Event 9 – ‘Pot Limit Omaha High’
Level 15 (3,000/6,000)
Total Entries: 130
Remaining Players: 4
Average Stack: 490,000
Thomas Balla (Bronx, NY)
There will be no title defense in Event 9 ‘Pot Limit Omaha High’, as Thomas Balla, who won this tournament during last year’s Winter Poker Open, was just eliminated by, you guessed it, James Chen. Chen opened to 15,000 from late position and Balla called in the blinds to see a flop of {7s}{5c}{4h}.
Balla had just over a pot-sized bet behind and those chips got in the middle after he bet and Chen quickly moved all-in. Balla called and needed to hit, as he held {Ah}{7h}{6c}{5h} to Chen’s {8c}{6s}{5s}{3c}.
The big stack flopped a straight and Balla now just had the turn and river to hit any of his backdoor or full house outs but he could manage neither, as the {2s} and {10d} completed the board.
Balla will hit the rail in 5th place, good for a $2,200 score and we certainly imagine to see Balla next weekend, as another PLO event will run on Saturday. We are now just a few minutes from break, with four players remaining in Event 9.