Joni Jouhkimainen Leads the Final Seven in PGT PLO Series Event #5: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha

The PGT PLO Series continued with Event #5: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha and players flocked to the felt for the four-card festivities at the PokerGO Studio at ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, NV.

Finland's Joni Jouhkimainen (3,665,000) holds the overnight chip lead and will be looking to finish the job on Day 2, while Zhen Cai (3,315,000) isn't far behind. Josh Arieh (2,585,000) finds himself at his second final table in three days and will be looking to best his sixth-place finish in Event #3.

Cliff Josephy (1,780,000), Bogdan Capitan (1,270,000), Lautaro Guerra Cabrerizo (695,000), and Jesse Chinni (690,000) round out the players returning for the final day in pursuit of the trophy and $235,200 first-place prize.

The 112-entrant field created a total prize pool of $1,120,000 which paid out the top 16 places. Players reached the money in Level 13 when Sean Winter was eliminated in 18th place and then Joshua Ladines was eliminated in 17th place on the money bubble. Ladines ran his kings into aces and failed to improve.

Jim Collopy (16th - $22,400), Michael Duek (15th - $22,400), and Tyler Brown (14th - $22,400) all exited shortly after the bubble burst. Event #3 winner Nacho Barbero (13th - $22,400) was the next casualty, before Stephanie Chung (12th - $22,400), Jordan Spurlin (11th - $33,600), and Eelis Parssinen (10th - $33,600) all fell as well.

Brazil's Francisco Baruffi Neto (9th - $44,800) was the player who eliminated Parssinen but his new chips quickly found a new home. He got them in on a flop against Zhen Cai and jumped ahead on the turn with a flush, but the river improved Cai to a boat and sent Neto to the rail.

John Riordan (8th - $44,800) nursed his short stack near the end and found a double, but he wasn't able to secure another double against Josh Arieh after the turn left him drawing only to a straight flush which didn't come in. The seven remaining players converged on the final table and played out the rest of Level 17 before they bagged and tagged for the night.

The final seven players return at 12 p.m. PT tomorrow where they will play down to a winner. Currently, players are guaranteed at least $56,000, but all are eyeing the first-place prize of $235,200 and the 235 PGT points which will be used to determine the PGT PLO Series champion who will receive the PGT Trophy and a $25,000 championship bonus. PGT points will also be used for the year-long leaderboard which will qualify players for the end-of-year PGT Championship $1,000,000 freeroll. 

PGT PLO Series Event #5: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Final Table

When play resumes, the button will be on Joni Jouhkimainen. There is 40:00 remaining in Level 18 with 40,000/80,000 blinds and an 80,000 big blind ante.

Play will resume at 12 p.m. PT on Thursday, March 16 in the PokerGO Studio where players will play down to a winner. The PGT Live Reporting Team will provide exclusive live updates throughout the event until a winner is crowned.

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