Poker Leaderboard: PLO Tournament Earnings

No-limit hold’em reigns supreme as the runaway favorite game for poker tournaments, as it has for decades now. While that doesn’t seem very likely to change anytime soon, some of the other variants that are popular in cash games are making progress on the tournament circuit, from the highest stakes down to the most affordable price points.

One such game is pot-limit Omaha. While the action-packed four-card game has been spread in tournaments for years, PLO has seen an increased presence at major festivals recently. The largest event of the year for the game is the $25,000 buy-in high roller event at the World Series of Poker. The tournament was first introduced in 2015, and has consistently resulted in a seven-figure sum being awarded to the champion, along with the customary gold bracelet. This event has dramatically reshaped the standings on the all-time PLO tournament earnings leaderboard, with many of the top ten having either won the event or made a deep run.

The all-time PLO earnings leader is Tommy Le, who surged into the top spot thanks to a victory in the 2021 WSOP $10,000 PLO championship. Le topped a field of 344 entries to win $746,477 and his second bracelet, with his previous win also coming in this same tournament back in 2017. Le has amassed nearly $3.5 million in PLO cashes, including 10 final-table finishes in bracelet events at the series. He also finished as the runner-up in the previously mentioned $25,000 buy-in event back in 2016.

Shaun Deeb is the second-highest earning tournament PLO player in the game with more than $3.2 million. The five-time bracelet winner has won the $25,000 event at the series twice, in 2018 and 2021. Those two wins alone account for more than $2.6 million of his total earnings in the format.

2019 Card Player Player of the Year award winner Stephen Chidwick rounds out the top three on this list with more than $2.5 million. The British poker pro earned his first bracelet by winning the $25,000 buy-in event at the series during his run to the POY title. He earned a massive payday of $1,618,417 for defeating a field of 278 players. Chidwick has cashed for more than $900,000 in other PLO events as well, including a win in the 2019 U.S. Poker Open $25,000 buy-in for $351,000. ♠