Event 9 – ‘Pot Limit Omaha High’
Level 21 (15,000/30,000)
Total Entries: 130
Remaining Players: 1
Average Stack: 2,050,000
James Chen – Winter Poker Open Event 9 ‘Pot Limit Omaha High’ Champion
Even though heads up play went on a little longer than James Chen would have liked, his run towards the Event 9 ‘Pot Limit Omaha High’ title was as wire to wire as it gets. Chen came into today with the chip lead and from the start of Day 2, he began sending short stacks to the rail in quick succession.
Eventually the table got short and while most big stacks would wait and let the short stacks cannibalize each other, Chen did the opposite. He applied pressure and continued to pick up big hands while scoring knockouts, eventually notching 7 of 8 during this final session.
When he finally defeated Tim D’Alessandro for the WPO trophy, he turned to his friends on the rail and said, “Tournaments are fun.” and then admitted that he doesn’t play many, as he’s mainly a cash game player. Tournaments are fun when you’re dealt the goods and run over the final table, lots of fun.
Today was for Chen, as he takes home over $11,000 and his first major tournament title. That concludes our coverage of Event 9 of the Winter Poker Open and now that we’ve crowned our first champion of the day, the WPO blog will turn it’s focus to the homestretch of Day 1A of the ‘Borgata Million’.