Soverel Wins PGT PLO Series Opener,

The PGT PLO Series opened at the ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas with a $5,300 buy-in pot-limit Omaha event, and Sam Soverel walked away with the trophy. The win paid $122,850 and marked his 16th career PokerGO Tour title, extending a record he already holds.

A Field of 91 Builds a $455,000 Prize Pool

The opening event of the four-card festival drew 91 entries, generating a prize pool of $455,000. The top 13 finishers were paid.

Soverel registered shortly before late registration closed and quickly moved toward the top of the counts. He reached the seven-handed final table as the chip leader, holding roughly a third of all chips in play — a commanding position that shaped the rest of the tournament.

Final Table Dominance

Soverel wasted little time converting his stack advantage into eliminations. He knocked out Michael Wang in seventh place and Sean Winter in sixth, building a lead that carried him into heads-up play against Jonas Kronwitter of Austria.

The Decisive Hand

In the final hand, the board read T♥ 7♥ 3♣ after the flop. Kronwitter moved all-in holding A♥ 8♥ 6♣ 3♥, a hand with a flush draw and pair potential. Soverel called with A♣ A♦ 5♦ 2♣, holding an overpair. The turn brought the 5♠ and the river the 7♣, neither of which improved Kronwitter's holding, and Soverel secured the title.

It was Soverel's third PGT title of the calendar year.

Results: Event #1, $5,300 Pot-Limit Omaha

• 1. Sam Soverel (USA) — $122,850
• 2. Jonas Kronwitter (Austria) — $79,625
• 3. John Dapkus (USA) — $56,875
• 4. James Chen (USA) — $40,950
• 5. Ariel Mantel (Argentina) — $31,850
• 6. Sean Winter (USA) — $22,750
• 7. Michael Wang (USA) — $18,200
• 8. Joao Simao (Brazil) — $18,200
• 9. Youness Barakat (Italy) — $13,650
• 10. Mike Zulker (USA) — $13,650
• 11. Kamel Mokhammad (Ukraine) — $13,650
• 12. Josh Arieh (USA) — $11,375
• 13. Brevin Andreadis (USA) — $11,375

What the Win Means for the PGT Race

The victory pushed Soverel's PokerGO Tour record to 16 wins. Alex Foxen sits second on that list, three titles behind. The triumph also moved Soverel's live tournament career earnings past $33 million, a figure tracked by The Hendon Mob.

The PGT PLO Series is a festival built around pot-limit Omaha, the four-card variant that has grown steadily in tournament popularity. PLO events typically produce larger pots and more multi-way all-ins than no-limit hold'em, which rewards players who can read equity closely in complex spots. Soverel's run in the opener — arriving late, accumulating chips, and closing out the final table — is a typical example of how a deep stack can be leveraged once the field narrows.

With the series underway, attention turns to the remaining events on the schedule and whether Soverel can add to his tour-leading total.