Ka Kwan Lau Takes Home His First Bracelet and $2,294,756 in the WSOP $25,000 Buy-In Pot-Limit Omaha Event

The 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) $25,000 Buy-In Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO) tournament had 449 entrants and a $10,551,500 prize pool. It was the biggest PLO event in WSOP’s history and had a 70 percent increased turnout compared to the 2022 event that attracted 264 players.

Ka Kwan Lau was the last player seated at the final table after a four-day battle of the blind. He won the $2,294,756 first-place prize and his first gold bracelet. Yet, the champion was the runner-up in the 2021 tournament.

Lau garnered 2,520 Card Player Player of the Year (POY) points in his first qualified 2023 final table finish. He is 38th in the ongoing POY competition that Global Poker supports. Also, the poker pro amassed 800 PokerGO Tour (PGT) points that improved his rank on the PGT leaderboard to 13th place.

The Final Table’s Scores and Points

• Ka Kwan Lau – $2,294,756;2,520 POY points and 800 PGT points
• Sergio Martinez Gonzalez – $1,418,270;2,100 POY points and 700 PGT points
• Andjelko Andrejevic – $989,464;1,680 POY points and 594 PGT points
• Roger Teska – $701,522;1,260 POY points and 421 PGT points
• Mads Amot – $505,588;1,050 POY points and 303 PGT points
• Quan Zhou – $370,498;840 POY points and 222 PGT points
• Firas Sadou – $276,141;630 POY points and 166 PGT points
• Jeremy Ausmus – $209,392;420 POY points and 126 PGT points

The Last Day’s Action Highlights

Lau was the stack leader when he advanced to the tournament’s final day. Its money bubble burst on Day 2. Some of the players who cashed early included Paul Volpe, Josh Arieh, Yuri Dzivielevski, Joao Vieira, Andriy Lyubovetskiy, Dan Zack, Ben Lamb, Chad Eveslage, Dash Dudley, Dylan Wiesman, and Isaac Haxton.

Mads Amot got busted shortly after the day’s action began after using KDiamond SuitQDiamond SuitQClub Suit10Heart Suit to make a KSpade SuitQSpade Suit3Diamond Suit flop for the middle set. But he faced Lau’s huge wrap straight draw and flush draw that he got from an ADiamond SuitQHeart SuitJSpade Suit10Spade Suit.

Even so, 7Heart Suit on the turn gave Amot hope before Lau got a winning flush from the 8Spade Suit on the river, sending his opponent home in fifth place. Roger Teska used the top two pair to go all-in but faced Sergio Gonzalez’ flopped wheel. The river didn’t help Teska and he exited the tournament in fourth place.

Andjelko Andrejevic’s run ended in the third position after his QHeart SuitQDiamond Suit7Diamond Suit3Heart Suit lost to Martinez Gonzalez’s ASpade SuitAHeart Suit10Diamond Suit8Diamond Suit. The latter had an over 3:1 stack lead over Lau when their heads-up match kicked off. Even so, Lau doubled up using an eight-high straight and dominated Gonzalez’s seven-high straight.

The board ran 10Diamond Suit9Club Suit6Heart Suit9Heart SuitJSpade Suit prompting Lau to river a king-high straight that earned him the title and pot. Gonzalez won the $1,418,270 second-place consolation prize.

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