The players that enter the PokerGO Studio on a daily basis vie for six- and seven-figure prizes every time they walk through the door. And yet, as poker players are quite fond of doing — especially at this level — the stakes have been raised for a group of 10 who wanted a little more skin in the game.
On an episode of his podcast 'The MANIA' released earlier this week, Daniel Negreanu was running through his early results in the ongoing PokerGO Tour PLO series.
“We have this bet. There are 10 of us; we put $50K on the side," Negreanu said. "If you win the Player of the Series, you win another $500,000. I’m [in the lead] of the people in the bet.”
A strong start
Negreanu pulled off a win early on in this festival, capturing the title in Event 3, a $5,100 PLO event, and a first-place prize of $182,850. It was also Negreanu's record-setting 11th PGT title.
But perhaps the most exciting of all was the possibility that Negreanu could make a run at an extra half-million dollars by winning Player of the Series.
“I actually have a good edge in this because it’s rebuys and you can just go crazy and try to get chips.”
One caveat is that having the best points total among the 10 participating players is not enough. The winner of the side bet must win the Player of the Series race outright, or the bet becomes a push.
Going all out
Following his victory, Negreanu has gone full bore trying to build up stacks in tournaments to chase a second victory and the top spot on the leaderboard.
Early on in the week, things went a little sideways.
“Yeah, that’s been a mess,” said Amanda Negreanu.
“Yeah, blew back the whole win. I rebought seven times… Yeah, anyway, flipping coins,” Daniel added.
Making a run of it
Things took a turn in the right direction on Wednesday, as Negreanu made the final three in Event 8, a $15,100 Mystery Bounty PLO tournament - the first of its kind inside the PGT Studio. A win would have moved Negreanu in front of Alex Foxen for the top spot on the leaderboard with just a few events left in the series.
Negreanu started Thursday's action with the shortest stack and battled his way back into contention. But Negreanu missed a 19-outer to eliminate Bryce Yockey and get heads up for the title with Tyler Brown, and then Negreanu fell out in third place. It was his fourth cash of the series, but Negreanu remained on the outside looking in - currently fifth in the Player of the Series race.
Yockey went on to win Event #8 and jumped up into second place just behind Foxen. And while Negreanu didn't reveal the other players in the side bet, it's safe to imagine that at least a few of the top contenders in the PGT PLO Player of the Series race will have the side bet sweat as well.
Three events remain in this iteration of the PGT PLO Series — Thursday's $15,100 PLO, Friday's $25,200 Championship event and a one-day $5,100 bounty event on Saturday. And so, by the time the lights go in the PokerGO Studio at the end of this coming weekend, there's a good chance someone could walk away with an extra $500K in their pockets.
