Cash Game Specialist Hokyiu Lee Triumphs in 2023 WSOPE Event #4: €2,000 Pot-Limit Omaha (€91,183)
The 2023 World Series of Poker Europe has crowned the third winner of a coveted gold bracelet at the King's Resort in Rozvadov. Out of a field of 205 entries in Event #4: €2,000 Pot-Limit Omaha, Hong Kong's Hokyiu Lee defeated Dario Alioto in heads-up play during the early morning hours. Both shared the biggest slice of the €362,045 prize pool and Lee earned a top prize of €91,183 along with live poker's pinnacle achievement for his resume.
Runner-up Alioto had to settle for a consolation prize of €56,358 whereas third-place finisher Gab Yong Kim once again missed out on his first gold bracelet as well. One year ago, Kim finished second in Event #8:€25,000 No Limit Hold'em Platinum High Roller and occupied the bronze spot on the podium this time.
Alioto was one of five WSOP bracelet winners in contention and his maiden victory dated back all the way to the 2007 WSOP Europe in London, when he came out on top of 156 entries in Event #2: £5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha. Since then, he racked up numerous deep runs in PLO tournaments but couldn't overcome cash game specialist Lee.
The winner follows into the footsteps of Yan Shing “Anson” Tsang, who reached the final table in this very event at the WSOPE three times, of which he came out on top in 2018 and 2022. The defending champion was on the rail during the final stages after he had been eliminated just shy of the money bubble earlier in the day.
Also featured on the final table were the UK's Barny Boatman and Namhyung Kim, who finished in fifth and eighth place respectively.
2023 WSOPE Event #4: €2,000 Pot Limit Omaha Final Results
| Place | Winner | Country | Prize (in EUR) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hokyiu Lee | Hong Kong | €91,183 |
| 2 | Dario Alioto | Italy | €56,358 |
| 3 | Gab Yong Kim | South Korea | €38,800 |
| 4 | Daniel Smuskovics | Germany | €27,366 |
| 5 | Barny Boatman | United Kingdom | €19,785 |
| 6 | Bruno Stefanelli | Italy | €14,673 |
| 7 | Zhengfa Ye | Austria | €11,168 |
| 8 | Namhyung Kim | South Korea | €8,732 |
Winner's Reaction
Lee credited Tsang as an important factor for his victory as they had been discussing hands and tournament strategy during breaks, as he mainly focuses on PLO cash games when traveling for poker. The chance to win a bracelet sparked even more interest in taking a shot and it wasn't the first time he had a deep run in a WSOP event, even under the bright spotlight of the feature table.
"The moment? Let me think about it ... there were too many hands," Lee joked when asked if there was any key moment en route to victory. Indeed, he was one of the shorter stacks when the tournament combined to a single table and he needed several double-ups to stay in contention. But once he had chips to play with, the dynamics changed and the elimination of Gab Yong Kim put him in a prime spot.
"Early on the final table when it was still nine-handed, there were so many short stacks and I was one of them. Once I got a bigger stack, I tried to play more and raise more to put some pressure on the other players," the eventual winner described his strategy.
While the experience was certainly on the side of Alioto, Kim didn't need a long time to get used to the camera spotlight
"I was a little bit nervous on the last three tables because I was on the feature table already. This was my second time. My first time, I only played maybe thirty minutes. I didn't feel the pressure ... but this time, I already played on the feature table all the time as of 24 left. Then I got used to it and felt more relaxed when I played the final table."
He intends to play the remaining PLO bracelet events during the 2023 WSOPE but nothing else.
"Only Omaha, I don't even know how to play Hold'em, I don't even know the rules" he joked. A break of one or two days off is likely on the horizon before the chase for more glory continues.
He may very well face Alioto again, who has a track record of excellent PLO tournament results and who he considered as the most dangerous opponent on the business end of the event.
"He is so solid and then sometimes, in all the good spots, he plays very good bluffs," Lee remarked about the runner-up from Italy.
Action of the Final Day
Some 46 players returned to their seats in Europe's biggest poker arena on the final day for what was expected to be a long night of four-card action en route to crowning a winner. The money bubble was in sight during the opening stages and it took fewer than two hours to whittle down the field to the last four tables.
Among those to miss out on a pay day was also defending champion Anson Tsang, who came up short by a few spots after failing to run up a short stack. Christopher Back and Van Marcus were knocked out by Namhyung Kim to enter a short-lived bubble period, which ended with Raf De Wever getting his aces cracked by Farid Jattin. For the Colombian, who had entered Day 2 of this very event for the second year in a row, there was no happy end either as a torrid run on the final three tables resulted in a rather disappointing 22nd place finish.
A similar roller coaster happened for Dorel Eldabach who bowed out soon after, followed by the 2022 WSOP Europe Main Event champion Omar Eljach in 19th place. Eljach had the chance to win a WSOP gold bracelet for the second day in a row after his victory in Event #2: €550 Pot Limit Omaha but ran into the aces of Quirin Zech.
The final two tables were set soon after with the elimination of 2022 WSOP Main Event finalist Aaron Duczak and one of the most pivotal hands on Day 2 then unfolded on the outer table, where Namhyung Kim had the chance to eliminate Mick Heder and Dario Alioto with a flopped set of eights against two flush draws. Alioto had aces to go with it and spiked another heart on the river, skyrocketing to the top of the leaderboard.
Nino Pansier ran into one too many setups to narrowly miss the final table and Pavel Izotov bowed out moments later to set up the unofficial final table. Guy Goossens comeback from one big blind was cut short in ninth place before Kim ran with kings into aces to become the next casualty. Alioto then flushed away he two short stacks Zhengfa Ye and Bruno Stefanelli before Barny Boatman and Daniel Smuskovics also ran out of chips on a topsy-turvy day.
Three-handed play started incredibly deep with at least forty big blinds at their disposal but eventually, Kim saw his fate sealed when he flopped the second nut straight. Lee had him pipped and entered heads-up play with a near two-to-one lead over Alioto.
The heads-up duel for the gold bracelet was a brief affair as Lee pulled into a commanding lead thanks to a turned full house and flopped quads in quick succession. Alioto never recovered from the near fatal blows and couldn't double his tally just yet. For Lee, it was the first major live poker victory and he will certainly be among the contestants in the remaining PLO bracelet events during the 2023 WSOPE.
That concludes the PokerNews live updates for this event but another 12 WSOP gold bracelets will be awarded at the King's Resort in Rozvadov in the next two weeks.