Pavel Plesuv Continues Hot Year with WPT Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open Win
The $3,500 buy-in World Poker Tour Seminole Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open (RRPO) saw 898 entrants pack the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood, but after five days of play it was 30-year-old Pavel Plesuv, who was born in Moldova but now resides in the Czech Republic, who walked away the victor for $504,820.
It was redemption for Plesuv, who in Season XIV finished runner-up in the WPT Prague for $130,524.
“It feels pretty awesome,” Plesuv told WPT officials after the win. “It feels really awesome because I was heads-up three years ago at the WPT in Prague with a big lead and I lost it heads-up. So, I’m pretty excited to come back and win.”
“It feels really awesome because I was heads-up three years ago at the WPT in Prague with a big lead and I lost it heads-up."
The win brought Plesuv’s lifetime earnings up to more than $4 million, which puts him first on Moldova’s all-time money list. Of that, nearly $2.6 million has come in 2018 with his biggest score being $924,841 for finishing runner-up to Viktor Blom in February’s partypoker MILLIONS Germany. He also won $640,062 this summer when he bested a 1,096-entry field to win the MSPT Venetian $3,500 Event, which made him the tour’s all-time money leader.
“This is the best year so far,” Plesuv said. “It started with a win in February and I’m finishing the year with a win here, and maybe I’ll win something in December. We’ll see, but this is awesome. I’ve been running pretty good.”
2018 WPT Seminole Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open Final Table Results
| Position | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pavel Plesuv | Moldova | $504,820 |
| 2 | Jim Gilbert | USA | $326,565 |
| 3 | Jeremy Joseph | USA | $240,945 |
| 4 | Marius Gierse | Germany | $179,710 |
| 5 | Chris Kennedy | USA | $135,505 |
| 6 | Ravi Raghavan | USA | $103,310 |
Others to cash the RRPO Main Event were Alan Schein (10th - $48,985), Phil Hui (17th - $21,305), Lexy Gavin (21st - $17,830), Joe McKeehen (37th - $12,955), Aaron Massey (45th - $11,250) and David Peters (51st - $9,895), who made headlines after winning the same side event two years in a row.
Ravi Raghavan Falls Short of WPT Title No. 2
One of the big stories heading into the final table was Ravi Ragahavan’s pursuit of a second WPT title. Unfortunately for him, his quest lasted just two hands. That is when he three-bet jammed from the small blind holding ace-jack only to run it smack dab into the ace-king of Marius Gierse in the big. The board ran out a lowly eight high and Raghavan took his leave in sixth place for $103,310.
On Hand #15, Chris Kennedy flopped top pair of nines and got it in against Plesuv, who had an overpair of kings. Kennedy failed to improve and hit the rail in fifth place for $135,505. He was followed out the door by Gierse, who fell on Hand #41 when he lost a race holding ace-queen suited against Plesuv’s pocket nines. Gierse won $179,710 for his fourth-place finish.
Heads-Up Play
After Jeremy Joseph exited in third place – the result of missing straight and flush draws against Plesuv’s kings – heads-up play began with Plesuv holding a near 6:1 chip lead over Jim Gilbert. Still, it’d take 69 hands before things came to a head.
In the final hand of the tournament, which took place in Level 34 (150,000/300,000/300,000), Gilbert got his stack of 9 million all in holding pocket nines and was flipping against Plesuv’s ace-jack. An ace on the flop spelled doom for Gilbert and he earned $326,565 for his runner-up finish.
The WPT continues Dec. 11 with th WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.
Images courtesy of the WPT.
