Jorgensen’s Journey in WSOPE PLO Ends in Victory

The third final table of the second annual World Series of Poker Europe was another one that boasted of popular names and quite a bit of action. And in the end, the winner of the £5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha tournament was the one who took the chip lead from the beginning of nine-handed play to victory.

Boasting of a sizable prize pool of £825,000 due to the 165 entrants, the tournament was filled with poker pros and high stakes players who thrive on the excitement and challenges provided by PLO. But only the final 18 players received any portion of the prize pool, and with the elimination of Ilkka Koskinen in 10th place on the last hand of Day 2, the final table of Event #3 of WSOPE was set as follows:

Seat 1: Erik Friberg        189,000
Seat 2: David Penly        162,000
Seat 3: Jason Mercier        650,000
Seat 4: Sorel Mizzi        290,000
Seat 5: Tomi Nyback        434,000
Seat 6: Theo Jorgensen     897,000
Seat 7: Max Pescatori        126,000
Seat 8: Eric Dalby        277,000
Seat 9: Chris Ferguson         282,000

When the play got underway on Friday, September 26th at the Empire at the Casino in London’s Leicester Square, players seemed ready for action. Sorel Mizzi took the first pot of the final table, but it was chipleader Theo Jorgensen who took a substantial pot from Tomi Nyback, and Jason Mercier took three pots to build towards the lead.

Nyback was not getting started as planned. After losing the pot to Jorgensen, he doubled up Erik Friberg. Nyback then got all-in with Dave Penly, who was the shorter stack of the two, only to chop the pot in the end. Finally, all of Nyback’s chips went in after the 7♥-4♦-2♣ flop. Though Jorgensen called, Mizzi moved all-in over the top, and Jorgensen called again. Jorgensen showed K♥-K♦-8♠-5♦, Nyback had K♠-Q♣-10♠-7♣, and Mizzi turned over 7♠-5♣-4♠-2♦ for top two pair. The turn and river were A♠ and 9♥ respectively, and Mizzi gladly tripled up to 860,000. Nyback took the worst of it, as he was out in 9th place with £22,688.

Though Mercier started out strong, he allowed Max Pescatori to double through him with aces versus kings. Mercier then lost a significant pot to Mizzi, which left him with only 125,000. Shortly thereafter, Mercier went all-in after the A♠-J♥-10♦ hit the felt. Jorgensen called with A♣-A♥-5♦-5♠, and Mercier showed 10♠-8♠-7♦-9♦. The 9♥ on the turn gave Mercier the straight, but the A♦ on the river gave Jorgensen quad aces for the win. The painful loss sent Mercier out in 8th place with £26,812.

Next to go within minutes was Chris Ferguson, who hadn’t been able to gain much momentum and shoved all-in after the K♣-Q♣-6♦ came out on the flop. Jorgensen called with 6♠-6♥-5♣-3♣, and Ferguson showed A♣-A♠-J♠-8♣. The 6♣ on the turn amazingly gave Jorgensen quads…again! The 9♦ on the river made no difference, and Ferguson was shown the door in 7th place with £33,000.

Penly was the next to have troubles. Without much success, his stack was down to nearly 130,000 until he doubled through Mizzi to stay alive. Penly moved that stack all-in preflop with A♣-A♥-5♠-Q♣ against the K♣-Q♦-J♣-10♦ of Pescatori. The aces looked good until the J♥-9♥-3♣ came on the flop, then the Q♠ on the turn. The 10♣ meant nothing, as Pescatori’s straight was good, and Penly was out in 6th place with £41,250.

Pescatori was accumulating chips, through the elimination of Penly and an earlier double through Friberg. But it would be a sizable pot subsequently lost to Friberg that left Pescatori crippled with only about 19,000. In the next hand, he saw a cheap flop with Mizzi and Jorgensen of K♥-Q♠-9♦. Pescatori moved all-in and was called by both players, who checked down the 10♦ on the turn and A♠ on the river. Jorgensen showed the winning hand with 10♠-6♥-5♥-3♣. Pescatori was forced out of the tournament in 5th place with a £51,562 prize.

Despite Friberg’s successes against Pescatori, he began to take some hits. Jorgensen took a chunk out of his stack in the course of several hands, and by the time the dinner break rolled around, Friberg was sitting with only 420,000 while Jorgensen had climbed to a monstrous stack of nearly 2 million. Only Dalby had less chips than Friberg, and Dalby doubled through Jorgensen just after returning from dinner. Dalby then took some chips from Friberg that left the latter with only 190,000.

Friberg then got involved with Mizzi to see a 2♠-K♦-8♠ flop. Friberg bet, and Mizzi called. Friberg bet again on the 4♦ turn, and Mizzi raised it up. Friberg called all-in with 4♠-8♥-7♣-7♥, and the two pair looked good against the 7♠-6♠-9♥-K♥ of Mizzi. But the K♠ came on the river to give Mizzi the trip kings, and Friberg was out in 4th place with £66,000.

The other short stack moved soon after. The hand began with Mizzi, Jorgensen, and Dalby seeing the 10♦-8♥-5♠ on the flop. Dalby was the first to toss out a bet, which prompted a fold from Mizzi and a call from Jorgensen. After the 9♦ on the turn, Dalby was all-in with A♣-K♣-10♣-7♦ against Jorgensen’s Q♣-J♠-8♣-4♠. The river came a 9♥ for the straight, and Dalby was gone in 3rd place with £84,562.

And then there were two. The heads-up players took the following chip counts into action:

Theo Jorgensen    2,435,000
Sorel Mizzi           865,000

Mizzi was not going down easily. He took the first pot of heads-up play, then another before doubling through Jorgensen with a turned straight against the flopped two pair of Jorgensen. Mizzi moved all-in again on the very next hand, but the pot was chopped.

Jorgensen lost his chip lead and was looking for a spot to double. He found it with J♠-A♦-6♦-Q♦ against the 2♥-5♣-4♦-3♣ of Mizzi after the flop. The entire board read A♣-J♦-4♥-3♠-A♠, and the full house was perfect for Jorgensen. With that hand, the chip counts had gone back to exactly what they were when heads-up play began.

Mizzi then saw his momentum fade. He lost several small pots that brough him down to 620,000, and he felt the need to move. After a flop of K♠-8♥-J♥, Jorgensen bet out 100,000. Mizzi reraised, Jorgensen pushed all-in, and Mizzi called. Jorgensen showed K♥-3♣-A♣-K♦ for the set, and Mizzi turned over 6♥-A♥-Q♥-5♠ for the flush draw. The turn and river were, in order, 2♠ and 7♦, and Jorgensen was the victor. Sorel Mizzi was eliminated in 2nd place with £132,000.

Theo Jorgensen won the WSOPE PLO event, the coveted bracelet, and the £218,626 that came with it.

(Thanks to PokerNews for its detailed hand recounts and tournament action updates.)

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