2018 WSOP Event 49: Loren Klein Wins $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship for $1,018,336
The 2018 World Series of Poker has crowned yet another champion and it was a familiar face that lifted the coveted gold bracelet when the final river card was dealt in Event #49: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship. Loren Klein defeated three-time WSOP bracelet winner Rep Porter in heads-up to win his third bracelet in as many years and clinched the top prize of $1,018,336.
Klein's first victory came two years ago in Event #45: $1,500 Mixed No-Limit Hold'em/Pot-Limit Omaha and he followed that up with his second WSOP bracelet in 2017 when taking down Event #41: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha. Klein also finished runner-up to Brandon Shack-Harris in this very event back in 2016 when both were in the exact same seats, two and four. Shack-Harris came into the extra day as the chip leader and eventually had to settle for third place, good enough for a payday of $433,259.
While playing, Klein was sporting the "Make America Great Again" hat and also kept it on for the winner shots.
"All the haters really helped me to bring this one home."
��I can't take it off now, the hat got me here. And there are a lot of haters out there that need this picture, just check out my Twitter feed today," Klein added just before holding up the gold bracelet.
"There are a lot of haters, I can't wait. Watch my twitter feed, it was non-stop today!"
One railbird said, "They don't realize you're being ironic."
"Am I?" Klein replied, "This might get me a Whitehouse invitation."
During the winner interview, Klein didn't deny the fact that this spurred further motivation to win it.
"All the haters really helped me to bring this one home. It felt amazing, and I can't wait to talk to all of them when I see them in the Rio hallways. I might even wear the bracelet for a bit. People have been talking shit about the MAGA hat for days and wishing me bad things all day today; it is fantastic."
When being asked about what this accomplishment of winning a bracelet for the consecutive year means to him, Klein had the following to say.
"Not a ton, the variance in getting a bracelet is pretty wild. I was the same player I was three years ago before I had any bracelet, so it doesn't mean a whole lot. But it is certainly a good time."
"I was the same player I was three years ago before I had any bracelet, so it doesn't mean a whole lot."
All his three bracelets involved Pot-Limit Omaha, cementing his foothold in this very game type. Whether or not that makes him the best PLO player in the world remains to be seen, though.
"Perhaps, but you never know the way tournaments go. There are a lot of guys that make good runs all the time, so I am probably right there with them."
Among those is eventual third-place finisher Brandon Shack-Harris, who he considered as a very tough opponent. Early on Klein won a big pot off Shack-Harris to take over the lead, in which he remained for most of the remaining final table.
"That took him out of a pretty commanding position and it was an important pot for sure, and I was pretty selective about which one I was gonna do, because I knew the first pot I was gonna play with him would be a big deal and change the dynamics. Got lucky and flopped it."
The other two bracelets of Klein were in $1,500 events, and the Championship event only changed one particular thing: "Seven figures!" Klein doesn't have any immediate plans with the big payday for now, and another PLO bracelet is on the agenda for the upcoming year to make it four in a row.
With a total of 476 entries, the event created a prize pool of $4,474,400 and the top 72 spots were paid. Five out of the six hopefuls on the final day were former bracelet winners with Jerry Wong, who eventually finished in 4th place for $303,491, being a former WSOP Main Event finalist.
Event #49 Official Final Table Result
Position | Player | Country | Prize |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Loren Klein | United States | $1,018,336 |
2 | Rep Porter | United States | $629,378 |
3 | Brandon Shack-Harris | United States | $433,259 |
4 | Jerry Wong | United States | $303,491 |
5 | Ryan Hughes | United States | $216,391 |
6 | Scott Bohlman | United States | $157,097 |
7 | Mike Leah | Canada | $116,166 |
8 | Alexey Makarov | Russia | $87,522 |
Action of the final day
Brandon Shack-Harris was leading the final six on the Twitch live stream table in the Brasilia room and quickly pulled further ahead before Loren Klein took over the control at the top of the counts. While several players got short and even ended up all-in and at risk, it took more than two full hours before the field of hopefuls was reduced further.
Scott Bohlman had almost all of his chips in before the flop and called Klein's shove on an eight-trey-trey flop. Bohlman had an eight, while Klein needed a live king or running outs and hit the latter to make a straight, leaving Bohlman to depart in sixth place.
Next to fall was Ryan Hughes, and once again it was Klein responsible for the bustout. The chips went in preflop and Hughes showed aces; Klein only had jacks but spiked the two-outer on the flop.
Jerry Wong, the sole remaining finalist of the last six without a bracelet, almost took over the lead four-handed before becoming short. Eventually, Wong had half of his stack in before the flop and jammed a six-high flop only to see Shack-Harris snap-call with the flopped straight.
Three-handed play started with Rep Porter and Klein in a commanding lead, while Shack-Harris fell back further. The two-time bracelet winner fought back and got it in with an ace-queen high. Porter snap-called with aces and ended up making the better two pair on a paired board to eliminate Shack-Harris in third place.
