Shaun Deeb Gets Revenge on Ben Yu to Win $25K PLO High Roller for $1,402,683
The final six players from a 230-entry field (181 unique entries plus 49 reentries) in the 2018 World Series of Poker Event #42: $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Handed High Roller returned to the ESPN main stage on Saturday to play down to a winner.
The final table included heavyweights like defending champ James Calderaro, Poker Hall of Famer Scotty Nguyen, and the red-hot Jason Koon. However, none of those players made it to the final two. Instead, it was a rematch of the 2017 WSOP Event #34: $10,000 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw Championship �� when Ben Yu beat Shaun Deeb heads up to win his second bracelet.
The duo collided once again, each looking to join the ranks of Sammy Farha, David ��Chip�� Reese, and David Sklansky as three-time bracelet winners. The fourth edition of the tournament, which for the first time allowed for a single reentry, ended with Deeb getting his revenge.
��I made a joke to him at the unofficial final table,�� Deeb revealed. ��I said we both missed the $10K 2-7, the event we got heads up in last year. I go, ��We might be able to do it again, another game I��m a favorite on you heads up.�� Ben��s a great poker player but I have so much experience playing mixed games longer.��
The $1,402,683 blew away Deeb��s previous best cash (not counting the $1 million he won in a One Drop satellite) of $318,857 for winning the 2015 WSOP Event #15: $10,000 Pot-Limit Hold��em Championship. His other bracelet came at the 2016 WSOP when he took down Event #49: $1,500 Seven Card Stud for $111,101.
��I had a great start to the day, got the chip lead,�� Deeb said after the win. ��No one really ever put me in a bad spot. I was able to control the pot sizes the way I wanted to almost every hand. That really helps, to not get in an inflated pot with a marginal hand. Everyone played their best game, I just ran the best.��
He added: ��I think I have a great shot at Player of the Year right now so I think I��m gonna battle, hop in every event I can and just enjoy myself.��
| Place | Winner | Country | Prize (in USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shaun Deeb | United States | $1,402,683 |
| 2 | Ben Yu | United States | $866,924 |
| 3 | Scotty Nguyen | United States | $592,875 |
| 4 | James Calderaro | United States | $414,134 |
| 5 | Jason Koon | United States | $295,606 |
| 6 | Ryan Tosoc | United States | $215,718 |
| 7 | David Benyamine | France | $161,020 |
| 8 | Bogdan Capitan | Romania | $123,004 |
It took just four hands for the first player to fall. It happened when the short-stacked Ryan Tosoc raised pot preflop and just called Yu��s three-bet to 900K. Tosoc then jammed his last 325,000 after flopping middle pair with a flush draw and Yu looked him up with top pair of aces. Neither the turn nor river helped Tosoc and he hit the rail in sixth place for $215,718.
On Hand #31 of the final table, Deeb raised and then called a three-bet from Koon. The latter shoved the nine-high flop with queens and Deeb snap-called him with top two pair, nines and sevens. Koon picked up a straight draw on the turn but failed to get there on the river. Koon took home $295,606 for his fifth-place finish.
Calderaro was looking to go back-to-back in arguably one of the toughest tournaments of the year, but his quest came up three spots shy thanks to a nasty river card. It happened when both he and Deeb got it in with top two on the flop. The odds favored a chop, but running cards wound up giving Deeb a backdoor six-high straight to win the pot. Calderaro��s $414,134 for finishing fourth brought his two-year total up to $1,703,208 in prize money.
Three-handed play lasted for a while before Yu double through Nguyen, which left the Poker Hall of Famer short. The 1998 WSOP Main Event champ soon got it in with two kings and a ten-nine and was up against Yu��s queens with an ace-three. An ace hit the flop and Nguyen was eliminated in third place for $592,875, the fourth-largest score of his illustrious career.
Yu and Deeb both held the chip lead during the short heads-up match. Before long, Deeb got his opponent on the ropes before delivering the final blow. It happened on a five-four-deuce two-heart flop when Yu called all in holding a jack-six-six-five with two hearts against Deeb, who held aces with a gutshot to a seven. The black deuce and eight on the turn and river respectively sent Yu to the rail as runner-up for a career-high $866,924.
History of the $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Handed High Roller
| Year | Players | Prize Pool | Winner | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 175 | $4,156,250 | Anthony Zinno | $1,122,196 |
| 2016 | 184 | $4,370,000 | Jens Kyll?nen | $1,127,035 |
| 2017 | 205 | $4,868,750 | James Calderaro | $1,289,074 |
| 2018 | 230 | $5,462,500 | Shaun Deeb | $1,402,683 |