the official final table.
