Lawrence Chang Wins PGT Texas PLO Roundup Main Event

The 2024 PokerGO Tour Texas PLO Roundup $3,300 buy-in pot-limit Omaha main event attracted a massive field of 474 entries to Champions Club Texas in Houston, blowing away the $1 million guarantee while setting a record for the largest PLO prize pool in Texas history. That $1,422,000 was paid out among the top 55 finishers, with $300,000 going to eventual champion Lawrence Chang.

This was the first recorded six-figure tournament score for Chang, who is based in Texas. Prior to this marquee victory, his top score was the $25,650 he earned for a fourth-place finish in a $500,000 guaranteed $120 buy-in event at the 2019 L.A. Poker Classic series that drew 6,454 entries.

This victory also awarded 1,080 Card Player Player of the Year points to Chang. This was his second final-table finish of the year, having also placed sixth in a $5,000 PLO high roller at ARIA back in June. With 1,160 total points, he now sits within reach of the top 500 in the 2024 POY standings presented by Global Poker.

Among the many notables to run deep in this event were 2019 World Series of Poker 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 outran 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 8664 facing the AJ83 of Andrew Ige. The board ran out KKQ8A 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 AKQJ facing the A754 of a surging Ige. Savill hit top two on a KJ5 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 to his name.

It was a classic PLO preflop showdown for the next big all-in, with Ramirez’s AA109 facing off against Ige’s QJ108 in a battle of the blinds. It was four-bet by Ramirez preflop from the small blind, growing the pot to 8,775,000 when Ige called. The first three cards off the deck were J92. Ramirez moved all-in for his remaining 3,800,000 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.

Things have heated up inside @ChampionsClubTX as we've reached heads-up play at the Final Table of the Main Event at the 2024 Texas PLO Roundup

: https://t.co/FxKxqYD9Zm pic.twitter.com/7Fe9bRXy1C

— PokerGO (@PokerGO) November 26, 2024

Heads-up play began with Ige holding a 9:5 chip 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. With blinds of 125,000-250,000 with a big blind ante of 250,000, Chang raised to 1,000,000 on the button with 8654 and Ige called with AJ98. The flop came down 1093 and Ige checked. Chang checked behind and the turn brought an action card in the 7. Ige bet 1,600,000 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 (Chang had Ige covered by a handful of big blinds). 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 display.

Here is a look at the payouts and rankings points awarded at the final table:

Photo credits: PokerGO / Antonio Abrego.

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