On Sunday, November 23, 43 players returned to the Champions Club in Houston, Texas for Day 2 action in the $1M GTD Texas PLO Roundup Main Event. While each remaining player had $5,500 already locked up, all eyes were fixed on the final table and the $215,000 first-place prize. After a long day of play, Stephen Hubbard emerged as the chip leader with seven players remaining.
On Monday, his momentum carried him through the final table to a victory – his second of the Texas PLO Roundup series after a win in the $5,100 Single Day High Roller for $36,000. Hubbard eliminated five of his six remaining opponents at the final table, steamrolling his way to the top spot with a wire-to-wire performance.
The Texas PLO Roundup Main Event drew a field of 337 entrants across the six Day 1 starting flights to generate a prize pool of $1,011,000 – just enough to eclipse the $1,000,000 guarantee.
Hubbard closes definitively
With a sizable chip lead to work with, Hubbard entered the final table in prime position to close out the win. It also helped that he managed to connect with nearly every board he saw – smashing flops and completing draws – and pushed his bluffs through when he needed to. Hubbard's first elimination came when his top two pair held against Sterling Savill's top pair and flush draw. The next player to fall, Joe Fivora, was outdrawn by the rivered straight of Philip Shing – the only elimination not at the hands of Hubbard.
With Savill and Fivora dispatched, Hubbard went on a tear. Vito Qingyu Lu fell victim to the heater as both players put the chips in with pocket aces. Hubbard's flopped flush left Lu drawing dead and sent him to the rail in fifth place. Chris Costa ran into Hubbard's pocket aces as well and a turned nut straight spelled the end of the line for the PGT PLO event winner.
With three players remaining, Hubbard was able to keep the pressure at a maximum and whittle away at his opponents' stacks. Eventually, David Shaw took a stand, but failed to connect meaningfully against Hubbard's top pair and was forced to settle for a career-high $100,000 third-place score. When heads-up play began, Hubbard held an 11-to-1 chip advantage over Shing. While he manage to scrape together some breathing room, Shing ended up bluffing into Hubbard's turned straight. Hubbard called Shing down across all three streets to claim the title.
Bryce Yockey and Brevin Andreadis claimed titles of their own in the other two High Roller events, winning $45,500 and $38,500 respectively.
Texas PLO Roundup Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stephen Hubbard | $215,000 |
| 2 | Philip Shing | $155,000 |
| 3 | David Shaw | $100,000 |
| 4 | Chris Costa | $65,000 |
| 5 | Vito Qingyu Lu | $50,000 |
| 6 | Joe Firova | $40,000 |
| 7 | Sterling Savill | $30,000 |
Images courtesy of Antonio Abrego/PokerGO Tour
