The $10,100 Buy-In Omaha Dealer’s Choice event was the 2023 PokerGO Tour (PGT) Series II’s sixth tournament. It featured 65 entrants and had a $650,000 prize pool. Yet, the tournament had four types of games like Big O (five-card pot-limit Omaha eight-or-better), Pot-Limit Omaha Eigh-or-Better, Five-Card Pot-Limit Omaha, and Standard Pot-Limit Omaha.
Joao Simao stunned his rail when he won the $182,000 top prize and title. His victory increased his poker event winnings to almost $6.1 million. It was his third score in the festival.
The champion garnered 182 PGT points and improved his position on the leaderboard to the top five. Besides, his latest payout earned him a 66th position on the PGT standings.
The Tournament’s Awards
- Joao Simao-$182,000;360 Card Player Player of the Year (POY) points and 182 PGT points
- Alex Foxen-$123,500;300 POY points and 124 PGT points
- Jordan Spurlin-$84,500;240 POY points and 85 PGT points
- Tyler Brown-$65,000;180 POY points and 65 PGT points
- Veselin Karakitukov-$52,000;150 POY points and 52 PGT points
- Zhen Cai-$39,000;120 POY points and 39 PGT points
- Jim Collopy-$32,500;90 POY points and 33 PGT points
The Last Day’s Action
Simao was the stack leader when he advanced to the tournament’s final day. He busted Veselin Karakitukov in the fifth position with $52,000 in a round of Big O.
Alex Foxen knocked out Tyler Brown in fourth place after a few minutes. The latter’s exit disappointed them as they won the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) $1,000,000 Mystery Millions Bounty. But his recent score improved his position in the current POY competition to the top 100.
Jordan Spurlin risked most of his chips in a round of PLO preflop.
However, he used backdoor flush outs, overcards, and a gunshot to stake his remaining stack against Simao’s top two pair. The latter got a full house from the turn, drawing Spurlin dead and sending him packing in third place with $84,500.
Spurlin’s exit gave Simao an over 2:1 stack lead over Foxen when their battle of the blinds began. The latter reduced the chip gap shortly and got the vital lead before the tournament’s last hand.
Simao used QClub Suit9Spade Suit8Diamond Suit4Heart Suit to make a button raise in PLO, prompting Foxen to use AHeart Suit8Heart Suit6Club Suit3Diamond Suit to defend his big blind. Nevertheless, the flop revealed 4Spade Suit3Club Suit2Diamond Suit as Foxen placed a 140,000 wager.
His opponent called and landed 8Club Suit on the turn, earning each player two pair. Foxen used threes and eighths to wager pot, and Simao made a 3,360,000 all-in raise. The former deliberated on his next move for a while before calling.
Foxen urgently required a five or three on the river, but the 9Club Suit filled the board and gave Simao a huge pot. The former got in a huge spot and eventually finished second with $123,500 after reaching his 22nd final table this year.
