The beautiful game: Brazil’s Joao Simao wins WSOP $50K PLO High Roller

Big comebacks, close calls, defensive pressure and imaginative attacks kept the watching crowd entertained from the 2pm kickoff to the final whistle at 9:30pm.

The prize was that $1.3M payout, taking Simao’s career tournament earnings over the $20M mark, and a fourth WSOP bracelet.

Joao Simao topped the talent-stacked field.

Hayley Hochstetler

Kihara misses hat-trick opportunity

Simao’s win was no open goal. The day began with Robert Cowen of Wales holding the chip lead, but Simao got on the scoresheet early on with the elimination of Japan’s Naoya Kihara.

Kihara had been hoping to add a third bracelet to the two he won earlier this month — and a fourth overall — and managed to take out Bulgaria’s Veselin Karakitukov in the day’s first knockout.

But when Kihara and Simao both rivered a full house shortly afterwards, the chips were always going to get in the middle. With the final board showing , Kihara held for eights full of tens. Simao had for tens full of eights.

Kihara took it on the chin, and with his $189K prize money burning a hole in his pocket went and registered the $50K Poker Players Championship.

Kihara's results have put him in the running for WSOP Player of the Year.

Hayley Hochstetler

Cowan then KO'd Dzivielevski to take a stranglehold on the chip lead, with India’s Santhosh Suvarna as the short stack, but the situation would soon change.

Suvarna slowly chipped up until he was in a position to challenge Cowan, and he did when he flopped the nuts in a heads-up pot with the Welshman.

Of course, flopping the nuts in PLO is a story that doesn’t always end well. When every player has four cards in their hand, fading draws against you is all part of the game. With the in his hand Suvarna hit the nut straight when the flop came down , and it held.

Cowan was hurt, Suvarna was healing, and the game was on.

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Cowan couldn't close

Carlo Van Ravensoud was then the victim of the wrong river card against Simao, sending the Dutchman out in fifth.

When Venkat Chivukula then hit the door in fourth place, sending his chips Suvarna’s way, it left a delicately poised three-way battle that could have gone anywhere.

For Cowan, it went south.

With Suvarna struggling to build momentum — down to just a few big blinds at various points — it appeared likely that Cowan and Simao, who had started the day at the top of the chip counts, would be the last two standing.

Santhosh Suvarna was perilously short-stacked for much of the final day.

Hayley Hochstetler

And when Cowan won a huge pot against Simao, leaving himself a stack of more than double his two opponents’ combined, the writing appeared to be on the wall.

But it’s never over until the final whistle.

PLO can be a brutal, swingy game, and soon the three combatants were level, before the unexpected happened and Cowan crashed out in third.

It was Suvarna who did the damage, chipping away at Cowan until a decisive hand arose.

Robert Cowan:
Santhosh Suvarna:

Cowan raised preflop, Suvarna called and the flop saw the man from India immediately hit a straight.

With top pair and a flush draw, Cowan shoved. Suvarna called. The runout of changed nothing and suddenly the tournament was heads-up, Suvarna holding a 20.8M to 12.2M chip lead.

Robert Cowen wasn't able to convert his early final table lead to a win.

Hayley Hochstetler

Simao scores the decider

Heads-up was a to-and-fro, see-saw affair, but when the end came it was Simao’s turn to flop the nuts.

Having worked Suvarna down to under 10M chips, and with blinds at 200K/400K/400K, Simao raised the Indian high roller's open to 3.6M. Suvarna came over the top with a shove, and Simao called.

Santhosh Suvarna:
Joao Simao:

Board:

Simao flopped top set, Suvarna missed his straight outs, and the day was done. The Brazilian had barely led all day, but when the game was on the line he came through with the strong finish.

Simao, right, came out on top in the heads-up match.

Hayley Hochstetler

You won’t find him on The Hendon Mob — many players from Brazil opt-out of the record-tracking site for various (read: probably tax) reasons — but the win marks Simao’s 4th WSOP bracelet and cements his place in the upper echelons of tournament players from his home nation.

So, with over $1M in his pocket and entry for the $50K Poker Players Championship open until the end of level 9 on Monday, will we see Simao pull up a chair?

Stay tuned to PokerOrg to find out.