Lawrence Chang Tops Largest PLO Field In Lone Star History At Texas PLO Roundup

Pot-limit Omaha tournaments are booming around the globe, but the game seems to be particularly popular in the burgeoning Texas cardroom scene. Given that, it’s only fitting that Champions Club Texas in Houston opted to team up with the PokerGO Tour to host the first-ever PGT Texas PLO Roundup. The festival featured a nine-event slate of four-card action, which collectively awarded nearly $2.1 million in prize money in November.
The series’ centerpiece was the ambitious $1 million guaranteed $3,300 buy-in main event. The tournament sported seven starting flights to choose from, with 474 total entries made by the time that registration finally closed. That turnout set the record for the largest PLO tournament field ever held in Texas. It also resulted in a $1,422,000 final prize pool, which was paid out among the top 55 finishers.
The largest chunk of that money was awarded to eventual champion Lawrence Chang, who walked away with $300,000 and the unique belt buckle trophy.
This was the first recorded six-figure tournament score for Chang, who is based in Texas. Prior to this marquee victory, his top cash was the $25,650 he earned for a fourth-place finish in a side event at the 2019 L.A. Poker Classic.
Among the many notables to run deep in this event were 2019 WSOP main event third-place finisher Alex Livingston (44th), four-time bracelet winner Brad Ruben (43rd), six-time bracelet winner Josh Arieh (41st), high roller winners Adam Hendrix (34th) and Ronald Keijzer (30th), two-time bracelet winner Martin Zamani (32nd), 2024 WSOP main event runner-up Jordan Griff (27th), Ren Lin (26th), Ben Ludlow (24th), three-time bracelet winner Sean Troha (20th), Anthony Hu (18th), Arthur Morris (15th), and prelim event winner Stephanie Chung (11th).
The final day began with seven players remaining and Chang out in front. LaDarren Banks was the first to fall (7th – $43,000), with Sean Rafael eventually following in sixth place ($51,000) after more than two hours of six-handed play. Rafael’s overpair of kings and nut flush draw was outrun by the middle pair and wrap draw of Senovio Ramirez, who made a seven-high straight on the end to score the knockout. This was Rafael’s second final table of the series, having placed second in one of the three $5,100 buy-in high rollers held on the schedule.
Kyle Arora had moved into the chip lead at one point in the early going of the final day but found himself as the shortest stack during five-handed action. He eventually got his last four big blinds in with 8♦ 6♦ 6♣ 4♣ facing the A♦ J♣ 8♥ 3♣ of Andrew Ige. The board ran out K♠ K♦ Q♦ 8♣ A♣ and Ige made aces up to eliminate Arora in fifth place ($60,000). This was Arora’s third-largest score yet.
Sterling Savill began the day as the short stack, but managed to survive to the final four. He got his final chips in with A♦ K♦ Q♦ J♣ facing the A♠ 7♠ 5♥ 4♥ of a surging Ige. Savill hit top two on a K♥ J♥ 5♠ flop, but Ige turned trips to take the lead with the 5♦. The 8♥ river then improved Ige to a flush to see Savill sent packing in fourth place ($80,000). He now has nearly $1.2 million in career cashes.
It was a classic PLO preflop showdown for the next big all-in, with Ramirez’s A♥ A♣ 10♥ 9♠ facing off against Ige’s Q♥ J♣ 10♣ 8♥ in a battle of the blinds. The first three cards off the deck were J♠ 9♣ 2♠. Ramirez moved all-in with his overpair and Ige called with his pair and wrap draw. The turn was the Q♦ to give Ige a queen-high straight and two pair. The 6♦ completed the board and Ramirez was eliminated in third place, earning $120,000 for his third career six-figure score.
Heads-up play began with Ige holding a nearly 2:1 lead over Chang. The lead changed hands a couple of times, but it was Chang sitting slightly ahead when the final hand of the tournament was dealt.
Chang raised on the button with 8♠ 6♥ 5♣ 4♥ and Ige called with A♣ J♣ 9♦ 8♥. The flop came down 10♥ 9♣ 3♥ and Ige checked. Chang checked behind and the turn brought an action card in the 7♣. Ige bet with the jack-high straight and the nut club redraw. Chang potted with his ten-high straight and heart draw and Ige moved all-in. Chang called, setting up a showdown for essentially all of the chips in play. The river brought the A♥ to complete Chang’s flush, winning him the title. Ige earned a career-high windfall of $200,000 for his runner-up showing.
High Rollers
In addition to the main event and five other side tournaments, this series also played host to a trio of $5,100 buy-in high rollers.
The first high roller was won by Alaskan poker pro Adam Hendrix, who topped 23 entries, securing $51,750 to bring his career tournament earnings beyond the $7 million mark. This was the 10th recorded title for Hendrix, who now has 262 in-the-money finishes to his name.
Hendrix faced plenty of stiff competition down the stretch, with six-time bracelet winner Josh Arieh placing third for $18,400 and main event final-tablist Sean Rafael finishing as the runner-up for $32,200.
Canada’s Curtis Muller earned his first recorded live poker tournament title, taking down the second high roller for $54,000. This was the second-largest score on his career behind only the $67,700 he earned for a 155th-place showing in last year’s WSOP main event.
This event drew 20 entries, creating a $100,000 prize pool that was paid out among the top three finishers. Ky Nguyen finished third for $16,000 while Arthur Morris took home $30,000 as the runner-up.
The third and final high roller attracted 22 entries, creating a $110,000 prize pool. The one-day affair concluded with Dutch poker pro Ronald Keijzer hoisting the trophy. Keijzer made a heads-up deal with Morris, who was just one day removed from his previous second-place showing, with each earning $40,150.
This was the seventh recorded tournament title for Keijzer, who won a WSOP bracelet back in 2018 by taking down a $3,000 buy-in PLO event in Las Vegas. He now has more than $3.1 million in lifetime cashes to his name after this latest triumph.
Like Morris, Nguyen also ended up finishing in the same spot in this tournament as he did in the second high roller. He was awarded $17,600 this time around, while Mark Ioli earned $12,100 for finishing fourth.
More Winners
There were more than 600 entries made in the handful of side events that rounded out the series. The festival kicked off with a $50,000 guaranteed $300 buy-in. Johnson Phanyaseng earned $12,970 after outlasting a field of 197.
The second event kept the same guarantee but bumped the buy-in to $400. Alex Green came out on top of the 130-entry field, pocketing $13,160. Main event fifth-place finisher Kyle Arora placed second in this tournament.
Sonny Sundara bested 100 entries in the third event, which sported a $600 buy-in and another $50,000 guarantee. Sundara banked $16,360 after dragging the final pot. LaDarren Banks earned $9,850 as the runner-up and added another $43,000 for his seventh-place showing in the main event later in the series.
The $1,100 buy-in drew 179 entries to best its $100,000 guarantee by nearly $74,000. Stephanie Chung triumphed in the end, capturing the hardware and the top prize of $40,875. This career-best score increased her lifetime earnings to more than $425,000.
The final tournament on the schedule had a $500 buy in. Christian Vaca outlasted a 30-entry field, overcoming Hayden Le heads-up to earn $5,310 and the title. With that, a successful first run of the PGT Texas PLO Roundup rode off into the Lone Star sunset. ♠
PokerGO Tour Texas PLO Roundup – Champions Club – Houston

