Omar Eljach, the winner of the 2022 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event, won his second bracelet in the second event of the this year’s Series at King’s Report in Rozvadov. Eljach outlasted 413 players (305 rebuys) in the €550 Pot Limit Omaha 8-Max that had a prize pool of €341,525, easily surpassing its €300,000 guarantee. He wins €65,900.
“I’m very happy to get my second [bracelet],” Eljach told a WSOP pool reporter. “I was actually more excited for the bracelet than the laddering of the money, which has not been the case before. It’s my favorite game.”
The 33 year-old Swede is not just whistling “Mama Mia” when he said “I definitely consider myself more of a PLO player.”
Eljach nearly won his first WSOP bracelet at the same casino in 2019 in the €2,200 PLO event, but stalled in second. The same thing happened in 2022 in the €5,000 PLO event only a week before he went on to win the €10,350 Main for a life-changing €1,318,000.
Also that summer, he took down a €1,650 PLO event at the European Poker Tour in Barcelona for €129,820 — his first EPT title and his largest cash up to then.
Eljach was able to use his deep knowledge of PLO and a big stack to bully the final table, maneuvering in a way that prevented players from being able to pick up any traction.
“I knew I could apply a lot of pressure because there were a lot of short stacks. The stacks that were half my size couldn’t really move as long as the short stacks were there. It was a good spot for me to be able to steamroll the table,” he said.
Eljach said he will be gunning for another bracelet during this year’s series, particularly in the remaining PLO events.
Roland still searching
Two of the players who fell victim to Eljach’s strategy late in the tourney, Diana Volcovschi and Roland Israelashvili, were both going for their first WSOP bracelet.
Israelashvili might be the best tournament player in the world without a WSOP bracelet. With 10 WSOP Circuit rings, the goose egg next to his bracelet count is befuddling and stands out like a an ugly baby, especially knowing that he has cashed 459 times in WSOP events since 2005.
Runner-up Volcovschi is still searching for her first piece of WSOP hardware. She came as close as possible once before in a €1,100 turbo event in 2019, but lost heads-up to Milad Oghabian Langar. The young poker pro from Portugal is still looking for her first six-figure cash.
The €40,700 for coming in second this week is her largest cash to date.
The 2023 WSOP Europe continues through Nov. 13, with the first flights of the €10,350 Main Event beginning Nov. 10.
| Place | Winner | Country | Payout |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Omar Eljach | Sweden | €65,900 |
| 2 | Diana Volcovschi | Portugal | €40,700 |
| 3 | Roland Israelashvili | United States | €29,100 |
| 4 | Michael Rodrigues | Portugal | €21,000 |
| 5 | Ihar Pliashko | Belarus | €15,500 |
| 6 | Martino Cito | Italy | €11,500 |
| 7 | Patrik Jaros | Czechia | €8,700 |
| 8 | Anson Tsang | Hong Kong | €6,700 |
