€5,200 PLO Opener
Day 2 Completed
2024 PLO Grand Slam
€5,200 PLO Opener
Day: 2
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 2
2024 PLO Grand Slam
Buy-in
€5,200
Prize Pool
€1,000,000
Entries
210
Level
27
Blinds
250,000 / 500,000
Ante
500,000
Entries
210
Players Left
1
Level 27
: Blinds 250,000/500,000, 500,000 ante
After a 15-hour day, Aaron Pahlawani came out victorious in the €5,200 PLO Opener, held as part of the PLO Grand Slam hosted by Diamon Poker Series at Arena Casino Tirana. Pahlawini bested 210 players, the largest-ever field for an Omaha tournament at this price point on European soil, and walked away with €176,100 after a heads-up deal with Pavel Izotov.
Izotov had the largest stack when the deal was struck and took home €194,400, the biggest share of the €1,000,000 prize pool. However, he lost the final flip for the trophy and had to watch as Pahlawani was crowned the official victor.
The six-figure score is Pahlawani's best-ever live cash by far, increasing his total live earnings nearly tenfold. Omaha specialist Izotov also walked away with the most money he had ever earned in a live tournament, doubling his total earnings. Meanwhile, Youness Barakat was the final person to earn six figures, getting paid €103,000 for his bronze medal, a new high score as well.
€5,200 PLO Grand Slam Opener Final Table Payouts
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aaron Pahlawani | Austria | €176,100* |
| 2 | Pavel Izotov | Belarus | €194,400* |
| 3 | Youness Barakat | Italy | €103,000 |
| 4 | Florian Kraft | Germany | €84,000 |
| 5 | Burak Simsek | Germany | €67,000 |
| 6 | Stanislau Melhui | Mexico | €51,500 |
| 7 | Giorgos Tsoupras | Greece | €37,500 |
| 8 | Hristo Bogdanov | Bulgaria | €27,000 |
*Denotes heads-up deal
Early Day 2 Action
The late registration was still open until the start of the final day. Twenty-four players made use of the opportunity, among whom Barakat and Florian Kraft, who both made it to the final table. Alex Livingston and Chris Dowling also took last-minute shots but ended up on the rail not long after.
Hok Lee, Max Kruse, Ka Kwan Lau, and Simeon Naydenov all bit the dust well before the money. Eventually, start-of-day chipleader Tom-Aksel Bedell ended up in 28th place as the bubble boy after an unfortunate day, guaranteeing the rest of the field at least €10,000.
The min-cash was reserved for the likes of Cesar Garcia, Maksim Shuts, and Gergo Nagy, while Andrew Leathem (21st - €11,000), Francisco Perez (14th - €15,000), and Sergio Martinez Gonzalez (12th - €16,500) managed to pick up some pay jumps.
Emanuel Singer fell in tenth to an anonymous player who goes by "Dima" to set up the unofficial final table, from which "Dima" quickly departed after running his top set into the nut flush, leaving eight players for the official final table.
Final Table
The pace had been lightning fast throughout the day, but came to a screeching halt when eight remained. It took two hours for the next elimination. In that time, Izotov worked his way from a middling stack to one of the top contenders and eventually took the lead when he hit his wrap against Hristo Bogdanov to bust him in eighth. Not much later, Izotov took care of Day 1b chipleader Giorgos Tsoupras in seventh, increasing his stack even more.
After another hour, Stanislau Melhui unsuccessfully jammed his queens into the kings of Kraft, while Pahlawani, who started the final table als chipleader, cracked Burak Simsek's aces mere moments later to send him to the rail in fifth. Four-handed play lasted for a similar time, seeing Barakat double up several times. Ultimately, Kraft bowed out in fourth and Barakat quickly followed in third, with the former falling to Pahlawani and the latter to Izotov.
Pahlawani and Izotov quickly agreed to chop the remaining prize pool. The tournament director gave them a level and a half to complete their heads up for the trophy, but after a mostly uneventful battle, their time ran out. The pair played one final flip for the honor of winning the very first Diamond Poker Series event. Pahlawani was the luckiest in that endeavor, crowning him the champion and awarding him with the trophy.
Thus concluded the €5,200 PLO Opener here in Albania, but the PLO Grand Slam is far from over. Tune back in to PokerNews on Thursday as the prestigious €10,300 PLO Championship gets underway at 3 p.m. local time.
Level 27
: Blinds 250,000/500,000, 500,000 ante
The players ran out of time after they had struck a deal. They agreed to take the €10,000 they had each put in to play for back and flip for only the trophy.
Aaron Pahlawani: Q?10?10?5? 
Pavel Izotov: A?J?10?5?
Pahlawani's tens held across the K?2?K?8?8? board to take down the trophy and title of €5,200 PLO Grand Slam Opener champion.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
42,025,000
30,025,000
|
30,025,000 |
|
Busted |
Level 27
: 250,000/500,000, 500,000 ante
Pavel Izotov raised to 1,250,000 on the button and Aaron Pahlawani called in the big blind. The 8?7?2? flop checked through to the 4? turn, where Pahlawani bet 1,500,000.
Izotov called and the 6? hit the river. Pahlawani slowed down and checked, after which Izotov bet 4,000,000.
Pahlawani snap-called but had to muck his cards when Izotov tabled J?10?9?3? for the nut straight.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
28,925,000
9,400,000
|
9,400,000 |
|
|
12,000,000
-9,400,000
|
-9,400,000 |
Level 27
: 250,000/500,000, 500,000 ante
Aaron Pahlawani made it 1,500,000 to go on the button and Pavel Izotov called in the big blind.
The Q?7?4?A?8? board was checked down, with Izotov's [qkhah5d4d] for two pair winning at showdown.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
21,400,000
-700,000
|
-700,000 |
|
|
19,525,000
700,000
|
700,000 |
Level 27
: 250,000/500,000, 500,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
22,100,000
1,475,000
|
1,475,000 |
|
|
18,825,000
-1,475,000
|
-1,475,000 |
Level: 27
Blinds: 250,000/500,000
Ante: 500,000
Level 26
: Blinds 200,000/400,000, 400,000 ante
The action was caught on a completed board of 5?9?10?4?3?. Aaron Pahlawani made a pot-sized bet of 5,400,000 from the big blind and was called by Pavel Izotov on the button.
Pahlawani showed down 9?6?6?2? for a straight, which won him the pot as Izotov mucked his cards.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
20,625,000
3,200,000
|
3,200,000 |
|
|
20,300,000
-3,200,000
|
-3,200,000 |
Level 26
: Blinds 200,000/400,000, 400,000 ante
In a limped pot to the 9?Q?3? flop, Aaron Pahlawani in the big blind and Pavel Izotov checked to the 9? turn. Pahlawani then bet 4000,000, which Izotov raised to 1,200,000.
Pahlawani called to the 5? river, which went check-check again. Pahlawani tabled 9?5?5?4? for nines full of fives and raked in the pot to close the gap a bit.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
23,500,000
-2,900,000
|
-2,900,000 |
|
|
17,425,000
2,900,000
|
2,900,000 |
Level 26
: Blinds 200,000/400,000, 400,000 ante
The players have agreed to a chop. Pavel Izotov will take home at least €184,400 while Aaron Pahlawani secured himself €176,100.
The players left €20,000 to play for as well as the shiny Diamond Poker Series trophy.