Benjamin Juhasz Wins PGT PLO Series II Event No. 7 For $206,400Hungarian Bests Field of 86 Entries In $10,100 Tournament To Secure His Largest Tournament Score Yet |
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Benjamin Juhasz is the latest champion decided at the 2023 PGT PLO Series II. The Hungarian outlasted an 86-entry field in event no. 7, a $10,100 buy-in pot-limit Omaha tournament. For the win he was awarded $206,400, the largest score yet on his resume.
This was his third cash of the series, having also finished fifth in the kickoff event and 17th in event no. 5. With 275 PGT points and $275,100 in earnings for the festival, Juhasz is now ranked third in the series-long standings.
This tournament played out over two days inside the PokerGO Studio at ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. The final day of this began with six players remaining and Juhasz in the lead.
He went on to score every knockout on day 2, starting by busting the champion of the kickoff event in Matthew Wantman (6th – $51,600). He then flopped the nut flush to knock out 2019 World Series of Poker main event sixth-place finisher Zhen Cai in fifth place ($68,800).
At one point during four-handed action, he held more than 75 percent of the total chips in play. He added to that lead when his double-suited A-J-10-9 beat out the pocket kings of Joao Simao, with all of the chips getting in preflop. Juhasz made another flush by the turn to leave his Brazilian opponent drawing dead. Simao cashed for $86,000 as the fourth-place finisher. This was his fifth cash of the series, with a win in event no. 6 for $182,000. With 341 PGT points and $340,650 in earnings accrued thus far, the two-time bracelet winner is now sitting atop the series leaderboard.
Joni Jouhkimainen ultimately bowed out in third place, getting the last of his short stack in with middle pair and a backdoor flush outs. He was up against top and bottom pair for Juhasz, which held through the river to send the Finnish bracelet winner home with $107,500.
Juhasz held more than a 10:1 chip lead over three-time bracelet winner Jim Collopy when heads-up play began. It didn’t take long for that advantage to be converted into the title. With a flop of 1075, Juhasz bet the pot and Collopy called all-in holding KJ98 for a wrap straight draw. Juhasz had Q1022 for top pair with a ten kicker. The 3 turn and A river kept Juhasz ahead to lock up the pot and the title. Collopy earned $141,900 as the runner up, bringing his totals for the series to $286,200. With 287 points across three cashes, he moved to second in the standings for the festival.
Here is a look at the payouts and rankings points awarded at the final table:
Place | Player | Earnings | POY Points | PGT Points |
1 | Benjamin Juhasz | $206,400 | 480 | 206 |
2 | Jim Collopy | $141,900 | 400 | 142 |
3 | Joni Jouhkimainen | $107,500 | 320 | 108 |
4 | Joao Simao | $86,000 | 240 | 86 |
5 | Zhen Cai | $68,800 | 200 | 69 |
6 | Matthew Wantman | $51,600 | 160 | 52 |
7 | Florian Langmann | $43,000 | 120 | 43 |
Check out the current top ten in the series points race after seven events:
1st: Joao Simao – 313 points
2nd: Jim Collopy – 287 points
3rd: Benjamin Juhasz – 275 points
4th: Stephen Hubbard – 262 points
5th: Bryce Yockey – 250 points
6th: Richard Gryko – 246 points
7th: Eelis Parssinen – 236 points
8th: Adam Hendrix 226 points
9th: Allan Le – 205 points
10th: Matthew Wantman – 203 points
Photo credits: PokerGO / Antonio Abgrego.