Klein started heads-up with a comfortable lead, though Porter got within four big blinds. Facing a 2-1 chip disadvantage only a few hands later, Porter got all of his chips in preflop with kings and Klein looked him up with aces. Klein covered Porter's only live suit and the latter couldn't pull off the upset.
That brings an end to the PokerNews live reporting for this event, but make sure to check back regularly for the continued updates of the 2018 World Series of Poker.
In this Series
- 1 2018 WSOP Event 1: Jordan Hufty Wins First WSOP Gold in $565 Casino Employees
- 2 2018 WSOP Event 2: Elio Fox Wins First Ever WSOP $10,000 Super Turbo Bounty for $393,693
- 3 2018 WSOP Event 3: Joe Cada Wins 2018 WSOP $3,000 No-Limit Hold��em SHOOTOUT for $226,218
- 4 2018 WSOP Event 4: Julien Martini Wins $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better ($239,771)
- 5 2018 WSOP Event 5: Nick Petrangelo Wins WSOP $100,000 No-Limit Hold'em High Roller ($2,910,227)
- 6 2018 WSOP Event 6: Jeremy Perrin Wins The GIANT Turning $365 Into $250,966
- 7 2018 WSOP Event 7: Roberly Felicio Wins the 2018 WSOP COLOSSUS for $1,000,000
- 8 2018 WSOP Event 8: Johannes Becker Wins $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw Lowball ($180,455)
- 9 2018 WSOP Event 9: Paul Volpe Wins Third WSOP Bracelet in Omaha Hi-Lo Championship
- 10 2018 WSOP Event 10: William ��Twooopair�� Reymond Wins $365 WSOP.com ONLINE Event ($154,996)
- 11 2018 WSOP Event 11: Tim Andrew Triumphs in the $365 PLO GIANT for $116,015, Mizrachi Fifth
- 12 2018 WSOP Event 12: Jeremy Harkin Wins $1,500 Dealer's Choice for $129,882
- 13 2018 WSOP Event 13: Benjamin Moon Wins $1,500 Big Blind Antes for $315,346
- 14 2018 WSOP Event 14: Daniel Ospina Wins First Bracelet for Colombia in 2-7 Lowball Draw
- 15 2018 WSOP Event 15: Andrey Zhigalov Wins $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. for $202,787
- 16 2018 WSOP Event 16: Justin Bonomo Wins Second WSOP Bracelet in $10K Heads-Up Championship
- 17 2018 WSOP Event 17: Ognyan Dimov Wins Third Bracelet for Bulgaria in Event #17 ($378,743)
- 18 2018 WSOP Event 18: Adam Friedman Wins Second Bracelet in $10K Dealer's Choice
- 19 2018 WSOP Event 19: Craig Varnell Wins $565 Pot-Limit Omaha ($181,790)
- 20 2018 WSOP Event 20: Jeremy Wien Conquers $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em for $537,710
- 21 2018 WSOP Event 21: Arne Kern Wins $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em MILLIONAIRE MAKER ($1,173,223)
- 22 2018 WSOP Event 22: Philip Long Wins $1,500 Eight Game Mix ($147,348)
- 23 2018 WSOP Event 23: Brian Rast Wins Fourth Bracelet in 2-7 Lowball Championship, Brunson 6th
- 24 2018 WSOP Event 24: Michael Addamo Wins Event #24: $2,620 MARATHON No-Limit Hold'em
- 25 2018 WSOP Event 25: Benjamin Dobson Wins First WSOP Gold in $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo
- 26 2018 WSOP Event 26: Filippos Stavrakis Dedicates WSOP PLO Bracelet ($169,842) to His Brother
- 27 2018 WSOP Event 27: John Hennigan Wins 2018 WSOP $10K HORSE for Fifth Bracelet and $415K
- 28 2018 WSOP Event 28: Fortunate River Gives Gal Yifrach First WSOP Bracelet & $461K Prize
- 29 2018 WSOP Event 29: Hanh Tran Wins First WSOP Bracelet in $1,500 2-7 Triple Draw ($117,282)
- 30 2018 WSOP Event 30: Ryan Bambrick Wins First Gold Bracelet in Dominating Fashion
- 31 2018 WSOP Event 31: Steven Albini Wins $1,500 Stud to Deny Jeff Lisandro 7th Bracelet
- 32 2018 WSOP Event 32: Matthew Davis Tops Biggest Seniors Event Ever to Win $662,983
- 33 2018 WSOP Event 33: Michael Mizrachi Wins His Third Poker Players Championship Title
- 34 2018 WSOP Event 34: Robert Peacock Wins First WSOP Gold in $1,000 DOUBLE STACK
- 35 2018 WSOP Event 35: Yueqi Zhu Claims First WSOP Gold in $1,500 Mixed Omaha
- 36 2018 WSOP Event 36: Farhintaj Bonyadi Wins Event $1,000 Super Seniors ($311,451)
