New Jersey's David Goldberg has become the latest WSOP Online participant to claim bracelet gold by taking down the series' Event 27, the $1,000 PLO Championship, early on Tuesday. His triumph in this pot-limit Omaha event was worth $86,400, a personal best. The big payday nearly doubled his recorded lifetime winnings, now at about $180,000, in a long career dating back at least to the 1990s.
Goldberg, 72, outlasted a 398-entry field for the breakthrough win. Playing as "lox10", he made this event's eight-person final table in second position, behind Joseph "brandnflowrs" Sanders. Goldberg soon jumped to the lead by logging the first two knockouts in the final.
All-in heads-up collision goes Goldberg's way
The final turned into a brief heads-up duel after early leader Sanders busted in fourth and Michael "BrockLesnar" Holtz followed him to the rail. Goldberg picked up that knockout but still narrowly trailed Todd "Chi.T.420" Sladek. Sladek picked up two big knockouts of his own midway through the final to briefly take the lead.
A monster hand all but decided the outcome. In the event's next-to-last hand, Goldberg held 9d-9c-7c-4s, while Sladek had As-Kh-10h-5s. The flop came 10c-5c-3h, giving Sladek top two pair while Goldberg had a flushdraw and an underpair. The players raised and reraised until Goldberg was all in and Sladek nearly so.
Goldberg's best chances to win came with his flush draw, but a Js turn card missed both players and left Sladek one card from the win. Instead of hitting a flush, however, Goldberg connected with the 9s river for trips and the huge pot. Sladek was down to just a few chips and busted in the next hand, collecting $53,406 as the runner-up.
'PLO Week' leads to Sunday series finale
Fifty-four players cashed in this event, which was part of "PLO Week" within the larger WSOP Online series. At least 12 prior WSOP winners cashed, although none of the 12 made the final table.
Multiple-bracelet winners who cashed in Event 27 included Kristen Bicknell, Jeff Madsen, Andy Bloch, and Anthony Zinno. Single-bracelet winners who cashed included Yueqi Zhu, Randy Ohel, Arkadiy Tsinis, and Martin Zamani, who won his own first WSOP gold bracelet just a few days ago.
Several famous players who have yet to win their first WSOP bracelet also cashed in the event. Among them were Alex Foxen, Shannon Shorr, and Omar Mehmood. The WSOP Online series continues with daily events offered through its grand finale on Sunday, August 1. The series is open to online WSOP.com players physically present in Nevada, New Jersey, and Delaware.
Featured image source: WSOP.com
