There are only three tournaments left in the 2024 PokerGO Tour PLO Series, and Finland’s Samuli Sipila has put a hammerlock on the festivities. Not only did he win his second tournament of the series last night in the PokerGO Studios at ARIA Las Vegas, but he also took over the top slot on the Player of the Series race in a dominant fashion. With a final table on tap for today and two more tournaments yet to come, Sipila may not be celebrating the overall title yet, but it is within his grasp.
Sipila Powers to Lead at Event #7 Final Table
The $15,000 Pot Limit Omaha with Progressive Bounty tournament, Event #7 on your event program, was Sipila’s playground from the start. He came to the final table with a massive lead over the four other men he faced, holding 4.35 million of the chips in play from the 74-entry field. Facing the challenge of trying to top Sipila was a host of strong players, including Christopher Frank (1.52 million), Sean Winter (1.38 million), Nick Schulman (1.135 million) and Jim Collopy (875K).
Winter and Collopy clashed early on, with Collopy earning a double through Winter and setting up Winter for his departure in fifth place. Sipila was the man who finished off Winter, making Aces and eights with his A-8-10-4 on an 8-6-2-7-A runout to top Winter’s K-K-7-6. Frank was the next to go, once again at the hands of Sipila, when he made Kings and tens with his A-K-10-4 Omaha arrangement on a K-Q-2-Q-10 board against Frank’s 10-6-6-5 setup.
The combined stacks of Collopy (3.060 million) and Schulman (955K) did not even equal Sipila’s (5.245 million), but that didn’t mean they didn’t try to stop the Finn. Sipila dropped Schulman in third place, with his A-A-9-8 standing tall over Schulman’s double-suited K-J-9-5 on a J-4-3-3-6 board that did not hit either of Schulman’s suits. Now with a 2:1 lead, it seemed that Sipila was only moments away from his second title of the series.
Collopy didn’t read that script, however. He would double on one of the opening hands of heads-up play, forcing Sipila to actually put some thought into his play. Sipila was able to come back and reclaim his lead, but Collopy battled for 45 minutes before he would fall. The end came after Collopy’s Q-J-8-6 was caught by Sipila’s 10-4-3-2 after Collopy flopped an eight, but Sipila topped when he caught a ten on the turn to take the hand and the tournament.
1. Samuli Sipila (Finland), $159,840 (plus $239,000 in bounties) (270 points)
2. Jim Collopy (USA), $159,840 ($3000) (177)
3. Nick Schulman (USA), $89,910 ($10,000) (125)
4. Christopher Frank (Germany), $63,270 ($46,000) (89)
5. Sean Winter (USA), $46,620 ($9000) (65)
Victory Drives Sipila into Top Slot in Overall Championship
With his second victory in the 2024 PGT PLO Series, Sipila has put his name in contention for the Overall Championship for the series. It will take a massive move by another player to top Sipila in this race, however, as he has nearly double the points of the second-place runner, Event #6 champion Dylan Weisman. Someone in the Top Ten of the Overall Championship standings is going to have to make a strong run over the final three tournaments to even have a hope of catching Sipila:
1. Samuli Sipila – 544 points
2. Dylan Weisman – 277 points
3. Ronald Keijzer – 246 points
4. Lautaro Guerra – 226 points
5. Eelis Parssinen – 216 points
6. Christopher Frank – 200 points
7. Stefan Christopher – 199 points
8. Daniel Negreanu – 195 points
9. Isaac Kempton – 190 points
10. Jim Collopy – 187 points
Parssinen will be the first to pick up the lance to joust Sipila. Parssinen is at the final table of Event #8, albeit as one of the bottom stacks on the table. After the completion of Event #8, there is only the $25,000 Pot Limit Omaha Championship and a smaller $5000 PLO Dealer’s Choice tournament left on the schedule. As such, the Overall Championship may have already been decided – but that is why they deal the cards!
(Photo courtesy of PokerGO.com)