$ 10k PLO World Championship

1. Matt Graham, USA, $ 679,402
2. Vitaly Lunkin, Russia, $ 419,832
3. Van Marcus, Australia, $ 278,409
4. Robin Keston, UK, $ 196,993
5. Ferit Gabriellson, Sweden, $ 148,438
6. Stefan Mattsson, Sweden, $ 118,462
7. Josh Arieh, USA, $ 99,855
8. Richard Austin, USA, $ 88,680
9. Barry Greenstein, USA, $ 82,746

UltimateBet pro player Matt Graham came through a thrilling final table to win the PLO World Championship, one of the WSOP’s most anticipated events. It’s Graham’s second bracelet after he defeated Jean-Robert Bellande heads up in the $ 1,500 No Limit Hold’em Shootout event just last year.

The biggest name on the final table was cash game pro Barry Greenstein who attracted a large crowd to watch the event play out. Unfortunately for the ‘Bear’ though he was on the wrong end of a bad beat early on against Vitaly Lunkin that sent him to the rail in 9th.

That hand gave Lunkin the chip lead that he managed to retain going into heads up with Graham. Lunkin won the huge $ 40,000 No Limit Hold’em event that kicked off this year’s WSOP and a second bracelet here would have truly announced his presence on the world stage while putting him in pole position for the WSOP Player of the Year title also.

It looked very likely as Lunkin held a huge 9:1 chip advantage over Graham when the two sat down to battle for the bracelet. After a massive heater however the chips were evened out and all the momentum was with Matt Graham. A big collision on the final hand, with Graham’s set of tens managing to hold up versus Lunkin’s flush draw saw him snatch a second bracelet from the Russian’s grasp.

The UK also had a good showing in this event with PLO cash specialist Robin Keston finishing fourth for $ 196,993. Keston also made the final table of the WSOPE main event in 2008 and is a top British player that has remained under the radar so far in his career.