Dylan Smith Wins $25,000 PCA PLO High Roller for $364,440

Dylan Smith secured his biggest ever live tournament cash as he took down a field of 44 runners to win his first PokerStars Trophy and the $364,440 first-place prize in the $25,000 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Pot Limit Omaha High Roller at the gorgeous Baha Mar Resort in The Bahamas.

It was a long bubble as seven players fought for six payouts but play quickened after the bursting of the bubble. Shaun Deeb (4th- $121,500) and Jeremy Ausmus (3rd- $163,750) fell in back-to-back hands to get the tournament to heads-up.

German Oliver Weis was Smith's final opponent, but it was a quick heads-up affair as Smith went into the battle with a two-to-one chip lead. Weis would not double up, as Smith would win and take down the trophy in less than ten hands.

$25,000 PCA PLO High Roller Final Table Results

Winner's Reaction

Smith started 2023 on a heater, having taken down another PLO High Roller trophy just two weeks ago in Florida for $ 91,960. Smith is mainly a PLO player, with his last four recorded cashes on the Hendon Mob database all being in PLO tournaments. With this win, Smith has achieved his first-ever six-figure tournament score.

Despite his recent tournament success, Smith told PokerNews that he is primarily a PLO cash game player where he plays high stakes PLO online for stakes as high as $200/$400. Smith said when he first started playing poker, he focused on No Limit Hold'em but moved in with a really good PLO player which encouraged him to switch his focus to the PLO streets.

Smith was joined on his rail by Jake Schwartz, who himself has nearly $4,000,000 in live tournament earnings, as he rode his way to victory. Smith said he will be playing the $25,000 PokerStars Players No Limit Hold'em Championship on Monday, as well as other events on the schedule, as he hopes to continue his 2023 run good.

Action of the Day

The day started with Ausmus as the chip leader and two tables as ten players returned for Day 2. The final table bubble didn't last long as Andrew Pantling was taken out by Andriy Lyubovetskiy as Pantling called off for his tournament life when Lyubovetskiy check raised all in on the turn.

Lyubovetskiy was propelled into the chip lead when he took out Adam Hendrix as his pocket kings couldn't hold against the Ukrainian.

Seven-handed play lasted for several hours as play slowed on a huge $73,950 money bubble. Deeb was short but managed to survive to avoid being the bubble boy. Eventually, John Zable was the unfortunate bubble boy as his queens couldn't hold against Joni Jouhkimainen.

Action dramatically quicken after the bubble burst and Jouhkimainen soon followed Zable in hitting the rail as he got involved in a three-way all-in against Deeb and Ausmus. Deeb managed to triple up, which put him in the chip lead as four-handed play commenced.

Smith managed to become chip leader for the first time in the day when he moved all in on the flop in a three-bet pot against Deeb. Deeb called, but Smith was the one able to double up. Deeb would then be eliminated as Deeb got all in with kings against Smith's aces to be eliminated from the tournament. Ausmus followed suit the very next hand as Smith took out another victim which put him in good stead for victory as he started his heads-up battle against Oliver Weis.

Smith went into heads-up in a dominant position and managed to secure the victory quickly as Smith called Weis's four-bet all-in to take the tournament victory as the American rivered a flush to secure his first six-figure live tournament score.

That concluded the PokerNews live reporting team's coverage of the $25,000 PCA PLO High Roller. Be sure to check out the team's coverage of other events here in The Bahamas, including the $25,000 PokerStars Players Championship, which kicks off Monday at 12 p.m. local time.