October 5-7
Sean Rafael's equity with one card to come in the final hand.
-
1ST
Sean Rafael
$1,150,000
-
2ND
Joao Simao
$775,000
-
3RD
Richard Gryko
$480,000
-
4TH
Talal Shakerchi
$350,000
-
5TH
Lautaro Guerra
$255,000
-
6TH
Cesar Garcia
$190,000
The fourth iteration of the PokerGO Tour (PGT) $100K Super High Roller Bowl PLO came to a close on Wednesday.
After securing the chip lead early on Tuesday's Day 2, Sean Rafael rode the wave of momentum to amass a run-away stack. On Wednesday, he started the final frame of play with more than half of the chips in play.
About four and a half hours later, he had all of them – going wire-to-wire to secure a career-best $1,150,000 score and the SHRB PLO IV title.
While he made it look easy, Rafael had to contend with a stacked final table of four-card crushers. Brazil's Joao Simao was his closest competitor in the chip counts, followed by Spain's Lautaro Guerra. The UK's Talal Shakerchi and Richard Gryko weren't far off in fourth and fifth, respectively, while Guerra's countryman Cesar Garcia began proceedings as the lone short stack.
If you want to check out the full replay of the final table, scroll down and click the play button – or, read on for a recap of the action.
Rafael downs Garcia, Guerra, and Shakerchi
Garcia was the first to fall.
After defending his big blind from Rafael's under-the-gun open, the Spaniard's 
connected with top pair on an 
flop. The chip leader kept the pressure on with a small continuation bet and Garcia opted to check-raise.
The ensuing call brought in the 
turn to give Garcia top two pair and the nut flush draw. With less than a pot-sized bet remaining, he sent the rest of his chips into the middle and Rafael snap-called with 
.
It was an unlucky spot to run into a set, but Garcia was drawing live. The river was a brick, however, and his run came to an end.
Rafael eliminated the lone remaining Spaniard at the table soon after – running down Guerra's 
with 
on a 
runout.
And then he took out Shakerchi too, making nut straight with 
on a 
runout against the Brit's .
Closing out the win
Gryko went out next – the only player eliminated at the hands of someone other than Rafael. It was Simao who did the heavy lifting. In the face of a raise from Rafael, Gryko came in with a 3-bet before Simao 4-bet from the big blind.
The Brit called it off and the two players headed to a runout.
Gryko: 
Simao: 
Board: 
Both players improved to a flush, but Simao had the goods.
When the heads-up battle between Rafael and Simao began, the former held nearly a 4-to-1 lead. Despite that, Simao managed to dodge elimination in an early hand before clawing back to cut the deficit.
In the final hand, the Brazilian was a big favorite to score a full double and get right back into the fight, but the poker gods had other ideas.
On a board, the chips went in the middle. Simao had the best of it with and Rafael was drawing slim with – but the river was exactly what he needed.
Joao Simao's career tournament earnings are unknown as he has opted out of The Hendon Mob tracking system.
Images courtesy of Antonio Abrego/PokerGO Tour
