Marc Geissel Wins Event #15: $1,200 5-Card PLO High Championship! ($25,806)
Marc Geissel emerged victorious after besting nine other players on Day 2 of Event #15: $1,200 5-Card PLO High Championship, which included overcoming an over 8-1 chip deficit heads-up against Taylor Lipson. Geissel took home his first Potomac Winter Poker Open trophy in addition to the $25,806 first-place prize.
Geissel, a part-time poker pro who comes from New Jersey, said that the tournament was his first-ever live PLO tournament, which made winning it outright all the sweeter.
"[Winning the event] means a lot," Geissel said. "I've been very confident about the way I've been playing lately."
Geissel's wife showed up part of the way into the tournament, which Geissel said was his "lucky charm" en route to his victory.
Event #15: $1,200 5-Card PLO High Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marc Geissel | United States | $25,806 |
| 2 | Taylor Lipson | United States | $15,393 |
| 3 | Shouyi Herrera | United States | $10,626 |
| 4 | Matt Mullins | United States | $6,831 |
| 5 | Rick Aasen | United States | $5,313 |
| 6 | Anthony Luong | United States | $4,554 |
| 7 | Chao Huang | United States | $3,795 |
| 8 | Nicholas Bond | United States | $3,036 |
Day 2 began almost immediately on the money bubble after An Huang was eliminated on the first hand of play.
The next shortest stack belonged to S.J., who managed to double up after getting very short several times — leading to a relatively long bubble. He would eventually fall to Lipson after getting all-in preflop and losing to Lipson's set of fours.
The final table of eight was led by Lipson, who continued to build to his stack after a quick exit in eighth by Nicholas Bond. Lipson claimed a double knockout to eliminate Chao Huang and Anthony Luong, which netted him nearly half the chips in play.
Rick Aasen and Matt Mullins were unable to gain any momentum with their short stacks and were eliminated soon after.
Marshall Roof, who was looking to improve upon his second-place finish in Event #1: $400 Mystery Bounty, managed to double up through Geissel three-handed but lost the majority of his chips after running into Lipson's straight before busting to Geissel.
Geissel began heads-up play against Lipson at a nearly 4-1 chip deficit and it looked like it would be a quick victory for Lipson, who managed to whittle Geissel down to just 300,000 against the 2.6 million of Lipson in short order. But fortunes quickly turned as Geissel managed to double up through Lipson on multiple occasions. Suddenly, all within one level, Geissel assumed the chip lead and dealt the final blow to Lipson after getting Lipson all-in preflop and turning a set of eights (which became a full house) for the win.
That concludes PokerNews' coverage here at the 2023 Potomac Winter Poker Open. Congratulations to all the winners and be sure to check out our coverage of other events, which can be found at the PokerNews live-reporting hub.