PGT PLO Series II: Ben Tollerene arrives in style with Championship win

The PokerGO Tour 2024 PLO Series II nears the conclusion of its nine-event run as Tuesday saw action come to a head in Event #8: $25,200 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship. Across the first day of play, 62 entrants ponied up the buy-in to generate a prize pool of $1,550,000, with nine players paid and $496,000 for the eventual winner. When the dust had settled and the final hand dealt, Ben Tollerene held all the chips and laid claim to the trophy and the top prize. 

Day 1 play saw the field whittled down to only 11 remaining players, all of whom reconvened in the PokerGO Studio on Tuesday afternoon to play down to the final table of seven. Alex Foxen ended up as the unlucky bubble boy, falling to Fernando Habegger's flopped straight. The remaining players locked up a minimum cash, but all eyes remained on the top prize. Billy Tarango (9th, $46,500) and Jesse Lonis (8th, $62,000) saw their runs come to an end just before the final table. 

Ben Tollerene had the chip lead on the final table and converted that into a big win.

Antonio Abrego

Ben Tollerene held the chip lead to start the seven-handed final table, trailed closely by Joni Jouhkimainen and Ben Lamb. In the middle of the pack, Michael Duek held a slim lead on 2024 PGT PLO Series I defending champion Samuli Sipila. At the bottom end of the counts, both Habegger and Josh Arieh were in need of a serious spin-up to keep their first-place dreams alive. 

Arieh managed to find an early double up on his first attempt, but Habegger's initial try saw him head for the payout desk in seventh place after his opponent's turned combination draw came home on the river to down his two pair. Despite the double up, Arieh followed suit shortly after his fell to Sipila's on a runout. With Arieh's departure, the final five players took to the PokerGO Studio livestream table for cards-up coverage. 

The sacrificial Lamb

It took nearly four hours for the first elimination on stream to come. After hanging around on a short stack for quite some time, Lamb was in need of a double and found an ideal spot to try his luck when he looked down at in the small blind. Facing a limp from Jouhkimainen on the button, Lamb raised with his premium holding. Jouhkimainen called with and the two players headed to the flop. Lamb continued for a pot-sized bet and called it off when his opponent moved all-in over the top. 

Ben Lamb's exit started a flurry of eliminations.

With only two immediate outs, Lamb found himself in a tough spot and the turn brought in no added equity. The river sealed his fate and Lamb's run ended in a fifth-place finish. 

The very next hand, Tollerene three-bet from the small blind with against Sipila's open before Duek moved all-in from the big blind. Sipila got out of the way quickly and Tollerene asked for a count of Duek's stack. After considering his options, Tollerene slid calling chips across the betting line and the cards hit their backs. 

Duek had the lead with , but the added a boatload of equity to Tollerene's hand. The turn provided even more outs and Duek needed to fade 18 cards on the river to stay alive. The wasn't what the Argentine wanted to see as Tollerene improved to the nut flush to end Duek's run with a fourth-place finish. 

Two Finns and an American

It didn't take long for the three-handed play to provide the fireworks as an early three-way hand saw Jouhkimainen and Tollerene tangle in a massive pot. Sipila started proceedings with a limp on the button, holding , and Jouhkimainen completed from the small blind with . 

Tollerene looked down at and wasted no time putting in a pot-sized raise. Both of the Finns made the call and the three players took the flop, giving both Jouhkimainen and Tollerene strong draws. 

Joni Jouhkimainen had twenty outs heading to the river in a key pot against Ben Tollerene.

Tollerene continued with a small bet, clearing Sipila from the picture in process, but Jouhkimainen wanted to press his equity and put in a pot-sized raise. Tollerene responded with another raise, putting his opponent all-in. 

With nearly all the chips in play in the middle, Jouhkimainen needed to improve to continue his hunt for the trophy. The turn provided him even more equity – 20 outs to the winner – but the wasn't one of his escape hatches, and his run ended with a third-place finish. 

Tollerene took an overwhelming chip lead into the heads up and after playing for nearly an hour without losing a substantial pot, he finished off the win. Sipila completed from the button with before Tollerene shot it up from the big blind with . The last-standing Finn made the call and the two players saw the dealer spread the flop. With his top pair and gutshot straight draw, Tollerene continued for a pot-sized bet. Sipila, having flopped a top pair and gutshot straight draw of his own, put the rest of his chips in the middle and the cards hit their backs. 

Samuli Sipila was the last Finn standing, but couldn't overcome Ben Tollerene.

Sipila's nine outs were cut down to six on the turn card and the wasn't one of them as Tollerene secured the pot with two pair to cement his victory. 

Event #8: PLO Championship results

^{Images Courtesy of Antonio Abrego/PokerGO}