PGT PLO: Sean Troha Wins $10,000 Eight-or-Better Event

Sean Troha is establishing himself as a player to be reckoned with in high-stakes pot-limit Omaha tournaments. A native of North Olmsted, Ohio, he broke through last summer when he won the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship event World Series of Poker for his first bracelet and grand prize of more than $1.2 million. This week he secured his second-biggest win on the circuit at the 2023 PGT PLO Series and led a field of 80 entries in the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Eight or Better event to win $200,000.

In that last title run, Troha surpassed $2 million in career tournament earnings. The win also meant that Troha’s tally for 2023 added a slew of ranking points. The 480th card player Player of the Year points, earned for his fifth final table finish that year, were enough to put him within striking distance of the year’s top 100 POY Ranking presented by Global Poker. He also earned 200 PGT Points for his second qualifying result in that race and climbed to 26th place in the race 2023 PGT rankings as a result.

This event started on Tuesday March 14th and attracted 80 entries by the closing date, creating a prize pool of US$800,000. By the end of day one, only six contenders remained in with a shot at the title, with Troha leading a tightly grouped four-pack at the top of the chip counts.

Jake Schwartz started Day 2 as the second shortest stack but was ultimately eliminated first. He was scooped by the aces and live deuce for a low by two-time bracelet winner Yuval Bronshtein and was eliminated in sixth place ($48,000).

2023 PGT Mixed Games Mixed triple draw event winner Nick Guagenti was next to fall when he met two-time bracelet winner Michael Wang’s trip nine. Guagenti earned $64,000 for finishing fifth.

Bronshtein was in suspense after doubling down on Paul Zappulla’s short stack. On his final hand, Wang hit an eight-high straight and a 7-6-5-4-2 low to win the pot and send Bronshtein to the rail with $80,000.

Zappulla was soon the one to go all-in and gamble, with his second pair and an open-ended straight draw behind the set of fives and Troha’s one-card flush draw in front of him. The river was no help to Zappulla and he settled for $104,000 in third place.

Heads-up play began with Wang roughly 2-1 in chips over Troha. The tables soon turned when Troha doubled up with trip sevens and defeated pocket kings. In the last hand, the raise war ended with all of Wang’s chips in the middle with AQ73. Troha held QQ65. The board came down K10697 and Troha’s pair of queens for the high was enough to win the pot, eliminating Wang in second place ($136,000).

Here’s a look at the payouts and leaderboard points awarded at the final table:

Credit: PokerGO / Antonio Abrego.