Event #74: $1,500 Bounty Pot-Limit Omaha is in the books, after 6 and a half hours of play. Our new champion is Pei ”Jerry” Li who wins $190,219 for his first bracelet. On top of first place, he also acquired a number of $500 bounties for each player he knocked out through out the tournament.
The event itself saw a field of 1,390 entrants, many of which were re-entries by players that busted before late registration ended at level 9 of Day 1. Many names came and fell through the course of Day 1, including: Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu and Dan Weinman. Player of the Year first place leader Dan Zack made the money, to only build on his lead in the standings as the WSOP draws into its final week.
Event #74: $1,500 Bounty Pot-Limit Omaha Results
| Place | Player | Country | Payout |
| 1 | Pei Li | Canada | $190,219 |
| 2 | Nolan King | USA | $117,545 |
| 3 | Raul Esquivel | USA | $85,739 |
| 4 | Eemil Tuominen | Finland | $63,231 |
| 5 | William Gross | USA | $47,153 |
| 6 | Eric Lescot | Belgium | $35,561 |
| 7 | Ryan Scully | USA | $27,125 |
| 8 | Konstantin Angelov | Bulgaria | $20,930 |
| 9 | Diogo Veiga | Portugal | $16,339 |
Day 2 saw 124 players return for their chance at gold, with many returning WSOP champions looking to book another bracelet. Some players that made Day 2 but fell just short were: Connor Drinan (24th), Ankush Mandavia (19th) and Day 1 chip leader, Tamel Kamel (17th). Kamel had a rough day after he had build on his chip lead before getting short and ultimately busting just before the final two table redraw.
Day 3
It took 10 sixty minute levels of play to get down to our final 9 players before play was halted for the night. Those final 9 didn’t take long to get action going on Day 3 though, with the short stacked bracelet winner Diogo Veiga finishing 9th after he ran into the aces of Raul Esquivel to go out for $16,339.
Next to fall was Konstantin Angelov, who has been on fire lately after winning Event #64: $600 Pot-Limit Omaha Deepstack ($199,466) just a couple of weeks ago. The Bulgarian has been running and playing great to navigate such big fields. He couldn’t make it two bracelets in one series though as he’ll have to wait for his second after he finished 8th for $20,930.
The charismatic Ryan Scully was our 7th place finisher, taking $27,125 for troubles after the runner-runner flush of Nolan King got there to bust his straight after they got it in on the flop. Scully was upbeat the entire event, making sure everyone heard him if he won a big pot and cracking jokes with his table mates.
In 6th place was Eric Lescot who took $35,561 after a blind on blind duel with King when he ran a set of eights into a set of nines of King. The Belgium-based player with his best World Series of Poker result to date.
Out in 5th place was William Gross after like Scully, had runner-runner hit on him by King, after going all in preflop and flopping the best hand. His fifth place finish was good for $47,153 plus bounties.
The Finnish player, Emil Tuominen got it in good on a flop with pocket aces against the gut shot straight draw of King. If you haven’t figured it out yet, King was running good and he binked his gutter on the turn to bust Tuominen in 4th for $63,231.
Esquivel was then eliminated in 3rd Place for $85,739 after Li sent him to the rail with a flush. Esquivel was mostly quiet through the final table and laddered well during all the action that was going on.
When heads-up began Li had a nearly 2-to-1 chip lead over King, but it switched back again when King flopped a set and got action from Li’s pocket aces, betting all in and getting called to double King up. The lead then switched twice more, before the chip stacks evened out at 17,000,000 each. King then chipped away at Li, with Li being chipped down to 8,000,000.
King, who has been enjoying beers with his rail (Kyle Julius, Ben Lamb, etc.) had been potting it blind from the button heads-up, making the pots a little bigger than they would otherwise be. Li battled back to even once again with these inflated pots going his way before Li won a big one leaving King with 4,250,000. Though, King doubled the next hand to keep play running.
Both players then agreed to skip two levels of play, making play a lot shorter. King ended up getting his last 3,900,000 in versus a 2,000,000 continuation bet from Li and being up against the top pair. Li held up for the win and bracelet as King finished second.
Winner’s Reaction
PokerNews caught up with Jerry Li after his win and asked him about his win and what he’d do with his prize and he responded saying ”No, nothing right now”. Perhaps Jerry was a little speechless and tired after the grind to get the bracelet. You can’t blame him!
The blind levels were raised at the request of King by two levels near the end and you agreed to it, why was that. He responded ”He’s a very aggressive player but so am I, so it made it a fun time heads up [to play for bigger pots]. It may have been a sign of both players wanting to get the tournament done after hours of heads-up play that saw the chip lead shift many, many times.
A fantastic win for Li who adds to his circuit ring victory, though you can be sure this one feels a lot more special. The Canadian player who is a pot-limit omaha specialist, will no doubt be back to playing on GG Poker, where he plays pot-limit omaha cash, as well as hold’em. The first bracelet from Alberta, Canada, shockingly, where pot-limit omaha cash games run frequently, fitting the first win for Alberta is in PLO.
That wraps up Event #74: $1,500 Bounty Pot-Limit Omaha, congratulations to the winner Pei ”Jerry” Li and his first World Series of Poker bracelet. Stayed tuned for all the up to date action from the Main Event and all other events running as the last week of the 2022 WSOP concludes, live from Bally’s and Paris Las Vegas.