Stephen Chidwick Wins His Second WSOP Bracelet in $50,000 PLO Championship
Five years ago, Stephen Chidwick captured his maiden WSOP bracelet in the 2019 $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller. Today, he adorned his wrist with his second piece of gold after claiming victory in Event #8: $50,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship at the 2024 World Series of Poker Paradise.
The star-studded field attracted 122 entries, with only seven players returning on Day 3 at Atlantis Paradise Island Bahamas to battle it out for the $1,357,080 up top. Chidwick entered the final table in sixth with just 12 big blinds, but was able to claw his way to the top and close it out, defeating Yang Wang to earn the lion's share of the $6,100,000 prize pool.
$50,000 PLO Championship Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stephen Chidwick | United Kingdom | $1,357,080 |
| 2 | Yang Wang | China | $1,006,680 |
| 3 | Ben Tollerene | United States | $746,790 |
| 4 | Nick Schulman | United States | $553,990 |
| 5 | Dylan Weisman | United States | $410,970 |
| 6 | Benny Glaser | United Kingdom | $304,870 |
| 7 | Pascal Lefrancois | Canada | $226,160 |
Winner's Reaction
PokerNews caught up with Chidwick after the win to ask him how he was feeling and what the second bracelet meant to him. "Winning anytime it feels great. Bracelets are something that used to be a huge goal of mine in the earlier part of my career. As time has gone on, my focus has kind of shifted a bit more to some other tours and some of the higher stakes tournaments."
He continued by saying "I stopped playing as many tournaments over the summer, I used to play like every single one. It feels nice only playing the high buy-ins now to still snag one."
When asked about what he attributes his success in the four-card variant to, Chidwick explained "If I have some skills in PLO tournaments, it's probably mostly applying my tournament knowledge across to PLO since the majority of the very strongest PLO players are primary cash players so there aren't a whole lot of tournaments. Having an okay foundation in the theory of PLO, and then very strong tournament fundamentals, hopefully I'm able to combine those two."
Final Table Action
Chidwick began his ascent atop the counts as the first player to double up on Day 3, courtesy of Dylan Weisman, when he got it all in preflop with ace-king-jack-ten double-suited and ended up hitting a flush.
Despite Chidwick's hot start, all eyes were on Ben Tollerene, who entered the final table with a commanding chip lead in search of his first WSOP bracelet. He went on to pull away from the pack even further by eliminating Pascal Lefrancois and leaving Benny Glaser with just 5,000 in chips, exiting shortly after in sixth place.
From there, Chidwick doubled up through the chip leader and moved to third in chips out of the five players remaining, with Tollerene still out in front.
Tollerene's lead would not last forever, as Wang turned up the heat and won two sizeable pots to take from Chidwick and Tollerene. Tollerene then continued to slide, doubling up Chidwick once again.
Next to hit the rail was Dylan Weisman in fifth, as Chidwick continued his climb up the ranks. Not long after, Chidwick went on to find his next victim in Nick Schulman when his pocket kings were cracked.
Three-handed action didn't last long, as Tollerene was the shortest of the trio and fell to Yang. It was Tollerene's second podium finish of the series, but his dream of winning a piece of WSOP hardware remains on hold for the time being.
Heads-Up Play
Wang began heads-up play with over a two-to-one chip lead but his advantage didn't mean smooth sailing, as Chidwick immediately found a double up.
Chidwick and Wang then went on to exchange jabs, having played several small pots back-and-forth with the two of them sitting virtually even in chips. Wang briefly retook the lead but it didn't last long, as Chidwick made a big hero call on the river to earn a four-to-one chip advantage.
Chidwick would then go on to extend his lead and whittle Wang down in an attempt to close out the match. However, Wang proved that he wasn't going out without a fight as he rivered a flush to double and won another all in shortly after to begin to close the gap.
In an attempt to find a third double up and even out the match once again, Wang got it all in against Chidwick's aces to end his run in second place.
That wraps up coverage of the $50,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship here at the 2024 WSOP Paradise. Be sure to follow PokerNews throughout the remainder of the series as action continues, including the $25,000 WSOP Super Main Event which is underway.