This Week's Big Winner: Shaun Deeb Wins World Series of Poker $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller

In late June, Shaun Deeb won the 2018 World Series of Poker $25,000 pot-limit Omaha eight-max event, topping a tough field of 230 entries to win his third career gold bracelet and the $1,402,683 first-place prize. This was the largest live tournament cash of the 32-year-old poker pro’s career.

“A couple of years ago, I made two PLO final tables but got seventh and eighth. I really felt like I got unlucky, but there’s such variance – cracking aces, having aces hold, it’s everything in this tournament at a final table,” Deeb told reporters after closing the deal. “I got a great start to the day, got the chip lead, was really never in a bad spot. I was able to control the pot size the way I wanted to in almost every hand. It really helps to not get in an inflated pot with a marginal hand.”

Deeb had to top a final table that included bracelet winners David Benyamine (7th), Ryan Tosoc (6th), Scotty Nguyen (3rd), and Ben Yu (2nd), as well as high roller superstar Jason Koon (5th), and the defending champion of the event James Calderaro (4th).

Incredibly, Deeb closed out his series with yet another bracelet win, this time in the $10,000 six-max no-limit hold’em with big-blind antes. His fourth WSOP title was worth another $814,179, bringing his total career live tournament earnings to more than $6.4 million.

Here are five key hands that propelled Deeb to victory.

Tournament: WSOP Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller
Buy-In: $25,000
Entries: 230
Prize Pool: $5,462,500
1st Place Prize: $1,402,683

The Action

As the field approached the money bubble, Kruk raised to 42,000 from the cutoff and Deeb called from the big blind. The flop came down A K J and Deeb checked. Kruk moved all in for 85,000 and Deeb instantly called with Q J 10 9 for a flopped Broadway straight. Kruk held some outs to a chop with A Q 6 5, but failed to get there as the board completed 7 J. Kruk was eliminated short of the money while Deeb continued his climb up the leaderboard.

The Action

With 13 players left in the tournament, Deeb and Tosoc managed to get it all in on a flop of K 3 2. Deeb held Q 6 5 4 for an open-ended straight draw and a flush draw against Tosoc’s unknown hand. The turn was the A, giving Deeb a wheel, and he improved even further on the 10 river to a diamond flush. After the hand, Deeb chipped up to 3,600,000, which was good enough for third place overall.

The Action

With five players left, Deeb raised to 320,000 on the button and Koon three-bet to 1,040,000 from the blinds. Deeb called and the flop came down 9 7 2. Koon then moved all-in for 900,000 and Deeb immediately called with 9 8 7 4 for top two pair. Koon showed K Q Q 10 for an overpair, but he failed to catch up as the board completed with the J and A. Koon pocketed $295,606 for his run.

The Action

Calderaro raised to 500,000 and was called by Yu on the button. Deeb also called from the big blind and the flop fell A 9 2. Deeb checked, Calderaro bet 1,000,000 and Yu folded. Deeb then check-raised the pot and Calderaro called off the last of his stack with A K 9 8 for top two pair. Deeb had the same top two pair with A 9 6 3, and it looked like the two would chop up the pot, but the turn and river fell 4 5 to give Deeb a runner-runner wheel. Calderaro, who won this event in 2017, earned $414,134 for his second consecutive deep run.

The Action

Yu raised to 900,000 on the button and Deeb three-bet to 2,700,000. Yu made the call and the flop fell 5 4 2. Deeb bet the pot, and Yu called all-in with J 6 6 5 for an overpair, straight draw and flush draw. Deeb, however, held A A 9 8 for the best overpair. According to the Card Player Poker Odds Calculator, Deeb was an underdog to win with just 35 percent equity, but the turn and river fell 2 8, and Yu bricked all of his outs. Yu earned $866,924 for his runner-up finish, the largest of his career, while Deeb picked up his third bracelet (he now has four), along with the $1,402,683 first-place prize.

Final Table Results

1. Shaun Deeb — $1,402,683
2. Ben Yu — $866,924
3. Scotty Nguyen — $592,875
4. James Calderaro — $414,134
5. Jason Koon — $295,606
6. Ryan Tosoc — $215,718
7. David Benyamine — $161,020
8. Bogdan Capitan — $123,004