Barbero & Iqbal Early PGT PLO Series Winners; Negreanu Denied Trophy
Table Of Contents
The first-ever PokerGO Tour (PGT) Pot-Limit Omaha Series is underway in Las Vegas and has attracted the likes of Phil Galfond, Eli Elezra and reigning Female Player of the Year Cherish Andrews. The PLO series consists of nine events with buy-ins beginning at $2,200 and climbing up to the $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship.
Some of the winners so far inside the PokerGO Studio at ARIA Casino & Resort include PGT newcomer Daniyal Iqbal (Event #1: $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha - $160,000), seasoned high-stakes pro Nacho Barbero (Event #3: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha - $234,000) and Allen Shen, who denied Daniel Negreanu the trophy in Event #2: $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Bounty to win $91,290.
Read about the 2023 PGT Mixed Game Festival!
High Stakes PLO Action
The first event of the inaugural PLO series attracted 200 runners for a prize pool of $1 million. Among those who made runs extending into the money were Ka Kwan Lau (24th - $10,000), Maxx Coleman (16th - $20,000) and the always entertaining Ren Lin (12th - $30,000).
David Williams, who has won both a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet and Circuit ring in mixed game events, finished in ninth place for $30,000, while Ethan "Rampage" Yau finished in eighth for $40,000 just a few weeks after the poker vlogger won two trophies in the same studio during the Global Poker Awards.
There were other big names at the final table, including four-time bracelet winner Jeff Madsen (6th - $50,000), but it was Daniyal Iqbal who topped them all after defeating heads-up opponent Roussos Koliakoudakis ($120,000).
Iqbal, who told PokerGO he is an engineer who mainly plays PLO cash games, had only a single Hendon Mob cash before entering the PokerGO Studio. Needless to say, his $160,000 score bests his 38th-place finish in last summer's Venetian DeepStack $1,100 PLO Championship for $2,516.
Event #1: $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Final Table Results
| PLACE | PLAYER | COUNTRY | PRIZE (IN USD) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daniyal Iqbal | United States | $160,000 | |
| 2 | Roussos Koliakoudakis | Greece | $120,000 | |
| 3 | Stanislav Halatenko | Ukraine | $90,000 | |
| 4 | Eelis Parssinen | Netherlands | $70,000 | |
| 5 | Peng Zheng | United States | $60,000 | |
| 6 | Jeff Madsen | United States | $50,000 | |
| 7 | Sean Troha | United States | $40,000 | |
| 8 | Ethan "Rampage" Yau | United States | $40,000 | |
| 9 | David Williams | United States | $30,000 |
In the next event, Event #2: $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Bounty, Canada's Allen Shen defeated Daniel Negreanu during heads-up play to deny the fellow Canadian yet another PGT title. Shen earned $91,290 and Negreanu walked away with $69,810.
Other players who made up the final table included Joseph Cheong (3rd - $53,700), Isaac Kempton (4th - $37,590) and Ky Nguyen (5th - $32,220).
Event #2: $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Bounty Final Table Results
| PLACE | PLAYER | COUNTRY | PRIZE (IN USD) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Allen Shen | Canada | $91,290 | |
| 2 | Daniel Negreanu | Canada | $69,810 | |
| 3 | Joseph Cheong | United States | $53,700 | |
| 4 | Isaac Kempton | United States | $37,590 | |
| 5 | Ky Nguyen | United States | $32,220 | |
| 6 | Nathan Zimnik | United States | $26,850 |
Later in the series, Argentina's Nacho Barbero got through a field of 130 runners to win $234,000 in Event #3: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha that included Dash Dudley (16th - $26,000), Williams (15th - $26,000), Jared Bleznick (11th - $39,000) and Ben Lamb (8th - $52,000).
Adam Hendrix fell in third place for $130,000 before Barbero defeated Austria's Jonas Kronwitter, who in turn took home $169,000.
Barbero has had an eventful and lucrative year, first finishing fourth in the $25,000 PokerStars Players Championship in the Bahamas for $1.5 million and then taking down a Triton Super High Roller Series Vietnam event for $600,000 earlier this month.
Event #3: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Final Table Results
| PLACE | PLAYER | COUNTRY | PRIZE (IN USD) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nacho Barbero | Argentina | $234,000 | |
| 2 | Jonas Kronwitter | Austria | $169,000 | |
| 3 | Adam Hendrix | United States | $130,000 | |
| 4 | Eelis Parssinen | Finland | $104,000 | |
| 5 | Sam Soverel | United States | $91,000 | |
| 6 | Josh Arieh | United States | $78,000 | |
| 7 | Bryce Yockey | United States | $65,000 | |
| 8 | Ben Lamb | United States | $52,000 | |
| 9 | Noah Schwartz | United States | $52,000 |
Another highlight of the series was Sean Troha taking down Event #4: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo for $200,000 after getting through a field that included Negreanu (10th - $24,000), Yuval Bronshtein (4th - $80,000) and runner-up Michael Wang ($136,000).
Troha has had a strong series that also saw him finish seventh in Event #1 for $40,000 and 11th in the currently underway Event #6: $10,000 Mixed PLO / PLO8 / Big O for $25,800.
Still to come in the PGT PLO Series is Event #7: $15,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Bounty, as well as Event #8: $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship and Event #9: $2,200 5-Card Pot-Limit Omaha.
2023 PGT PLO Series Remaining Schedule
| March 17 | Event #7: $15,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Bounty | |
| March 18 | Event #8: $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship | |
| March 19 | Event #9: $2,200 5-Card Pot-Limit Omaha |
A full list of winners so far at the 2023 PGT PLo Series is available in the table below.
2023 PGT PLO Series Winners So Far
| DATE | EVENT | ENTRANTS | PRIZE POOL | WINNER | COUNTRY | PRIZE (IN USD) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 12 | Event #1: $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha | 200 | $1,000,000 | Daniyal Iqbal | United States | $160,000 | |
| March 13 | Event #2: $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Bounty | 179 | $895,000 | Allen Shen | Canada | $91,290 | |
| March 14 | Event #3: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha | 130 | $1,300,000 | Nacho Barbero | Argentina | $234,000 | |
| March 15 | Event #4: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo | 80 | $800,000 | Sean Troha | United States | $200,000 | |
| March 16 | Event #5: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha | 112 | $1,120,000 | Lautaro Guerra Cabrerizo | Spain | $220,400 | |
| March 17 | Event #6: $10,000 Mixed PLO / PLO8 / Big O | 86 | $860,000 | TBD | TBD | $206,400 |
Photos courtesy of PokerGO
