With some of the best players in the world reaching the final table of the $25,000 PLO Championship, Ben Tollerene took the biggest title of the 2024 PGT PLO Series. As he battled for one win, Matthew Wantman conquered them all to take the overall leaderboard as he edged out opponents such as Jeremy Ausmus, Alex Foxen and Daniel Negreanu to star across the mixed games series in Las Vegas.
| PGT 2024 PLO Series Championship Top 10 Final Standings: | ||||
| Position | Player | Country | Prize | Points |
| 1st | Matthew Wantman | United States | $434,380 | 453 |
| 2nd | Jeremy Ausmus | United States | $416,140 | 420 |
| 3rd | Alex Foxen | United States | $339,540 | 378 |
| 4th | Daniel Negreanu | Canada | $351,675 | 366 |
| 5th | Samuli Sipila | Finland | $471,000 | 347 |
| 6th | Isaac Haxton | United States | $220,540 | 340 |
| 7th | Ben Lamb | United States | $336,790 | 307 |
| 8th | Ben Tollerene | United States | $496,000 | 298 |
| 9th | Joni Jouhkimainen | Finland | $334,660 | 268 |
| 10th | James Chen | United States | $227,750 | 263 |
Arieh Ousted as Lamb is Cooked
With 62 total entrants in the $25,000 buy-in Main Event of the 2024 PGT PLO Series, the action was fast and furious in the PLO Championship and just nine players would make money from the prizepool of $1.55 million. The man who missed out on profit was Alex Foxen as the former Global Poker Index world number one busted in 10th place to just miss out on the money places.
Billy Tarango busted in ninth place for $46,500, the first prize of the event. His elimination was followed by that of Jesse Lonis, as the American’s pocket kings busted Michael Duek’s turned ‘wheel’ straight for a score of $62,000. The same amount was paid out to Swiss poker professional Fernando Habegger when his kings and deuces couldn’t survive against Samuli Sipila’s pair of sevens with a flush draw that came in on the river to bring the field down to six.
Josh Arieh has a superb record of victories in PLO and while the six-time WSOP bracelet winner has lost his most recent five heads-up matches, he fell slightly shorter in sixth place for $85,250 when his ace-king-queen-six missed out to Sipila’s eight-high straight which came in on the river for maximum pain.
One former WSOP Main Event final table player was knocked out after the other as Ben Lamb missed out in fifth place for $116,250. A pair of pocket aces are the absolute nuts, but only until other cards come into play. On this occasion, they lost to Finnish poker player Joni Jouhkimainen’s pocket jacks when another came on the flop. Jouhkimainen, who was told by Daniel Negreanu that he is considered one of the best PLO players in the world, continued to rise up the ranks.
Tollerene Takes the Title
Argentina’s Michael Duek exited in fourth place for a score of $155,000 when he lost to the eventual winner, American PLO expert and online crusher, Ben Tollerene. Once again, a huge pair was slain as Duek’s pocket kings fell to Tollerene’s A-K-J-9 as the American rivered the nut flush to send play three-handed.
Jouhkimainen, so previously dominant, crashed out in third place for $217,000. This time, it was the drawing hand that missed out across the board, as Tollerene’s pocket kings, protected in part by his combo draw, went into turn and river ahead. Jouhkimainen was unlucky to miss out on 17 cards twice to fail to hit and made his way from the table with Tollerene 3:1 up in chips.
The final duel went from bad to worse for Samuli Sipila after dropping to a 7:1 deficit. Both players hit a pair of sevens on the flop but although Sipila’s kicker would have earned him a double-up, a pair of nines on the turn set Tollerene into the lead. After he faded danger cards on the river, it was all over as he claimed the top prize of $496,000, with the Finn Sipila taking home the runner-up result of $310,000.
| PGT 2024 PLO Series $25,200 PLO Championship Final Table Results: | |||
| Position | Player | Country | Prize |
| 1st | Ben Tollerene | United States | $496,000 |
| 2nd | Samuli Sipila | Finland | $310,000 |
| 3rd | Joni Jouhkimainen | Finland | $217,000 |
| 4th | Michael Duek | Argentina | $155,000 |
| 5th | Ben Lamb | United States | $116,250 |
| 6th | Josh Arieh | United States | $85,250 |
| 7th | Fernando Habegger | Switzerland | $62,000 |
| 8th | Jesse Lonis | United States | $62,000 |
| 9th | Billy Tarango | United States | $46,500 |
Matthew Wantman Tops Series Leaderboard
Over the course of all nine events, it was the American player Matthew Wantman who took the title as he topped the leaderboard with six cashes. That amazing run began in Event #2 as he came ninth, but that comparatively slow start was improved upon dramatically in the next event with victory for $178,250.
Event #4 saw Wantman come fourth for $90,000, before he finished 11th place in Event #5 for a cash worth $22,140. Event #6 saw Wantman finish third for $119,600 and the overall lead in the 2024 PGT PLO Series II. In Event #7, Wantman came seventh for $10,080 but that was enough to give him the overall win after all nine events were complete.
Moving up just outside the top 100 on the All-Time Money List for United States players on The Hendon Mob, Wantman’s victory saw him take home the PGT Gold Cup and a PGT Passport worth $10,000. After former wi
nners such as Samuli Sipila, Lautaro Guerra and Daniel Geeng, Matthew Wantman joins the ranks of PLO legends after one of the best performances across nine events from any poker player in the past 12 months.