Daniel Geeng Wins PLO Series II Event #9 for $487,500

Daniel Geeng came into Day 2 of the PGT PLO Series II's Event #9: $25,200 PLO Championship needing a second-place finish or better to capture the overall PGT PLO Series II Player of the Series title. After reaching the final table, Geeng put on a clinic to grab the trophy, the $487,500 first-place prize, and the added $25,000 championship bonus for topping the series leaderboard. It truly was a breakout series for Geeng. 

Geeng started the day with 4,415,000 in chips, which was good for the chip lead and almost 30% of the chips in play. He stayed steady for much of the early part of the day as he watched Adam Hendrix (10th - $56,250), Michael Duek (9th - $75,000), and Alex Livingston (8th - $75,000) all hit the rail before the remaining seven players converged at the final table. 

Geeng and fellow chip leader Harsheel Kothari started the final table with nearly 60% of the chips in play combined, and Kothari quickly added to that when he eliminated John Riordan in seventh place for $93,750 minutes after the stream of the final table began. 

Action would continue to come fast and furious to start the final table, as Eelis Parssinen scored a double through Mark Berente, leaving Berente with less than a big blind. Berente would fall not long after in sixth place for $112,500 when he busted to Benjamin Juhasz's pocket aces. 

Juhasz's tournament would be over one hand later when he busted in fifth place for $150,000. Juhasz's straight draw could not run down Geeng's flopped set of kings. Juhasz's fifth-place finish did allow him to overtake Joao Simao atop the series leaderboard, but he needed help from the rest of the field to stay there.

Help briefly materialized when Parssinen fell in fourth place for $187,500. Parssinen's flopped pair and the nut flush draw fell to Geeng's turned two pair. While the elimination kept Juhasz in the pole position for the series leaderboard title, it also gave Geeng nearly 70% of the chips in play as three-handed play began.

Geeng's chip stack quickly ballooned to over 80% of the chips in play when he crossed the 12,000,000 mark, but Veselin Karakitukov and Kothari would promptly swing the momentum.  Karakitukov and Kothari would put dents into Geeng's stack, but the most significant blow would come against one another. With both players hovering around 1,800,000, all the money would get in on the turn. Harsheel held two pair against the turned straight of Karakitukov. Kothari failed to find a jack on the river for a full house and was left with just under four big blinds. 

Kothari would not go quietly, though. Moments later, he found a full house on the river to crack Karakitukov's turned nut flush to double back to 1,000,000 in chips. Kothari's run would finally end in brutal fashion when his flopped top set of queens was out-turned by Karakitukov's set of kings to send him out the door in third place for $243,750. 

Heads-up play lasted three hands. Both players flopped sets on a king-high board, but it was Geeng holding pocket kings over Karakitukov's set of deuces. All the money would get in on the turn, and when Karakitukov missed his flush and straight draws, he was out the door in second place for $337,500, leaving Geeng to celebrate the win. 

PGT PLO Series II Event #9 Results

How Geeng Took Home Player of the Series

Event #6: $10,100 PLO Dealer's Choice winner Joao Simao put himself in a prime position to capture the PGT PLO Series II Player of the Series with five cashes for 341 points, but after Simao failed to find a cash in Event #9, the door was left open. 

Jim Collopy had the best shot to overtake Simao, but he could only muster up an 11th-place finish in Event #9 and that wasn't enough. Event #4 winner Adam Hendrix had the next shot to overtake the Brazilian, but he too would come up short. 

Event #7 winner Benjamin Juhasz would finally be the first to vault in front of Simao on the leaderboard with his fifth-place finish in Event #9, and after Event #2 winner Eelis Parssinen fell in fourth place, the Hungarian had only one more obstacle in his way. 

Daniel Geeng sat with 188 points thanks to cashes in Event #2, Event #3, and Event #4, and he needed a second-place finish or better to knock off Juhsaz and capture the added prize money. Geeng would accomplish just that by winning Event #9 and finishing atop the leaderboard with 481 points. 

PGT PLO Series II Leaderboard Top 10

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