The record-setting pot-limit Omaha poker tournament, boasting the highest buy-in ever, concluded in the early hours of Thursday, October 19th. The event, the inaugural $100,000 buy-in Super High Roller Bowl: Pot-Limit Omaha, witnessed 38 participants, amassing an impressive prize pool of $3.8 million. After three days of intense four-card poker action within the PokerGO Studio at ARIA Resort & Casino, Jared Bleznick, a seasoned PLO player, emerged as the champion from a highly competitive final table. He secured the prestigious title, the SHRB ring, and the top prize of $1,292,000.
This monumental victory marked Bleznick’s largest tournament win to date, solidifying his place in the poker world. Before transitioning to his sports card business in the mid-2010s, Jared Bleznick had earned recognition as a leading online PLO specialist. His previous best payout came as the runner-up in the 2013 World Series of Poker $10,000 PLO championship event, where he pocketed $526,625. Notably, four out of his five most significant tournament wins have been in PLO tournaments.
With this recent triumph, Bleznick’s total tournament earnings have now surpassed $4.1 million. During the tournament’s final stages, he faced off against two of the game’s highest-earning tournament players, Stephen Chidwick (with $54.7 million in career earnings) and Isaac Haxton (with $45.5 million in career earnings). Their intense three-handed showdown stretched on for approximately six hours. Remarkably, both of these high-stakes poker stars had recently achieved podium finishes in the latest no-limit hold’em version of the SHRB, with Haxton winning $2,760,000 and Chidwick securing a third-place finish for $960,000.
The final day of the SHRB PLO tournament began with seven players vying for victory, with Haxton leading the pack. Poker Hall of Famer Daniel Negreanu had been eliminated just shy of the money late on day 2, losing with a set-under-set hand against Bleznick.
Starting the final table as the second-highest chip holder among the remaining seven players, Jared Bleznick closed the gap with Haxton by eliminating Chino Rheem, the recent PGT Mixed Games II champion, who finished in seventh place with $152,000. This marked Rheem’s 14th final table appearance of the year, with 11 of them occurring since mid-September. He currently ranks 63rd in the 2023 Card Player Player of the Year standings presented by Global Poker and 29th in the PGT season-long rankings.
Isaac Kempton, wielding pocket aces on two occasions, swiftly dispatched Frank Crivello (6th place – $228,000) and Aaron Katz (5th place – $304,000), entering the four-handed play with a virtually tied chip count alongside Bleznick and Haxton.
The final four contenders engaged in an extended battle before the next elimination transpired. By this point, Kempton’s chip stack had dwindled. In a crucial hand, he found himself all-in, awaiting a potential call from Jared Bleznick, who decided to utilize his time bank cards to open packs of sports cards. Ultimately, Kempton doubled up when Bleznick folded. In his final hand, Kempton, with a short stack, went all-in preflop with double-suited jacks, facing Bleznick and Chidwick. Bleznick hit top pair and an open-ended straight draw on the flop, forcing Chidwick to fold. Kempton had picked up a flush draw, but Bleznick improved to two pair on the turn, securing Kempton’s fourth-place finish with $418,000.
Three-handed play commenced around 8:00 PM local time in Las Vegas, extending until just before 2:00 AM. At one point, Chidwick managed to claim the chip lead but found himself all-in and at risk a little over an hour later. He had aggressively committed most of his stack preflop from the button with A♥9♦8♠7♥ and called Bleznick’s re-pot from the big blind, who held A♣K♠K♣8♥. The flop displayed A♦Q♦10♦, leaving Chidwick with only a few big blinds. The J♠ on the turn granted Jared Bleznick a straight, leaving Chidwick with no outs as the 10♠ fell on the river.
The 34-year-old British poker pro earned $570,000 for his third-place finish. This marked his 24th final-table appearance of the year, having secured five titles and accumulated over $8.7 million in Player of the Year (POY) earnings. With 8,779 total POY points, he remained in second place in the 2023 standings, striving to claim his third career POY award. His first victory in this regard came in 2019, and he is the defending POY from the previous year. Chidwick also climbed to fourth place on the PGT leaderboard, which he had previously won in 2022.
Heading into the heads-up battle, Haxton held 6,775,000 chips, while Bleznick had 4,625,000. Haxton had an opportunity to clinch the win and secure his third SHRB ring, having previously won the SHRB V and the recent SHRB VIII. The pivotal hand began with Bleznick limping from the button with a 10-9-8-7 double-suited hand, and Haxton raised from the big blind with pocket aces that covered one of Bleznick’s suits. Bleznick re-raised, and Haxton went all-in, with Bleznick making the call. He hit two pair on the turn, doubling into the lead.
Not long afterward, Haxton raised with Q♠Q♣10♥6♥ from the button, and Bleznick called with 9♥5♠3♥2♠ from the big blind. The flop came 9♠7♣4♥, and Bleznick bet the pot. Haxton shoved for 2,280,000, and Jared Bleznick called. The 9♦ on the turn gave Bleznick trips and a substantial lead. Haxton needed a queen or an eight on the river to stay in the game, but the A♦ appeared instead, concluding his tournament in second place with a prize of $836,000.
Haxton’s remarkable year included 21 final-table finishes, seven titles, and an impressive earnings total of nearly $13.4 million in Player of the Year (POY) points, making him one of the top players on the circuit. He held 8,532 POY points, securing the third position in the POY standings. In the high-stakes-oriented Player of the Game Tour (PGT) race, he led with 2,548 points.
Haxton’s standout achievements in the year comprised his first WSOP bracelet in a $25,000 buy-in event and a recent SHRB victory, netting him more than $2.7 million just a few weeks prior to this event.
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