James Chen Captures First PokerGO Tour Title With $10,100 Pot-Limit Omaha Victory

The stakes have been raised at the 2024 PokerGO Tour Pot-Limit Omaha Series II. The first three events of the PLO festival all featured $5,100 buy-ins, but the cost of entry grew to $10,1000 for event no. 4. With 100 total entries, there was $1,000,000 in prize money up for grabs in this event, with the largest share ultimately being awarded to James Chen.

The Pennsylvania resident walked away with $220,000 and his first PGT title as the last player standing. This was his second-largest tournament payday yet, and it increased his lifetime earnings to $1,049,287.

Chen’s largest score came in 2023, when he finished as the runner-up in the $10,000 Omaha eight-or-better championship at the World Series of Poker. Nearly a year removed from that close call, Chen took down the $1,500 Omaha eight-or-better eight-max event at 2024 WSOP to secure his first bracelet.

Chen secured 255 PGT points for this win. This was his second cash of the series, having also eked into the money in event no. 1. With 263 total points, he now sits in second place in the series standings. He also climbed to just outside the top 150 on the season-long PGT points leaderboard.

This event saw the top 15 finishers made the money, with big names like two-time bracelet winner Dylan Linde (15th), two-time bracelet winner Sam Soverel (14th), three-time bracelet winner Jim Collopy (13th), six-time bracelet winner Jeremy Ausmus (12th), two-time Super High Roller Bowl champion Isaac Haxton (11th), two-time bracelet winner Ben Lamb (10th), two-time bracelet winner Alex Livingston (9th), and ten-time bracelet winner Erik Seidel (8th) all running deep.

The second and final day of this tournament saw seven players return to the PokerGO Studio inside ARIA Resort & Casino Las Vegas, with Chen in the lead and PGT PLO Series II event no. 3 champion Matthew Wantman sitting on the second-largest stack.

Jose ‘Nacho’ Barbero scored the first knockout of the day, with his double-suited kings outrunning the double-suited aces of bracelet winner Joni Jouhkimainen (7th – $40,000). Chen then sent bracelet winner Eelis Parssinen packing in sixth place ($50,000), with an overpair holding against middle pair and a flush draw for the Finn.

Samuel Sipila came out on top in the points race at the first PGT PLO Series of the year, winning two titles and making two more final tables at that festival. His first cash this time around was for $65,000. He finished fifth in this event when his double-suited pocket queens with ace-high spades ran into pocket aces for Chen, who backed into a flush to secure the pot.

Chen’s surge continued when his QQ83 won against the AJ52 in a preflop clash with Wantman, who came into the hand short-stacked. Pocket queens played for Chen by the end and Wantman was eliminated in fourth place ($90,000). The 90 PGT points he earned were enough to keep him in the lead in the series standings, with 319 total points earned across four cashes.

Sean Rafael’s last chips went in preflop with AK97 facing the AAQ9 of Chen. An ace-high runout gave Chen a winning set and the knockout. Rafael earned $115,000 as the third-place finisher.

Chen entered heads-up play with 11,475,000 to Nacho Barbero’s 1,025,000. The bracelet winner from Argentina managed a couple quick double-ups and even overtook the lead, but Chen regained control in time for the final hand of the tournament. Chen opened to 450,000 on the button with QJ87 and Barbero potted, making it 1,350,000 from the big blind with AKJ4. Chen called and the Q106 flop prompted a 2,850,000 bet from Barbero, who had flopped a wrap draw. Chen shoved with his top pair and gutshot. Barbero called for 4,725,000 total. The 3 on the turn gave Chen a spade flush draw and the 6 on the end officially earned him the title. Barbero earned $200,000 as the runner-up. He now has more than $21 million in recorded earnings.

Barbero also earned 500 Card Player Player of the Year points. This was his eighth final-table finish of the year. With 4,043 total points, he is now the 26th-ranked contender in the 2024 POY standing presented by Global Poker. He also climbed to 66th place in the PGT season-long rankings.

Photo credits: PokerGO / Antonio Abrego.

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