With a name like DonOmaha, it was no surprise to see this player in the tournament or at the final table. But an initial bad run at said final table put DonOmaha in last chip position when it came time for a five-handed deal.
It all changed from there. DonOmaha doubled through an opponent on the first hand back after the deal break, and it was all uphill from there. Even a slight loss of chips during heads-up play was quickly turned around by a key double-up, which led to victory on the next hand.
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Event 24 was the first on the schedule for Tuesday, January 28, and players had the option of getting involved in a $109 Pot Limit Omaha H/L 6-Max tournament. Its placement in the 2014 Turbo Championship of Online Poker meant it had to be a turbo event, and five-minute levels made that abundantly clear.
What started out to be a small tournament with a $75K guarantee grew into something much bigger with nearly double that amount in the prize pool:
Players: 1,442
Guarantee: $75,000.00
Prize pool: $144,200.00
Paid players: 192
Team PokerStars Pros were in the mix for this one, and two of them made deep runs. While all of the top 192 players were guaranteed at least $173.04 for their finishes, everyone had their eyes on the final table.
Two of them wore the PokerStars red spade and ran deep, only to exit with a few tables remaining. Team PokerStars Pro Henrique Pinho of Portugal departed in 40th place with $475.86, and fellow Team Pro George Danzer of Austria hit the virtual rail in 37th place for the same amount.
Play moved forward very quickly in this tournament, and only two tables remained at the 3.5-hour mark. Table 5 had most of the larger stacks, while the shorter ones battled at Table 76. Eventually, recent MicroMillions 5 winner BlackOps02 risked everything preflop with [6c][Ah][Kh][Jc], and DonOmaha had [5c][Ad][Kd][8d]. The board of [2h][2s][8h][Qd][8c] gave DonOmaha trip eights, and with no low in play, BlackOps02 exited in seventh place for $2,163.00.
Queen H/L starts with royal chip lead
The final table of this event began in the final portion of Level 41, with blinds at 60K/120K and these chip counts:
Seat 1: DonOmaha (1,281,844 in chips)
Seat 2: DCJ311 (254,152 in chips)
Seat 3: MammaPoker (962,021 in chips)
Seat 4: Aces Amin (1,407,173 in chips)
Seat 5: Queen H/L (2,522,425 in chips)
Seat 6: tvtotaliwin (782,385 in chips)
The fifth hand of play started with a raise from Aces Amin and reraise from Queen H/L. DCJ311 called all-in from the big blind, Aces Amin folded, and Queen H/L showed [Ks][2d][2h][Ad]. DCJ311 rolled over [Ac][9h][7s][2c] and didn't improve enough on the [Kc][Td][7c][Jh][4d] board. DCJ311 had to leave in sixth place with $3,922.24.
A few hands later, tvtotaliwin doubled through Queen H/L to stay in action, and then play slowed for a few rounds.
The final five players then decided to pause the tournament to check out some deal numbers, and they quickly agreed to ICM figures. The deal involved $1,500.00 set aside for the winner and these guaranteed payouts:
Seat 1: DonOmaha (681,844 in chips) = $10,789.41
Seat 3: MammaPoker (1,592,021 in chips) = $14,747.73
Seat 4: Aces Amin (957,571 in chips) = $12,301.01
Seat 5: Queen H/L (2,753,794 in chips) = $17,344.56
Seat 6: tvtotaliwin (1,224,770 in chips) = $13,470.59
On the first hand back, DonOmaha doubled through MammaPoker, and two hands after that, Aces Amin did the same through tvtotaliwin, who then doubled through DonOmaha. The double-ups were fast and furious for a few minutes.
MammaPoker, however, was not doing well and pushed less than 200K chips all-in preflop with [3d][3s][Qd][2s]. Aces Amin showed [7d][4h][7s][6d] and ended up with two pair on the [Kd][6c][4s][Td][Qc] board. MammaPoker was gone in fifth place with $14,747.73.
The rise of DonOmaha in Omaha
Tvtotaliwin doubled through Queen H/L on the very next hand, and DonOmaha did it through Aces Amin two hands later.
On the next hand, tvtotaliwin pushed all-in UTG with [Kh][Ad][Qh][Jd], and Queen H/L called from the big blind with [5c][Ts][4s][Jc]. The flop of [As][9c][Ac] gave tvtotaliwin trip aces but Queen H/L the flush draw, and the board then finished with [3d] and [7c]. That gave Queen H/L the flush and the 7-5-4-3-A low, which eliminated tvtotaliwin in fourth place for $13,470.59.
With delay, the next hand saw Aces Amin move all-in as the first player to act. DonOmaha called from the big blind with [2c][6d][2s][7s], which was up against the [Qc][4h][Td][8s] of DonOmaha. the board of [Ah][5s][Jh][9s][Qd] gave DonOmaha the straight and sent Aces Amin out in third place with $12,301.01.
Nearly even heads-up stacks
The final two players started their match with these chip counts:
Seat 1: DonOmaha (3,701,773 in chips)
Seat 5: Queen H/L (3,508,227 in chips)
Queen H/L immediately took the lead, but four hands into the battle, DonOmaha used [5s][Ad][3h][8c] to double up with a full house and 8-5-4-3-A low.
That left Queen H/L with little more than 406K chips, which went all-in on the next hand with [8s][9h][8h][Ad]. DonOmaha called with [4d][Qs][Ah][7c], and the board of [Kh][4c][Th][Qd][6d] provided two pair. Queen H/L took second place and the $17,344.56 that went with it.
DonOmaha collected a total of $12,289.41 for the TCOOP PLO victory. Congrats!
TCOOP-24: $109 PL Omaha H/L (Turbo 6-Max)
Entrants: 1,442
Prize pool: $144,200.00
Places paid: 192
1. DonOmaha (Netherlands) $12,289.41*
2. Queen H/L (Netherlands) $17,344.56*
3. Aces Amin (UK) $12,301.01*
4. tvtotaliwin (Switzerland) $13,470.59*
5. MammaPoker (Sweden) $14,747.73*
6. DCJ311 (Mexico) $3,922.24
*Payouts reflect five-way chop
Jennifer Newell is a PokerStars freelance contributor.