PGT PLO: Sean Troha Scoops $10,000 Eight-or-Better Event

Sean Troha is establishing himself as a player to be reckoned with in high-stakes pot-limit Omaha tournaments. The North Olmsted, Ohio native broke out last summer by winning the $10,000 pot-limit Omaha championship event at the World Series of Poker for his first bracelet and the top prize of more than $1.2 million. This week he secured his second-largest victory on the circuit at the 2023 PGT PLO series, topping a field of 80 entries in the $10,000 pot-limit Omaha eight-or-better event to win $200,000.

This latest title run saw Troha eclipse the $2 million mark in career tournament earnings. The win also resulted in a bevy of rankings points being added to Troha’s 2023 tally. The 480 Card Player Player of the Year points he was awarded for his fifth final-table finish of the year were enough to move him within striking distance of the top 100 on the POY leaderboard presented by Global Poker. He also earned 200 PGT points for his second qualified score in that race, climbing to 26th place in the 2023 PGT rankings as a result.

This event kicked off on Tuesday, Mar. 14, and attracted 80 entries by the time registration closed, building an $800,000 prize pool in the process. By the end of day 1, just six contenders remained with a shot at the title, with Troha leading a tightly-grouped pack of four at the top of the chip counts.

Jake Schwartz began day 2 as the second shortest stack, but was ultimately the first to be eliminated. He was scooped by the aces up and live deuce for a low held by two-time bracelet winner Yuval Bronshtein and eliminated in sixth place ($48,000).

2023 PGT Mixed Games mixed triple draw event winner Nick Guagenti was the next to fall when he ran into the trip nines of two-time bracelet winner Michael Wang. Guagenti earned $64,000 as the fifth-place finisher.

Bronshtein was left on fumes after doubling short stack Paul Zappulla. In his final hand, Wang made an eight-high straight and a 7-6-5-4-2 low to scoop the pot and send Bronshtein to the rail with $80,000.

Zappulla was soon the one all-in and at risk, with his second pair and an open-ended straight draw trailing the set of fives and flush draw of Troha with one card to come. The river was no help to Zappulla and he settled for $104,000 as the third-place finisher.

Heads-up play began with Wang holding roughly a 2:1 chip lead over Troha. The tables soon turned when Troha doubled up with trip sevens besting pocket kings. The final hand saw raising war end with all of Wang’s chips in the middle with AQ73. Troha held QQ65. The board came down K10697 and Troha’s pair of queens for the high was enough to scoop the pot and eliminated Wang in second place ($136,000).

Here is a look at the payouts and rankings points awarded at the final table:

Photo credit: PokerGO / Antonio Abrego.