There were 361 players in the $10,000 Championship PLO event. Lamb was the chip leader the entire third and fourth day and always seemed in control of the table.
When heads-up play began, Lamb had a 3-to-2 chip lead over Sami "LarsLuzak" Kelopuro, and quickly increased it to a 2-to-1 chip lead before Kelopuro brought things closer to even.
In the final hand, the two saw a flop of A♠ 9♥ 3♦. Lamb checked, Kelopuro bet, and Lamb called.
The turn card was the Q♠, and that's when the action happened.
Lamb checked, Kelopuro bet big, and Lamb raised the size of the pot. Kelopuro paused briefly before moving all in, and Lamb quickly called.
Ben Lamb: 6♠ 5♥ 4♠ 2♦
Sami Kelopuro: A♣ K♦ Q♣ 7♦
Kelopuro had top two pair with aces and queens, while Lamb had a big straight draw and a spade flush draw.
Lamb needed to catch a five, a four, a deuce, or any spade to win the bracelet. Any other card and Kelopuro would double up to a large chip lead.
The river card was the 5♦.
Lamb completed his five-high straight and his friends on the rail mobbed him in celebration. Kelopuro could only stand at the table and think about what might have been.
“I mean, truthfully, I kind of played the same game for most of the time,” Lamb said in regards to whether or not he changed things up the second time around. ”When I got heads-up against Sam [Stein], the last hand I really wasn’t happy with my play. I wanted to make sure I made no mistakes heads-up [this time]. I really feel like I played well. I did get lucky I guess, but I got a little unlucky that he had the hand he had to call. I played as best I could, and focused as hard as I could.”
Final table results:
1st: Ben Lamb - $814,436
2nd: Sami Kelopuro - $503,173
3rd: John Shipley - $369,575
4th: Christopher King - $273,575
5th: Dario Alioto - $204,113
6th: John Kabbaj - $153,517
7th: Cory Wood - $116,359
8th: Josh Tieman - $88,873
9th: Hans Winzeler - $68,410
