Allen Shen Wins PGT PLO Series Event #2 for $91,290

Allen Shen emerged victorius over a 179-entry field in PGT PLO Series Event #2: $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Bounty defeating Daniel Negreanu heads-up to claim $91,290 as well as 18 bounties worth $36,000. 

Shen, a PLO specialist fron Toronto, Canada, started playing poker while in college. The win marks his largest recorded live score according to Hendon Mob, with his second largest score coming in the PGT PLO Series Event #1 where he finished 13th for $20,000. 

"I started playing while I was in university," Shen said. "Just been playing no-limit, PLO, and then I found out about JNandez's PLO Mastermind, studied endlessly and now I'm playing PLO for a career." 

Shen streamrolled his way through Day 1 action picking up 16 of his 18 bounties during the first day of play. Among those he eliminated were John Riordan, Jisup Hwang, Dylan Weisman, Michael Noori, and Jeff Madsen, just to name a few. Other top bounty hunters from the event included John Riordan (9), Daniel Negreanu (8), Phil Galfond (7), Jisup Hwang (7), and Joseph Cheong (7). 

“It’s interesting because it makes it so much more important for the bounties and it doesn’t matter much once you get later in the tournament,” Shen said on the bounty format in Pot-Limit Omaha tournaments. “I really gambled it up in the first few levels, just taking negative chip EV spots. Hunting bounties.”

With that, he would finish Day 1 with the chip lead, over 4,000,000 chips ahead of Negreanu who finished the day second in chips. 

Shen would take a backseat to Negreanu on Day 2 though, as Negreanu drove the action for most of the day, eliminating three of the final six players. Ky Nguyen would be the only other player to pick up a bounty on Day 2 when he eliminated Nathan Zimnik early in the day. Nguyen and Zimnik each flopped a pair of sevens, but Nguyen picked up two pair on the river to send Zimnik home in 6th place. 

Nguyen was next to fall, dropping to Negreanu when Negreanu turned a straight against his set of kings. The money got in on the turn and Nguyen would head to the rail when the river was safe for Negreanu. Isaac Kempton made his exit in fourth place after a preflop confrontation left his jacks trailing Negreanu's queens. Negreanu's queens would hold and allow him to take another bounty. Joseph Cheong would head out in third place after he missed a huge draw against Negreanu, and that left Shen and Negreanu heads-up for the title. 

Negreanu started with the chip lead, but that would quickly swing in Shen's favor when he won the first few pots on heads-up play. They would exchange the lead back and forth until Shen took a monster lead by winning a massive all-in pot. In the hand, Negreanu flopped top and bottom pair, while Shen was holding aces. The turn left Negreanu drawing dead when an ace dropped, giving Shen an unbeatable set. Negreanu would double back, but his comeback wouldn't last long as Shen finished him off just a few hands later. 

In the final hand, Shen flopped two pair against Negreanu's aces. Negreanu turned a set, but the ace also gave Shen a straight and he would hold through the river to claim the final two bounties of the event and $91,290 first place prize. Negreanu would have to settle for a second-place finish worth $69,810 plus his eight bounties worth $16,000. 

"The PokerGO Studio is the best place I've ever played," Shen said after the event. "All the amenties and great service couldn't be any better. You can tell just by the turnout of the first event. I'll be back for sure." 

PGT PLO Series Event #2: $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Bounty FinalTable Results

To follow the entire PGT PLO series, stay tuned to the PGT.com live reporting section.

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