Tam Truong Wins 6 Max PLO WSOP Circuit The Star Sydney to Take First WSOPC Title and AU$74,341/$50,440 Top Prize
The two-day WSOP International Circuit 6 Max Pot-Limit Omaha Event played out to a thrilling conclusion at the poker tables of The Star Sydney, with Australia's Tam Truong the man to take the AU$74,341 (~$50,440) top prize, snagging his first WSOPC title and coveted Circuit Ring in the process.
Tam defeated a 177-strong field, coming from behind to defeat fellow countryman Dinh Pham after a brief heads-up battle, with Pham taking home AU$45,955 (~$31,445) for his runner-up finish and a total of 18 players cashing for a share of the AU$265,500 (~$180,140) prize pool.
Despite coming into the heads-up match with the chip lead - holding 2.47 million to Truong's 1.94 million - Pham could not close out the win, losing a huge early three-bet pot that saw him flop two pair, a flush draw and a gutshot straight draw on a double diamond jack-ten-ten flop. Truong, holding aces with the nut diamond blocker, improved to a full house when a third ten came in on the turn to seize a lead he would not relinquish.
The final hand played out shortly afterwards, Pham defending from the blinds after Truong raised the button and calling the latter's continuation bet, with all the chips going in on the turn on a ten-seven-deuce-deuce double spade flop.
Pham held the nut flush draw, gutshot straight draw and an overcard to Truong's pocket jacks and a straight draw, and while both players made their straight on the non-spade nine river, Truong's was higher.
"I feel awesome," said Truong immediately after claiming his first WSOP International Circuit title and twelfth outright tournament title, bringing his total live winnings up to US$1.1 million and moving him up two places from 45th to 43rd on the Australia All Time Money List on The Hendon Mob.
"It's a pretty good feeling, I mean, what can you say? I always wanted to win a World Series bracelet, but I'll settle for a ring," he continued, before celebrating wildly with this watching rail and posing for his obligatory winner's picture.
Official Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (AU$) | Prize (US$) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Tam Truong | Australia | $74,341 | $50,440 |
| 2nd | Dinh Pham | Australia | $45,955 | $31,445 |
| 3rd | Yalcin Kaya | France | $32,994 | $22,580 |
| 4th | Con Angelakis | Australia | $23,717 | $16,215 |
| 5th | Mohammed Elkassir | Australia | $17,048 | $11,650 |
| 6th | Jun Wang | Australia | $12,255 | $8,400 |
Final Day Action
A total of 41 players out of the 177 initial entrants returned for the second and final day with Kamyar Ekrami returning in with the chip lead, though he arrived two levels late to the party, just in time to rail the 2018 runner-up in this same event Ben Thurlow.
The action was fast-paced from the start, and in addition to Thurlow, a slew of players departed early with notables to come up short of the cash spots including Jan Suchanek, Australian Poker Hall of Famer Gary Benson, Graeme Putt and Jarred Graham.
Truong began to dominate as the field began to shrink, climbing into a commanding lead he would only relinquish on the final table for a brief period, before closing out the win.
Despite returning with a little less than nine big blinds, Ramin Mansour made what can only be classed a stellar comeback, climbing right back into contention before departing in the most unenviable position in poker and exiting on the bubble after clashing with eventual fourth-place finisher Con Angelakis.
Holding top set with kings against the top two pair of Angelakis on a king-high double club board when all the chips went in on the turn, Mansour looked to be in great shape to make the money, before Angelakis hit the backdoor nut club flush to guarantee all 18 remaining players an AU$3,292 (~$2,250) payday.
Notables to make the money but come up short of a spot on the official six-handed final table included Ash Gupta (8th for AU$8,815), Day 1 chip leader Kamyar Ekrami (12th for AU$4,564), Luke Edwards (14th for AU$3,292) and Huss Hassan (16th for AU$3,292).
Tu Le made the unofficial seven-handed final table but could go no further; despite flopping top set with single-suited queens against the single-suited ace-ace-king-king of Pham the latter hit nut diamonds on the turn, which is when all the chips went in, and Le went out to set up the final six.
It took seven hours to whittle the 41 remaining players down to the final six and, with Truong holding over 40% of the chips in play at this point, it looked as though the final table would be a quick one as he held more than double that of next closest rival Pham with only one other player - Yalcin Kaya - holding an above-average stack.
However, this is where the wheels almost came off for Truong, with Kaya winning a sizable pot from the former to climb up to second in the pecking order, cementing his position as the number two contender after sending Jun Wang to the rail in sixth place.
Wang was the man driving the action, clashing in a sizable pot with Kaya that saw the former turn two pair and the latter turn a straight, which held to bring Wang's final table to an end, taking home AU$12,255 for his deep run.
Mohammed Elkassir followed Wang to the rail the level after Wang's exit, busting at the hands of a rampant Truong after potting a queen-jack-four double spade flop with a dominated jack and failing to improve. Elkassir made $17,048 for his fifth-place finish.
This is the point where Truong nearly came undone after a squeeze play backfired in a multi-way pot against Kaya and Angelakis. Truong was gunning for the latter, who was the table short stack, and after the remaining three players limped, Truong pumped the pot from the big blind.
While he managed to get Angelakis all-in, Kaya also came along for the ride from the button and, after Truong potted the flop, Kaya repotted to take the action heads-up with Angelakis, who tripled up to climb right back into contention after flopping the nut straight. The side pot was enough to give Kaya the chip lead and Truong dropped down to second in the pecking order.
It took a full further level before four became three, with Angelakis unable to progress further, falling at the hands of a resurgent Dinh Pham after the duo both hit a full house in a hand; Pham's queens full of fours besting Angelakis' fours full of tens to send the latter to the cage to collect his AU$23,717 payout.
Pham had already begun to make his own play for the title by this point and was already holding the chip lead before Angelakis' elimination.
Kaya and Truong clashed in a big pot not long after Angelakis' departure, the duo getting all the chips in on a king-ten-eight double spade flop where Kaya found his top pair trailing to Truong's middle set and failing to improve further to hit the rail in third for AU$45,955.
While that concludes all the PLO action for the Series, the two-day AU$1m guaranteed $20,000 High Rollers - Big Blind Ante Event kicks off at 2:15 p.m. on Wednesday, December 4, with the Day 1c of the Main Event following hot on its heels and getting underway on Thursday, December 5. The PokerNews live reporting team will be on hand to bring you updates from both, so join us then.