Andrew Donabedian Wins PLO Deepstack Event, Gets 1st WSOP Bracelet

Las Vegas poker pro Andrew Donabedian took down the first ever $600 Pot-Limit Omaha Deepstack at the 2019 World Series of Poker (WSOP).

Donabedian topped a huge field of 2,577 entries to claim his first WSOP bracelet and the top prize of $205,605.

The PLO event took an extra day to finish due to the increased starting stack and massive field size.

The final 12 players returned to the Rio to compete for the lion’s share of the $1,352,925 total prize pool.

Final Action

The final day began with 12 players battling it out for the top prize, but early in the day, three of them lost their chance to make the final table. Cheli Lin, Eric Sain and Michael Bartov busted in 12^th, 11^th and 10^th place respectively, each receiving $13,212 in prize money. The next to exit was Alexander Condon in ninth place for $16,971, leaving a final table with eight players remaining.

After a little over two levels into the final table, Florian Fuchs hit the rail in eighth place, pocketing $22,006. Fuchs entered the final table second in chips but things didn’t work out in the end. WSOP bracelet winner Tom Franklin was consequently eliminated in seventh place ($28,803) with Alexandru Ivan finishing sixth ($38,051) and Mihai Niste fifth ($50,732). Corey Wright, who entered the final day as the chip leader, was eventually busted in fourth place for $68,258.

With three players remaining, Todd Dreyer missed the chance to eliminate both Donabedian and Robert Valden in one hand. Two hands later, Valden’s bracelet dream was crushed and he had to settle for third spot ($92,672).

Valden’s elimination left Donabedian and Dreyer in heads-up play. Within a couple of minutes, Dreyer saw his stack dropping. The curtain finally fell down on him when his 9s8s5h4h failed to stand against Donabedian’s KhQdJh9d, with the turn and river being 10c8c. Dreyer won $126,948 for his runner-up victory.

Thrilled With First WSOP Bracelet

In a post-win interview, Donabedian revealed he has been playing a lot of circuits and even had a handful of final table appearances, but never managed to capture gold. The California native said he was thrilled at winning his first WSOP gold bracelet and amazed that he won a bracelet before scoring a ring.

Donabedian’s latest win represents his best career score, with his live tournament earnings now sitting at $330,422. In April 2019, he finished fourth in a similar PLO event at the WSOP Circuit in Cherokee for $11,204.