Thomas Skaggs Wins World Series Of Poker $1,500 PLO Bounty Event

Thomas Skaggs – Photo Credit: WSOP / Rachel Kay Miller

Thomas Skaggs topped the field to win his first gold bracelet at the World Series of Poker $1,500 pot-limit Omaha bounty event on the Las Vegas Strip in Nevada. That gold bracelet will pair nicely with the gold ring he won earlier this year in another pot-limit Omaha event at the WSOP Circuit stop at Caesars Indiana. The $171,742 he took home for first place was the largest score of his tournament career by far.

Skaggs told reporters after the win that he set out with a goal to win either a gold bracelet or ring, so he was beyond thrilled to have captured both in the same year. The Glendale, Kentucky resident only had two hours until he had to leave to catch a flight home after the win, but he was still ecstatic despite the late finish in the wee hours of the morning on July 10. Skaggs mostly plays in Omaha cash games, and he made the third try the charm playing in this PLO bounty event to claim a victory.

The three-day tournament attracted a field of 1,214 entries, with the overall prize pool set at $1,620,690. The top 183 players all cashed for at least $1,501 in prize money. The money bubble burst on the first day of play, and just 140 players remained at the end of play.

Day 2 saw the field play all the way down to the final 15 players, which set the stage for a long final day of the tournament. Some notables that made a deep run, but ultimately fell along the way to the final table included Nacho Barbero (40th), Daniel Negreanu (31st), Dash Dudley (16th), and Jeff Madsen (12th).

Skaggs held a dominant chip lead when the final table began, so he was able to cruise along while the early eliminations kicked off the action, including the exit of decorated poker professional Noah Schwartz in eighth place. Satar Al-Sadoun actually took back the chip lead after the first break at the final table when just five players remained.

Skaggs continued to fall in the standings before he scored a timely double through Al-Sadoun during three-handed play, and he then quickly took back the chip lead before taking out Al-Sadoun in third place to hold a 6:1 chip advantage to start heads-up play against David Hu.

Hu scored a quick double just minutes into the final match, and he had nearly pulled the chip stacks close to even before the final hand transpired. The last hand saw Hu get the last of his chips into the middle on a flop reading 932. Hu held AAQ4, and he was up against the 9854 held by Skaggs. The turn and river fell 9K to knock out Hu in second place. He was awarded $106,138 in prize money to take his career earnings to just shy of $1 million.

Here is a look at the payouts awarded at the final table:

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