Event #11: $600 2021 Spring Series PLO Championship
Day 1 Completed
Lone Star Poker Series Champions Social
Event #11: $600 2021 Spring Series PLO Championship
Day: 1
Event Info
After almost 11 hours of play, Event #11: 2021 Spring Series PLO Championship has come to an end after 96 players became three.
With three players remaining at the end, chip leader David O'Brien, negotiated with his two remaining adversaries to agree to a three-way even chop while he got what he truly wanted, the belt buckle and money clip commemorating his victory.
"I am not leaving here without that." said O'Brien defiantly as he discussed the deal with his opponents, Pom Jun and Lawrence Lazar who agreed to the chop, meaning each walked away with $9,874 in winnings.
O'Brien was declared the official winner of the shiny new belt buckle and money clip to make for quite the story.
"I had never played tournaments ever before until Easter I was driving by here and saw Champions Poker Club and thought I would check it out", he explained.
O'Brien has been a popular character over the last few days at the Lone Star Poker Series, regaling people about his life stories while enjoying a good game of poker. He admits that he is not well versed in tournament strategy yet but that he is learning where he made mistakes and is improving each day. He will look to enter even more events as the series goes on, including the Main Event, which he has won several raffle seats.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize Money |
| 1 | David O'Brien | $9,874* |
| 2 | Pom Jun | $9,873* |
| 3 | Lawrence Lazar | $9,873* |
| 4 | William Mattison | $4,406 |
| 5 | Paul Espinoza | $3,550 |
| 6 | Loi Nguyen | $2,815 |
| 7 | Joe Castaneda | $2,203 |
| 8 | Jason Fitzpatrick | $1,714 |
| 9 | Brandon Guzman | $1,346 |
*Indicates three-way deal.
Action of the Day
The tournament attracted 96 entries and generated a prizepool of $48,960. Action was fierce all day as chips flew from stack to stack as PLO action often is.
Play would go down to the final table with some memorable hands along the way. It was at the final table where O'Brien would begin his ascent to the top of the chip counts. He won a critical three-way hand against fifth place finisher Paul Espinoza and Lazar that catapulted him into a commanding chip position when his nut flush bested the second nut flush.
From there he maintained his lead, with only Jun coming within touching distance. William Mattison was eliminated in fourth place to bring the field down to three, where the deal was then agreed upon.
PokerNews will resume coverage of the Lone Star Poker Series tomorrow at 2 p.m. local time for the Ultimate Monster NLH and Pot Limit Big O.
Pom Jun finished in second place after having slightly more chips than Lawrence Lazar.
After the fourth-place elimination, the remaining three players agreed upon an even chop. Lawrence Lazar officially finished in third place for $9,873.
Level 20 (20,000/40,000/40,000)
William Mattison was all in preflop with his short stack against Pom Jun.
Mattison held the 
against the 
of Jun.
The flop was good for Jun as it came down 
. The turn was the 
and the river the 
to eliminate Mattison
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
965,000
-160,000
|
-160,000 |
|
Busted |
Level 19 (15,000/30,000)
Paul Espinoza was eliminated by Lawrence Lazar as his 
could not best the hand of Lazar with the board reading 
as the cards were swept away with Lazar having trip sixes to bring the field down to four players.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
670,000
150,000
|
150,000 |
|
Busted |
Level 18 (10,000/20,000/20,000)
Loi Nguyen moved his short stack all in preflop. Lawrence Lazar re-shoved and everyone else folded.
Nguyen held the 
. Lazar had the 
.
The board ran out 
and Nguyen was gone in 6th place.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
520,000
60,000
|
60,000 |
|
Busted |
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
3,210,000
110,000
|
110,000 |
|
|
1,125,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
|
|
460,000
-5,000
|
-5,000 |
|
|
390,000
75,000
|
75,000 |
|
|
225,000
-250,000
|
-250,000 |
|
|
70,000
-490,000
|
-490,000 |
Level 18 (10,000/20,000/20,000)
David O'Brien continued to absorb all the chips at the table like a magnet when he got involved in a three-way hand.
Action was picked up on the board as the board read 
. Paul Espinoza bet 140,000, Lawrence Lazar called, as did O'Brien.
The river came the to put three hearts on the board. Espinoza and Lazar checked. O'Brien bet 100,000, Espinoza nearly beat him into the middle with a quick call and Lazar also called.
O'Brien tabled the 
for the nut flush. Espinoza's hand was swept away and Lazar could only shake his head as his second nut queen high flush was no good.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
3,100,000
2,025,000
|
2,025,000 |
|
|
465,000
-345,000
|
-345,000 |
|
|
315,000
-225,000
|
-225,000 |
Level 17 (10,000/15,000/15,000)
Joe Castaneda was depleted to a single chip after a previous hand where he folded rather than putting the rest in the middle. He was all in preflop.
Paul Espinoza and Loi Nguyen would play out the resulting hand, exchanging bet and calls on the turn and river as the board was fully fleshed out to read 
.
Espinoza and Nguyen chopped it up, after both had identical jacks full of aces full boats and Castaneda was eliminated in 7th place.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
560,000
300,000
|
300,000 |
|
|
540,000
135,000
|
135,000 |
|
|
Busted |