Jeremy Ausmus Wins PGT PLO Series II $15,100 Buy-In For $288,000

Make no mistake, Jeremy Ausmus has been having an incredible year in PokerGO Tour events in 2024. He had made 24 cashes, accruing more than $5.5 million across those scores while claiming the top spot in the PGT points race. The one thing the six-time bracelet winner had not managed to do so fair this season was to close out PGT title.

That all changed when he took down the 2024 PGT PLO Series II $15,100 buy-in, besting a field of 64 entries to earn $288,000. The victory came with 288 PGT points, extending his advantage on the points leaderboard. With one win, 25 cashes and 2,789 points, he now sits 753 points ahead of second-ranked Daniel Negreanu (who finished seventh in this event one day after taking down the previous tournament at this festival).

The 45-year-old Las Vegas-based poker pro now has more than $23.7 million in recorded tournament cashes to his name.

This was Ausmus’s second overall title of the year, with 20 final-table finishes. His earlier victory came in a $25,500 pot-limit Omaha high roller at the World Poker Tour Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown back in the spring. The 432 Card Player Player of the Year points he earned with this latest win moved him into fifth place in the 2024 POY standings presented by Global Poker.

The top 10 finishers made the money in this event, with 2022 WSOP main event third-place finisher Michael Duek (10th), bracelet winner Richard Gryko (9th), Finland’s Elias Harala (8th), and Negreanu (7th) all making the money but falling short of day 2.

Final day action began with Gruffudd Pugh-Jones in the lead among the final six, with Ausmus sitting on the second-shortest stack. Aumsus scored an early double to take the lead, though, and then won a three-way all-in with pocket aces to send Artem Maksimov (6th- $52,800) and Alex Foxen (5th – $72,000) to the rail.

2024 PGT PLO Series I festival champion Samuli Sipila was the next to fall. The Finn got all-in with two pair and a straight draw against a made ten-high straight for Pugh-Jones. Sipila earned $96,000 as the fourth-place finisher when he failed to improve by the river.

Five-time bracelet winner Nick Schulman bet-folded on the river in a big clash with Ausmus to be left on fumes. He managed a double up, then a triple-up, but was soon all-in again and trailing against the pocket aces of Ausmus. Schulman was unable to come from behind and was eliminated in third place ($129,600). He now has more than $20.7 million in career earnings after recording his third cash of the series.

Ausmus came into heads-up play with 5,970,000 to Pugh-Jones’s 2,030,000. The stacks soon evened out after Pugh-Jones won a big pot with quad sevens besting jacks full for Ausmus. The two traded the lead several times, with Pugh-Jones developing a 3:1 chip advantage at one point.

Ausmus managed to regain the advantage in time for the final hand of the tournament. He limped on the button with J932 for 200,000 total and Pugh-Jones checked his option with QJ43 and the flop came down A54 to give Ausmus the wheel. Pugh-Jones check-called a min-bet and the turn brought the Q, improving him to queens and fours. Pugh-Jones checked again and Ausmus bet 1,000,000. Pugh-Jones raised all-in for 1,850,000 total and Ausmus made the call. The 3 on the river changed nothing and Pugh-Jones was eliminated in second place, earning a career-best score of $187,200 for his efforts.

Here is a look at the payouts and rankings points awarded at the final table:

Photo credits: PokerGO / Antonio Abrego.