The final nine players in the Onyx Club Super High Roller Series $102K PLO Invitational returned to the felt in Cyprus on Thursday to play down to a winner in the inaugural running of the event. From a field of 79 entrants, the event built a $7,663,000 prize pool. With a stacked lineup of PLO specialists still in the hunt for the $1.9M first-place prize, the route to a victory wasn't an easy one.
'Dony' held a commanding chip lead to start the final table – good for nearly 200 big blinds – with Cong Pham and Laszlo Bujtas hovering closer to one another than to the chip leader. ‘Dony’s’ invited partner, Samuli Sipila, along with Martin Dam and Ben Lamb filled out the middle of the pack while Robert Cowen, Sergei Nesterenko, and Lautaro Guerra rounded out the bottom of the chip counts.
While he didn't claim the title, Guerra navigated his way from the shortest stack to a third-place finish and, after a three-way deal was struck, cashed for $1,280,000. Guerra's result marks his first seven-figure score of the year – already impressive with eight six-figure results – and comes in the wake of his 15th place finish in the 2025 WSOP Main Event and $2.1M bracelet victory in the $100K PLO Super High Roller at the 2024 WSOP Paradise.
Nesterenko out first, Lamb sacrificed next, Cowen follows
Nesterenko was the first to fall when he got his chips in the middle with 
against Cowen's 
. With similar holdings, a chop seemed likely across the 
flop and turn, but the 
river paired one of Cowen's live side cards and put an end to Nesterenko's run.
'Dony' utilized his healthy lead to take Lamb out next. After raising from the cutoff with 
, he sent more chips to work in the face of Lamb's three-bet with 
. Lamb called off the little he had left behind and watched on as his opponent surged into the lead on the 
flop. With outs to a higher set or a straight, Lamb had hope for survival, but he bricked out on the 
turn and 
river.
Cowen ran into the goods when he committed his chips with 
and was shown the 
by Bujtas. The 
provided a sliver of hope, but the turn and 
river left his hand second-best.
Dam broken, Bujtas' roll depleted, Pham rivered
Dam was eliminated courtesy of fellow Northern European contender Sipila. In the face of two limps, Dam made a pot-sized raise with 
and called off the rest of his chips when Sipila re-raised with 
. It was a fair fight, but Sipila's nines held on the 
runout.
Bujtas bowed out not long after, also at the hands of Sipila, when his 
failed to hold up against 
on a 
board.
Pham's run came to an end with a flip. In a blind versus blind confrontation, he and Guerra got the chips in the middle with and 
respectively. It was looking good for Pham across the flop and turn, but the river sent him to the rail in fourth place.
A three-way chop ends it
With Pham eliminated, discussions around a deal began between Guerra, 'Dony', and Sipila. As two halves of an invitee-professional pairing, 'Dony' and Sipila wanted to avoid any implication of collusion.
After a three-handed deal was struck, the trio flipped for the title. It took only one hand to produce the first of the two parliamentary eliminations needed to crown the winner as Guerra fell victim to one of PLO's great dangers: flopping the nuts. With 
on the 
flop, each of Guerra's opponents had 4% equity to win the pot with their holdings. Then the 
turn and river improved Sipila's 
to a flush. Guerra could only laugh and slide his chips across the table.
With the fortuitous runout, Sipila held a seemingly insurmountable lead and looked a lock for the flip-a-thon crown – but the fun wasn't over. 'Dony' won the next flip, and the one after.
When the third clash arrived, it was for the lead and 'Dony' came out ahead again. Then, it seemed officials instructed the players that they needed to finish it out properly. The two players looked a bit confused by that but, after one hand played fairly normally, it was all over when Sipila's aces were cracked and 'Dony' prevailed to take home the title and his negotiated prize money.
Onyx Club Super High Roller Series $102K PLO Invitational Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 'Dony' | $1,500,000* |
| 2 | Samuli Sipila | $1,420,000* |
| 3 | Lautaro Guerra | $1,280,000* |
| 4 | Cong Pham | $725,000 |
| 5 | Laszlo Bujtas | $565,000 |
| 6 | Martin Dam | $450,000 |
| 7 | Robert Cowen | $370,000 |
| 8 | Ben Lamb | $305,000 |
| 9 | Sergei Nesterenko | $255,000 |
*denotes three-handed deal
Images courtesy of Oleg Novruzov/Onyx Club/Merit Poker Live
