The first World Series of Poker bracelet awarded in a game other than no-limit hold’em was won in the early hours of July 17, 2021. Allen ‘Acnyc718’ Chang defeated a field of 498 entries in the WSOP Online $600 buy-in pot-limit Omaha eight-or-better six-max event, earning $61,394 and his second gold bracelet for the win.
Chang secured his first piece of WSOP hardware by winning event no. 5 of the 2020 WSOPO, a $1,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em freezeout. The Brooklyn, NY resident earned $161,286 for that victory. He now has nearly $490,000 in recorded tournament earnings to his name.
The 498-entry turnout for this PLO8 event built a prize pool of $268,920 that was ultimately paid out among the top 72 finishers. Among the big names to make deep runs in the event were bracelet winner Ryan ‘Joeyisamush’ Depaulo (49th – $1,103), bracelet winner and PokerStars Caribbean Adventure main event champion Galen ‘turkmalloy’ Hall (44th – $1,237), bracelet winner and 2004 WSOP main event runner-up finisher David ‘dwpoker’ Williams (37th – $1,237), defending champion of this event and two-time bracelet winner Nathan ‘surfbum’ Gamble (31st – $1,398), and bracelet winner Yueqi ‘anoob’ Zhu (18th – $1,990).
Andrew Lichtenberger
Chris ‘pdx2nyc’ Leslie-Hynan (5th – $12,747) was also eliminated by Chang, who made a broadway straight to scoop another pot and narrow the field to four players. ‘PiggyBear’ saw their run at the title end when their A9
9
7
clashed against the A
A
9
6
of Edwin ‘YungFlipWell’ Roman. Roman rivered a ten-high straight with the side cards to his pocket aces. ‘PiggyBear’ took home $17,964 as the fourth-place finisher.
Ryan ‘Santasbzack2’ Stoker fell to the bottom of the leaderboard during three-handed play. He got his last six big blinds in preflop with A10
9
3
and was facing the A
K
Q
9
of Chang. Stoker picked up the nut low draw and a wheel draw on the J
5
2
flop. The Q
on the turn and 9
o nthe river saw Chang make queens up to scoop the pot, with no low possible. Stoker earned $25,843 for his third-place showing.
Chang took more than a 3:1 lead into heads-up play with Roman. In the final hand, Roman raised to three-times the big blind on the button withAQ
J
6
. Chang defended the big blind with 9
5
4
3
and the flop came down J
8
5
. Chang bet enough to put Roman all-in, and he called for his tournament life with his pair of jacks and plenty of other possibilities. The turn brought the Q
to give Chang a flush draw to go along with his pair of fives and a low draw. The K
completed the backdoor flush, securing the scoop and the title for Chang. Roman was awarded $37,837 as the runner-up finisher.
Here is a look at the payouts awarded at the final table:
Place | Player | Earnings |
1 | Allen ‘Acnyc718’ Chang | $61,394 |
2 | Edwin ‘YungFlipWell’ Roman | $37,837 |
3 | Ryan ‘Santasbzack2’ Stoker | $25,843 |
4 | ‘PiggyBear’ | $17,964 |
5 | Chris ‘pdx2nyc’ Leslie-Hynan | $12,747 |
6 | Andrew ‘WATCHGUY42’ Lichtenberger | $9,197 |