Jason Zipfel Wins First WSOP Bracelet in Event #35: $1,500 PLO

After three full days of gruelling four-card action at Horseshoe and Paris, Las Vegas, a new World Series of Poker champion has been crowned. That champion goes by the name of Jason Zipfel, who outlasted a 2,581 strong field to be the last player standing in Event #35: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Handed.

Alongside a maiden bracelet, Zipfel is also taking home an incredible $441,560 as a first-place reward, the largest share of the $3,426,277 prize pool generated across the two Day 1 flights that took place.

This score is more than double his career best score, and has skyrocketed his total live earnings to almost $700,000, with only one recorded live cash before 2025 according to TheHendonMob, and none coming in Pot-Limit Omaha.

Event #35: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Handed Final Table Results

Zipfel built up a huge chip lead throughout the second day of play, and remained number one from the beginning of Day 3 right until the very end, except for a very slight slip up with two remaining. That being said, despite his opponent Hokyiu Lee grabbing the chip lead for a very short time in heads-up play, Zipfel came right back from the deficit to lock down the win within a matter of minutes.

Runner-up Hokyiu Lee will undoubtedly be disappointed to not have doubled his career bracelet tally, but the $294,420 second-place prize will certainly soften the blow, as he has more than tripled his best live cash, and got himself within $100,000 of a seven-figure lifetime score. He played silent assassin all day, making ladders and chipping up to make it to heads-up play.

Nobody can argue that the Zipfel’s success was undeserved, as he played the role of knockout artist throughout the final day. He sent five players packing during his title run, including eliminating more than half of the final table, as his chip stack continued to balloon over the course of the day. He certainly put it to good use, applying maximum pressure to his opponents and picking them off one by one. He made his first bracelet look as easy to win as any, and let the table know he had a great time in doing so.

Winner’s Reaction

Zipfel told PokerNews that there is indeed a reason behind his lack of PLO tournament cashes, as it was only his third attempt at tournament glory in the format.

“I’ve run really well, so I should probably play more and less cash”

“I play a lot of private cash games, and then I’ll play a couple of tournaments throughout the year. So, like last year, I played probably five or six tournaments.

“I’ve run really well, so I should probably play more and less cash.”

Coming into the final day as the chip leader, he knew it wasn’t simply a given that he would stay ahead of the pack, showing respect to his opponents on the final day.

In particular, he noted that third place finisher Will Givens, who was second in chips at the start of the day, was indeed a “strong player.”

“I knew he had a lot of chips. He was the one person that I wanted to make sure I didn’t let fight me too much because I know he’s a very solid player. If he starts to win, then his momentum can crush you.

“I made it a point to not necessarily target him, but more like show that I’m not going to lay down to him and I’m going to make moves on him so that he doesn’t try to come after me.”

Reflecting on the switch from two cards to four, Zipfel remarked that he was equally, if not more comfortable with double the cards in front of him.

“I felt a lot more comfortable playing this PLO tournament than Hold’em tournaments, even though I play more Hold’em.

“It’s hard to think of a better feeling in my poker career. This is pretty surreal. And it might take a a little bit for it to set in, too. But I feel very good.”

Final Day Action

Anthony Latona was the first to go on the final day when he fell to the flush of Jochen Pfeifer to fall out of contention. Eliminations began to come thick and fast before a final table was decided, as Ray Dehkharghani was the next to go. He got it in good against Pfeifer, but running diamonds spelled his demise as he was eliminated in 15th place.

Nick Yunis then got it in on the flop against Givens with a pair of aces, but it was no good after a diamond on the turn gave Givens a flush to crack the aces and send Yunis to the rail.

Philip Stark got it all in preflop, but he ran into the aces of Ido Aboudi and was sent out in 12th place. Shortly after, Sonny Lee said goodbye, as he clashed with Givens for his tournament life. Givens held a set of tens, while Lee was hoping to find a flush or a straight. Neither came as Givens scored the knockout to eliminate Lee in 11th place.

Just over ten minutes later Ryan Wince was the next to fall. Wince got it in on the flop, but had to go through two adversaries to survive in a three-handed pot. Zipfel dispelled Wince when he showed two pair to eliminate Wince in 10th place, solidifying the unofficial final table of nine. Unofficial became offical, as Aboudi got it all in with a pair of kings, while Zipfel was drawing to a straight. Zipfel converted on his straight on the turn to send Aboudi packing in ninth place.

The final eight would play for nearly two hours before an elimination occurred, but when it did, it saw both Thanhlong Nguyen and Phillip Mighall meet their fate. Givens scored the double knockout when he hit a full house. Mighall finished in eighth place, while Nguyen took seventh. Next up was Zipfel to play executioner again, this time at the expense of Michael Estes. Estes shipped it preflop and was at risk, with Zipfel’s pocket kings managing to hold.

Maxx Coleman clashed with Hokyiu Lee when they got the chips in preflop. Lee’s queens held to knock out Coleman in fifth place. Coleman would have to wait for his second WSOP bracelet. Pfeifer then became yet another victim of Zipfel when his flopped set was no good against a flopped flush, with Pfeifer was unable to fill up on the river, and departed in fourth.

Of the podium players, Givens was first to fall. Zipfel opened preflop before Givens’ reraise was called to create a bloated pot preflop. Givens went all in on the flop and was called by Zipfel, who held a flopped straight. Givens could not find a full house on the turn or river to be out in third.

Heads-up play did not last too long before Zipfel managed to fully establish his dominance. Chips were trading hands fast, and Lee even managed to grab the chip lead, but it was all over when Zipfel’s aces held up against the flush draw of Lee, securing his first piece of WSOP silverware.

That’s a wrap on coverage of the $1,500 PLO, with Jason Zipfel crowned champion, adding his name to the prestigious list of bracelet holders. Be sure to stay tuned for more live coverage coming your way, with every event reported on PokerNews

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