- 37 2018 WSOP Event 37: Eric Baldwin Wins Second Bracelet, Dedicates it to His Father
- 38 2018 WSOP Event 38: Yaniv Birman Wins First WSOP Gold Bracelet in $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship ($236,238)
- 39 2018 WSOP Event 39: Preston Lee Captures $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout Bracelet ($236,498)
- 40 2018 WSOP Event 40: Scott Bohlman Wins WSOP $2,500 Mixed Big Bet ($122,138)
- 41 2018 WSOP Event 41: Robert Nehorayan Wins $1,500 Limit Hold'em for $173,568
- 42 2018 WSOP Event 42: Shaun Deeb Gets Revenge on Ben Yu to Win $25K PLO for $1,402,683
- 43 2018 WSOP Event 43: Timur Margolin Takes Down $2,500 NLHE for $507,274
- 44 2018 WSOP Event 44: Nicholas Seiken Wins $10k 2-7 Triple Draw Championship for $287,987
- 45 2018 WSOP Event 45: Mario Prats Garcia Wins $1,000 Big Blind NLH For $258,255
- 46 2018 WSOP Event 46: David Brookshire Wins WSOP $2,500 Mixed Omaha/Stud Hi-Lo 8 ($214,291)
- 47 2018 WSOP Event 47: Matthew 'mendey' Mendez Wins First WSOP Online PLO Bracelet ($135,077)
- 48 2018 WSOP Event 48: Tommy Nguyen Wins Monster Stack for $1,037,451
- 49 2018 WSOP Event 49: Loren Klein Wins $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship for $1,018,336
- 50 2018 WSOP Event 50: Jay Kwon Wins $1,500 Razz ($125,431)
- 51 2018 WSOP Event 51: Ryan Leng Ships First WSOP Gold in $1,500 BOUNTY ($272,504)
- 52 2018 WSOP Event 52: Scott Seiver Wins $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship ($296,222)
- 53 2018 WSOP Event 53: Couden Tops Elezra, Matusow, Negreanu, and Fitoussi to win $1,500 PLO8
- 54 2018 WSOP Event 54: Portugal's Diogo Veiga Wins $3K Big Blind Antes ($522,715)
- 55 2018 WSOP Event 55: Giuseppe Pantaleo and Nikita Luther Win the $1K Tag Team for $175,805!
- 56 2018 WSOP Event 56: Calvin Anderson Wins His Second Bracelet in the $10K Razz ($309,220)!
- 57 2018 WSOP Event 57: Jessica Dawley Wins the WSOP Ladies Championship for $130,230!
- 58 2018 WSOP Event 58: Tribe Has Spoken: Jean-Robert Bellande Wins First Bracelet for $616K
- 59 2018 WSOP Event 59: Mike Takayama Makes History as the First Filipino to Win a WSOP Bracelet
- 60 2018 WSOP Event 60: Galfond Wins 3rd Bracelet in $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo Championship
- 61 2018 WSOP Event 61: Ryan 'Toosick' Tosoc Wins WSOP.com $1,000 Championship ($238,778)
- 62 2018 WSOP Event 62: Galen Hall Wins $888 Crazy Eights No-Limit Hold'em for $888,888
- 63 2018 WSOP Event 63: Chance 'BingShui' Kornuth Wins Second Bracelet in WSOP.com Online High Roller for $341,598
- 64 2018 WSOP Event 64: Matsuzuki Wins First WSOP Gold Bracelet in $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo
- 65 John Cynn Wins the 2018 WSOP Main Event for $8,800,000!
- 66 2018 WSOP Event 66: Longsheng Tan Wins $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em for $323,472
- 67 2018 WSOP Event 67: Anderson Ireland Wins $1,500 PLO Bounty for First Bracelet and $141K
- 68 2018 WSOP Event 68: Guoliang Wei Wins Fourth Chinese Bracelet in The Little One for One Drop ($559,332)
- 69 2018 WSOP Event 69: Ronald Keijzer Wins $3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 6-Handed for $475,033
- 70 2018 WSOP Event 70: Yaser Al-Keliddar Wins Event #70: $3K Limit Hold'em 6-Handed for $154K
- 71 2018 WSOP Event 71: Phil Hellmuth Wins 15th Career Bracelet in $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em!
- 72 2018 WSOP Event 72: Jordan Polk Wins $1,500 Mixed NLH/PLO for $197,461
- 73 2018 WSOP Event 73: Denis Timofeev Bests Leo Margets to Win the $1,000 Double Stack Turbo
- 74 2018 WSOP Event 74: Shaun Deeb Wins Second Bracelet of the Summer in $10,000 6-Max ($814,179)
- 75 2018 WSOP Event 75: Joe Cada Wins His Fourth Career Bracelet in The Closer ($612,886)
- 76 2018 WSOP Event 76: Brian Hastings Wins the $3,000 H.O.R.S.E and 4th Bracelet
- 77 2018 WSOP Event 77: Ben Yu Wins Third Bracelet in $50,000 High Roller $1,650,773