Barbero & Iqbal Early PGT PLO Series Winners; Negreanu Denied Trophy

The first-ever PokerGO Tour (PGT) Pot-Limit Omaha Series is underway in Las Vegas and has attracted the likes of Phil Galfond, Eli Elezra and reigning Female Player of the Year Cherish Andrews. The PLO series consists of nine events with buy-ins beginning at $2,200 and climbing up to the $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship.

Some of the winners so far inside the PokerGO Studio at ARIA Casino & Resort include PGT newcomer Daniyal Iqbal (Event #1: $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha – $160,000), seasoned high-stakes pro Nacho Barbero (Event #3: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha – $234,000) and Allen Shen, who denied Daniel Negreanu the trophy in Event #2: $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Bounty to win $91,290.

Read about the 2023 PGT Mixed Game Festival!

High Stakes PLO Action

The first event of the inaugural PLO series attracted 200 runners for a prize pool of $1 million. Among those who made runs extending into the money were Ka Kwan Lau (24th – $10,000), Maxx Coleman (16th – $20,000) and the always entertaining Ren Lin (12th – $30,000).

David Williams, who has won both a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet and Circuit ring in mixed game events, finished in ninth place for $30,000, while Ethan “Rampage” Yau finished in eighth for $40,000 just a few weeks after the poker vlogger won two trophies in the same studio during the Global Poker Awards.

There were other big names at the final table, including four-time bracelet winner Jeff Madsen (6th – $50,000), but it was Daniyal Iqbal who topped them all after defeating heads-up opponent Roussos Koliakoudakis ($120,000).

Iqbal, who told PokerGO he is an engineer who mainly plays PLO cash games, had only a single Hendon Mob cash before entering the PokerGO Studio. Needless to say, his $160,000 score bests his 38th-place finish in last summer’s Venetian DeepStack $1,100 PLO Championship for $2,516.

Event #1: $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Final Table Results

In the next event, Event #2: $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Bounty, Canada’s Allen Shen defeated Daniel Negreanu during heads-up play to deny the fellow Canadian yet another PGT title. Shen earned $91,290 and Negreanu walked away with $69,810.

Other players who made up the final table included Joseph Cheong (3rd – $53,700), Isaac Kempton (4th – $37,590) and Ky Nguyen (5th – $32,220).

Event #2: $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Bounty Final Table Results

Later in the series, Argentina’s Nacho Barbero got through a field of 130 runners to win $234,000 in Event #3: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha that included Dash Dudley (16th – $26,000), Williams (15th – $26,000), Jared Bleznick (11th – $39,000) and Ben Lamb (8th – $52,000).

Adam Hendrix fell in third place for $130,000 before Barbero defeated Austria’s Jonas Kronwitter, who in turn took home $169,000.

Barbero has had an eventful and lucrative year, first finishing fourth in the $25,000 PokerStars Players Championship in the Bahamas for $1.5 million and then taking down a Triton Super High Roller Series Vietnam event for $600,000 earlier this month.

Event #3: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Final Table Results

Another highlight of the series was Sean Troha taking down Event #4: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo for $200,000 after getting through a field that included Negreanu (10th – $24,000), Yuval Bronshtein (4th – $80,000) and runner-up Michael Wang ($136,000).

Troha has had a strong series that also saw him finish seventh in Event #1 for $40,000 and 11th in the currently underway Event #6: $10,000 Mixed PLO / PLO8 / Big O for $25,800.

Still to come in the PGT PLO Series is Event #7: $15,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Bounty, as well as Event #8: $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship and Event #9: $2,200 5-Card Pot-Limit Omaha.

2023 PGT PLO Series Remaining Schedule

A full list of winners so far at the 2023 PGT PLo Series is available in the table below.

2023 PGT PLO Series Winners So Far

_{Photos courtesy of PokerGO}