Shiva Dudani Rides Post-Dinner Heater to Final Five Chip Lead of $10,000 PLO Championship
After a fast-paced day with bursts of lightning-quick eliminations, just five players remain to vie for the title in WSOP Event #69: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship (8-Handed).
The man to beat will be two-time WSOP Circuit ring winner Shiva Dudani of Chicago, Illinois, who lit the tournament on fire after dinner, winning the two largest pots of the event to first take the chip lead, and then solidify it to bring 15,650,000 into Tuesday’s Day 4.
Michael Duek will go in with the second-most chips (9,405,000), while Tom Hu, who had the chip lead for much of the evening until he lost a huge pot to Dudani, comes in third with 7,330,000.
Tuesday’s final five will be playing for the $1,246,770 top prize and one of the most prestigious of World Series of Poker bracelets available.
Seat Assignments for the Final Day
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joachim Haraldstad | Norway | 3,580,000 | 30 |
| 2 | Sean Troha | United States | 5,045,000 | 42 |
| 3 | Tom Hu | United States | 7,330,000 | 61 |
| 4 | Shiva Dudani | United States | 15,650,000 | 130 |
| 5 | Michael Duek | Argentina | 9,405,000 | 78 |
Day 3 Recap
The day began with 39 contestants, but that field was quickly whittled down by the first break with nine players sent to the rail, and not long after that the field was down to the three-table redraw with Duek’s elimination of Tommi Lankinen that saw him move up the leaderboard early in the day.
The next round of eliminations that led up to the dinner break included several notables, including Brandon Adams (24th), Jeff Madsen (19th), and David Coleman (17th).
Post-Dinner Bustout Bonanza
The PokerNews reporting team was unsure of what the final 12 players had for dinner, but whatever they ate inspired them to come out blasting their stacks, with double-ups and eliminations in quick succession, leading to a final table within an hour.
As mentioned, Hu had built up a healthy chip lead until Dudani doubled through him, then eliminated Thair Kallabat in a pair of ten million chip pots to wrap up Day 3 play before midnight.
Final Table Results and Remaining Payouts
| Place | Winner | Country | Prize (in USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,246,770 | ||
| 2 | $770,556 | ||
| 3 | $548,015 | ||
| 4 | $395,465 | ||
| 5 | $289,630 | ||
| 6 | Thair Kallabat | United States | $215,326 |
| 7 | Nitesh Rawtani | United States | $162,542 |
| 8 | Toby Lewis | United Kingdom | $124,611 |
A Champion Will Be Crowned Tuesday
Play will resume Tuesday at 2 p.m. in the Bally’s Event Center with 11:09 remaining in Level 28 (blinds 60,000/ 120,000/ 120,000 big blind ante).
The final five will play down to a winner and the PokerNews live reporting team will be there for all the action as the largest PLO Championship event in the history of the World Series of Poker determines a champion.
Stay tuned for all the excitement from this and every event from the 53rd World Series of Poker from its new home at Bally’s and Paris Las Vegas.
, Kallabat stuck the rest of it in and was instantly called.
changed nothing, but one of those three remaining tens magically fell on the river with the 
to eliminate Kallabat and end the night with Dudani well in the chip lead as those final five players bag up for the night.
flop, then called a bet of 550,000 from Dudani.
turn as after Hu checked, Dudani bet the size of the pot (2,060,000). Hu then check-raised pot, covering Dudani's 4,725,000 total remaining. Dudani called and their monsters were revealed with Dudani at risk.
, sending the over 11 million chip pot to the new chip leader of the tournament.
flop on which Rawtani bet 250,000. Dudani then check-raised the pot to 1,300,000 and Rawtani mulled it over. He had some 980,000 behind his bet and eventually called all-in.
river as he made two pair.
turn was checked to Duek, he flicked forward a single T-25,000 chip, but it was ruled he must bet the minimum of 100,000. Troha called and Lewis chucked in his last couple of chips.
which was scooped up and deposited into the muck, sending him home in 8th place.
runout gave Hu the superior hand and Bettencourt was eliminated in 9th place for $97,044.
turn and 
turn and 
river runout kept Dudani in the lead and he dealt the final blow to Le with a full house. Le finished in 12th place for $61,760 and will have to wait until the next WSOP bracelet event to try and double his tally.