Event Player Payout (POY)
$300 PLO

Nov. 16-18

$50,000 GTD

Entries: 197
Prizepool: $50,000 1 Johnson Phanyaseng $12,970
2 Charles Hatley $8,750
3 Stephanie Chung $5,130
4 Sebastian Pena $3,120
5 Margarette Gayao $2,410
6 Jason Bullock $2,000
7 Shanice Beasley $1,700
8 Eric Kim $1,470
9 Richard Wasser $1,240
Event Player Payout (POY)
$400 PLO

Nov. 18-19

$50,000 GTD

Entries: 130
Prizepool: $50,000 1 Alex Green $13,160 (106)
2 Kyle Arora $11,000 (88)
3 Meikle Partin $5,400 (70)
4 Nada Siddik $3,350 (53)
5 Blake Barousse $2,580 (44)
6 Xiaoxiao Song $2,200 (35)
7 Kai Yang $1,930 (26)
8 Jared Stearns $1,700 (18)
9 Lacey Coffey $1,510 (9)
Event Player Payout (POY)
$600 PLO

Nov. 19-20

$50,000 GTD

Entries: 100
Prizepool: $52,000 1 Sonny Sundara $16,360 (120)
2 LaDarren Banks $9,850 (100)
3 Zhargal Tsydypov $6,080 (80)
4 Ricardo Alvarado $4,000 (60)
5 Ken Han $3,140 (50)
6 Joshua Hale $2,530 (40)
7 Jared Ingles $2,170 (30)
8 Hai Tran $1,890 (20)
9 Katherine Mersiovsky $1,690 (10)
Event Player Payout (POY)
$1,100 PLO

Nov. 20-21

$100,000 GTD

Entries: 179
Prizepool: $173,630
1 Stephanie Chung $40,875 (312)
2 Xiaoxiao Song $35,875 (260)
3 Rodney Moret-Rojas $18,800 (208)
4 Rajendara Dhar $11,530 (156)
5 Zhargal Tsydypov $8,360 (130)
6 Curtis Muller $6,930 (104)
7 Ken Han $5,900 (78)
8 Johnson Phanyaseng $5,190 (52)
9 Rakan Abusaleh $4,500 (26)
Event Player Payout (POY)
$3,300 PLO

Nov. 21-25

$1,000,000 GTD

Entries: 474
Prizepool: $1,422,000 1 Lawrence Chung $300,000 (1,080)
2 Andrew Ige $200,000 (900)
3 Senovio Ramirez) $120,000 (720
4 Sterling Savill $80,000 (540)
5 Kyle Arora $60,000 (460)
6 Sean Rafael $51,000 (360)
7 LaDarren Banks $43,000 (720)
8 David Mzareulov $35,500 (180)
9 Matthew Macioce $35,500 (90)
Event Player Payout (POY)
$5,100 PLO

Nov. 22

Entries: 23
Prizepool: $115,000 1 Adam Hendrix $51,750
2 Sean Rafael $32,200
3 Josh Arieh $18,400
4 Orod Ashegh $12,650
Event Player Payout (POY)
$5,100 PLO

Nov. 23

Entries: 20
Prizepool: $100,000 1 Curtis Muller $54,000
2 Arthur Morris $30,000
3 Ky Nguyen $16,000

Event Player Payout (POY)
$5,100 PLO

Nov. 24

Entries: 22
Prizepool: $110,000 1 Ronald Keijzer $40,150
2 Arthur Morris $40,150
3 Ky Nguyen $17,600
4 Mark Ioli $12,100
Event Player Payout (POY)
$500 PLO

Nov. 25

Entries: 30
Prizepool: $12,900 1 Christian Vaca $5,310
2 Hayden Le $3,480
3 Bruce Walters $2,190
4 Alexander Green $1,420
5 Bryan Shelton $500