Ryan Laplante Wins Poker Masters Event #2 $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha ($186,000)
Ryan Laplante was at a loss for words after he took down the 2019 Poker Masters $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha event today. The long-time poker pro battled his way through a tough field of 62 entries that culminated with him beating the Event #1 runner up, Chance Kornuth, heads up. Laplante collected $186,000 for his win, the second biggest outright win of his career behind only his World Series of Poker bracelet win back in 2016.
Choking back tears, Laplante said, “Being able to play against these people, just even being able to compete, not even cashing, and then winning it is just absolutely absurd. Obviously, I thought it was possible when I signed up but when you’re playing against players of this caliber, and you pull through, it makes me feel very fortunate and very lucky.”
| 2019 Poker Masters Event #2 Pot Limit Omaha Payouts | |||
| Place | Name | Country | Prize |
| 1st | Ryan Laplante | United States | $186,000 |
| 2nd | Chance Kornuth | United States | $124,000 |
| 3rd | Thai Ha | Vietnam | $86,000 |
| 4th | John Riordan | United States | $62,000 |
| 5th | Ali Imsirovic | Bosnia & Herzegovina | $49,600 |
| 6th | Tim McDermott | United States | $37,200 |
| 7th | Damjan Radanov | United States | $31,000 |
| 8th | Brent Roberts | United States | $24,800 |
| 9th | Anthony Zinno | United States | $18,600 |
Read Ryan Laplante’s final table story on Poker Central right here.
How the Action Unfolded
The final table started with six hopefuls lead by Ryan Laplante who held a commanding chip lead which he managed to carry all the way into heads-up play. Tim McDermott started as the short stack and he was the first player to get eliminated despite finding a quick double up at first. McDermott ended up all in with [AhQh9c5h] and he was up against John Riordan’s [KsKh6s2h] to send him to the rail.
Defending Poker Masters champion Ali Imsirovic was the next player to bust as aces were very unkind to him. Imsirovic nearly got all of his chips all in before the flop against Ryan Laplante who flopped the nut flush before the rest of the chips went in. Imsirovic did not catch runner-runner and headed for the exit in fifth place.
The colorfully dressed John Riordan also fell to Laplante as he found himself all in with [AcJs4s3d] versus [Th8s6h2d] on [Qd9d3c]. The turn brought the [8c] and the river the [Jd] to send Riordan to the rail as Laplante made a straight. The action was reduced to heads-up play after Thai Ha busted in third place. Ha ended up all in with [9s8s7c2c] on [9dTh6d] versus Laplante’s [KsKd7d6h] and the [4d] sealed it as the eventual winner hit his flush.
🚨 PLO COOLER ALERT 🚨
Can @ChancesCards get away or will @Protentialmn go wire-to-wire to win Event #2!? https://t.co/5rUlItuiNK #PokerMasters pic.twitter.com/jrLJJXZd0X— PokerGO (@PokerGO) November 7, 2019
Heads-up play between Chance Kornuth and Ryan Laplante did not last long as the former ended up all in with [QhQd6c3s] against the latter’s [TsTh9c8s]. The chips went into the middle on a [3cTc3h] as Kornuth flopped trips against Laplante’s full house. The turn and river brought no help as Kornuth finished second in back-to-back events while Laplante grabbed his first Poker Masters win.
About winning this tournament, that had a fast-paced structure on top of it being Pot Limit Omaha, Laplante was both realistic and excited.
“This tournament series as a whole is obviously very tough, playing against some of the best players in the world. The structure, however, is built to be pretty fast and especially in a game like PLO it’s a real battle and you’re constantly going for it. I tried my best to get into good situations and make thin bluffs, but honestly, I just ran really well and that’s required to win any tournament.”
| 2019 Poker Masters Championship Standings | ||||
| Name | Points | Cashes | Earnings | |
| 1 | Chance Kornuth | 420 | 2 | $293,400 |
| 2 | Isaac Baron | 300 | 1 | $223,100 |
| 3 | Ryan Laplante | 300 | 1 | $186,000 |
| 4 | Thai Ha | 210 | 2 | $124,800 |
| 5 | Ralph Wong | 150 | 1 | $116,400 |
Tune in for more coverage on PokerGO at 1:00 pm PT/4:00 pm ET tomorrow as the final table of the Short Deck event is next up. Live Reporting of the $10,000 8-Game Day 1 starts on Poker Central at noon PT.
Watch The Event #2 Final Table Live on PokerGO
The highest stakes week of the year streams live on PokerGO. Watch every final table of the 2019 Poker Masters – including the Event #2 $10K Pot Limit Omaha final table starting at 1:00 pm PT/4:00 pm ET/10:00 pm CET.
The second event of the series drew a total of 62 entries creating a prize pool just shy of over $600,000. The winner will see a return of $186,000 on their $10,000 buy-in. Leading the way is Ryan Laplante, after he caught late Day 1 heat to bag just over 2,500,000. Thai Ha – who is making back-to-back final tables – comes back second in chips, while Chance Kornuth is also back at a Poker Masters final table – albeit with a short stack.
The full final table seat draw is as follows.
| Seat | Name | Country | Chip Count |
| 1 | Chance Kornuth | United States | 545,000 |
| 2 | John Riordan | United States | 990,000 |
| 3 | Thai Ha | Vietnam | 1,730,000 |
| 4 | Ryan Laplante | United States | 2,540,000 |
| 5 | Ali Imsirovic | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 1,595,000 |
| 6 | Tim McDermott | United States | 410,000 |
The button is on Thai Ha, and there is 26:04 remaining in Level 18 with blinds at 15,000-30,000 and a 30,000-big blind ante.
The Event #2: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha final table begins at 12 p.m. (PT) on Wednesday, November 5, with action continuing until the Event #2 champion is crowned. Follow every hand when the PokerGO coverage begins at 1 p.m. (PT) / 4 p.m. (ET).
Follow the final table exclusively on PokerGO through your favorite devices and in the embedded player below. Can’t watch live? Catch the action on-demand at your leisure. New to PokerGO? Subscribe right now.
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