Californian businessman and ardent poker fan Tommy Le (35) celebrated a $938,732 win – and his first WSOP bracelet – this weekend after besting a professional player-heavy field of 428 in the $10,000 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha Championship in Las Vegas.
Players familiar with Le’s love of poker were not surprised; his passion for the game and knowledge of the rules saw him clean up three significant Omaha final table cashes at last year’s World Series of Poker, where he proved a tough and talented opponent.
Le had the second largest stack when the final table formed over the weekend, chasing chip leader Scott Clements and in the process eliminating two-time bracelet winner Jason DeWitt.
Clement’s dominance (at one point he had half the chips in play) was not to last, however, and after massive losses he busted at fourth, leaving Le, Chris Lee and amateur player Hani Mio to decide the heads up.
At this point Le ramped up the aggression and began to take control of the game, eliminating Mio and taking a 3 to 1 chip lead into the heads up against Chris Lee. It turned out to be a brief, half-hour affair as Le maintained his aggression and enjoyed a good run of cards, ultimately claiming the victory and sending Lee home with a second placing reward of $580,177.
Other final table pay-outs included:
Hani Mio $397,836
Scott Clements $277,768
Jason Dewitt $197,533
Eoghan O’Dea $143,128
Murat Tulek
Germany $105,705
Miltiadis Kyriakides $79,599