Tom Vogelsang Looking To Go Two for Two as 12 Return for Final Day of PLO Grand Slam Championship
Three days ago, Tom Vogelsang won his first-ever Diamond Poker Series even by shipping the €5,200 Opener of the PLO Grand Slam. Vogelsang invested a portion of his €234,200 victory by entering the series' flagship event, the €10,300 PLO Championship, and not without result. Vogelsang has made it to the final day of the event, sitting second in chips with only 11 of the 191 entries between him and his second title of the week.
Vogelsang's stack of 5,695,000 may be good for nearly 100 big blinds when play resumes at 2 p.m. local time at Arena Casino Tirana, it still dwarfs in comparison to chipleader Daniel Tordjman's 12,575,000, almost a third of the chips in play. The Frenchman usually plays low- to mid-stakes tournaments, with this being his first recorded cash in a five-figure buy-in. In fact, the €32,000 the players have locked up would be Tordjman's third-biggest recorded win. However, Tordjman fit right in with the high-stakes crushers, acquiring the massive lead with his aggressive playstyle.
PLO wizard Gergo Nagy comes back third in chips with 4,300,000, while Norwegian high roller Tom-Aksel Bedell is the last player with an above-average stack, starting Day 3 with 3,485,000. Andrew Ige will be looking to improve his ninth-place finish in the Opener as he returns with 2,815,000, while Lautaro Guerra is the only player from previous edition's final table to make it this far, bringing 1,650,000 to Day 3.
Start of Day 3 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daniel Tordjman | France | 12,575,000 | 210 |
| 2 | Tom Vogelsang | Netherlands | 5,695,000 | 95 |
| 3 | Gergo Nagy | Hungary | 4,300,000 | 72 |
| 4 | Tom-Aksel Bedell | Norway | 3,485,000 | 58 |
| 5 | Kasparas Klezys | Lithuania | 2,875,000 | 48 |
| 6 | Andrew Ige | United States | 2,815,000 | 47 |
| 7 | Leon Freiholz | Germany | 2,460,000 | 41 |
| 8 | Lautaro Guerra | Spain | 1,650,000 | 28 |
| 9 | Sofoklis Palekythritis | Cyprus | 1,255,000 | 21 |
| 10 | "Jay" | 755,000 | 13 | |
| 11 | Maksim Shuts | Belarus | 705,000 | 12 |
| 12 | Oleksii Kovalchuk | Ukraine | 645,000 | 11 |
The €10,300 Championship fell just short of reaching its guarantee, meaning the €1,880,000 prize pool contains a bit of overlay for the players. The eventual winner will profit the most of the added value, taking home an eye-watering €438,000, while the first elimination of the day will receive a consolation prize of €32,000. The first pay jump of the day will happen after one elimination and six-figure payouts are reserved for the top six finishers.
Remaining Payouts
| Place | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1 | €438,000 |
| 2 | €296,000 |
| 3 | €197,500 |
| 4 | €161,500 |
| 5 | €129,500 |
| 6 | €100,500 |
| 7 | €74,500 |
| 8 | €54,500 |
| 9 | €43,500 |
| 10-11 | €36,500 |
| 12 | €32,000 |
The PLO Grand Slam marquee tournament's third and final day will kick off at 2 p.m. local time. The blinds will be at 30,000/60,000 with a 60,000 big blind ante, and all levels will be 60 minutes long, with a break after every two levels.
A new Diamond Poker Series champion will be crowned today, so stay tuned as PokerNews will report all the four-card action straight from the tournament floor.