Houston local lassoes $300K in PGT's PLO Roundup Main Event

Lawrence Chang wins PGT PLO Series Main Event.
Matt Hansen
Matt Hansen
Posted on: November 26, 2024 10:36 PST

The PokerGO Tour's Texas PLO Roundup wrapped up at the Champion's Club in Houston on Monday with the conclusion of the $3,300 Main Event, where Lawrence Chang beat a field of 474 entries to win $300,000. 

Chang's win — the largest PLO tournament in Texas history — was the top share of a prize pool that tipped just over $1.4 million. He was followed in second place by Andrew Ige, who won $200K for the runner-up finish. Senovio Ramirez finished in third and Sterling Savill finished in fourth after entering the day as the short stack. 

Chang holds off Ige's finale run

The champ entered the final day with the chip lead and Kyle Arora was his nearest competitor. LaDarren Banks bowed out first in seventh place and Sean Rafael followed him out the door in sixth. 

Five-handed play disrupted the chip counts when Arora doubled into the chip lead with a big hand against Chang. A short time later, Ige took over the lead and Arora's luck took a turn that led to a fifth-place exit. Savill laddered his early short stack to a fourth-place finish and Ramirez finished in third after starting the day in the same spot on the leaderboard. 

Sean Rafael had two final tables at the PGT PLO Roundup. Sean Rafael had two final tables at the PGT PLO Roundup.

Ige's late surge gave him a comfortable lead over Chang at the final table, but the champ fought back. He was in a good spot with a slight lead when the chips went in with competing flush draws — Ige missed and Chang hit to lock up $300K and the PGT PLO Series Main Event championship. 

PGT Texas PLO Roundup Main Event final table results

Place Player Prize
1 Lawrence Chang $300,000
2 Andrew Ige $200,000
3 Senovio Ramirez $120,000
4 Sterling Savill $80,000
5 Kyle Arora  $60,000
6 Sean Rafael $51,000
7 LaDarren Banks $43,000

Hendrix wins first of three High Rollers

Elsewhere at the PGT Texas PLO Roundup, three $5,000 PLO High Roller events ran with more than 20 players in each. Adam Hendrix won the first one, beating out the aforementioned Rafael and Josh Arieh. Curtis Muller beat Arthur Morris in the second High Roller, and Ronald Keijzer and Morris chopped High Roller #3 for $40K each. 

Adam Hendrix won the opening $5,000 High Roller of the PGT PLO Roundup. Adam Hendrix won the opening $5,000 High Roller of the PGT PLO Roundup.

PGT Texas PLO Roundup High Roller #1 results (23 entries)

Place Player Prize
1 Adam Hendrix $51,750
2 Sean Rafael $32,200
3 Josh Arieh $18,400
4 Orod Ashegh $12,650

PGT Texas PLO Roundup High Roller #2 results (20 entries)

Place Player Prize
1 Curtis Muller $54,000
2 Arthur Morris $30,000
3 Ky Nguyen $16,000

PGT Texas PLO Roundup High Roller #3 results (22 entries)

Place Player Prize
1 Ronald Keijzer $40,150*
2 Arthur Morris $40,150*
3 Ky Nguyen $17,600
4 Mark Ioli $12,100

 

Photos courtesy of PokerGO Tour/Champions Club Texas/Antonio Abrego