Sam Soverel has stretched his own PokerGO Tour (PGT) record to 16 titles after winning the opening event of the PGT PLO Series, a $5,000 buy-in pot-limit Omaha tournament staged at the PokerGO Studio inside ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.
The event attracted 91 entries, generating a $455,000 prize pool. Soverel took home the top prize of $122,850, according to Card Player, extending his lead atop the tour’s all-time title list to three wins clear of second-placed Alex Foxen.
The victory pushes Soverel’s career tournament earnings beyond $33.5 million. The four-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner sits 36th on poker’s all-time money list and is one of only 44 players to have surpassed $30 million in recorded live cashes, per Card Player’s figures.
Soverel also picked up 184 PGT points and 432 Card Player Player of the Year points for the win, moving him into the top 20 of the PGT points race and into the top 200 of the POY standings, which is presented by CoinPoker.
The tournament played down to a champion in a single day, with the top 13 finishers making the money. John Riordan, the 2025 Super High Roller Bowl PLO champion, was eliminated on the bubble, while notable names including seven-time bracelet winner Josh Arieh, Mike Zulker and Triton Jeju II champion Joao Simao all fell short of the final table.
At the unofficial final table, three-time bracelet winner Michael Wang and high-stakes regular Sean Winter departed in seventh and sixth respectively, with Soverel accounting for both eliminations to strengthen his position. John Dapkus then dispatched Ariel Mantel and James Chen before himself being eliminated by Soverel, who carried a stack of 6,125,000 into heads-up play against Jonas Kronwitter.
The decisive hand saw the two players get their chips in on a flop of ten of hearts, seven of hearts and three of clubs. Kronwitter held ace-eight of hearts with six and three of clubs, giving him a pair with both flush and straight draws, while Soverel showed pocket aces with a five and two of clubs. A five of spades turn and seven of clubs river secured the pot for Soverel’s aces, ending the tournament. Kronwitter, an Austrian player with nearly $3.9 million in lifetime tournament cashes, collected $79,625 for second place. The PGT PLO Series continues at ARIA through to 3 October.
