Event #90: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha (6-Handed)

After six hours of play of Day 3 at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, Event 90: $1,500 6-Handed Pot-Limit Omaha of the 2024 World Series of Poker (WSOP) has come to its conclusion as Joseph Sanders has emerged victorious after defeating Anatoliy Zlotnikov in a brief heads-up battle. Along with the first place prize of $269,530, Sanders takes home his first WSOP gold bracelet.

Sanders is a Henderson local who plays mostly cash, but likes to hop into the Pot-Limit Omaha tournaments whenever he can. His previous best tournament cash was in 2021 when he took fifth place in the PGT $10,000 PLO for $50,400 and then he had a similar score in the 2021 WSOP in the $25,000 PLO later that year.

"I was hopeful…" Sanders said when asked how he felt coming into Day 3 "…but ya know, I was trying to be realistic, every player was capable and good, but hey it worked out."

He then reminisced on when he doubled heads-up against Zlotnikov to take the lead.
"Oh man, that was huge, I mean he got lucky on the turn but yeah that one felt really good… Once that happened I felt like it was my tournament to lose."

Sanders said he plans on playing the larger buy-in version of this one, Event #97: $3,000 6-Handed Pot-Limit Omaha which starts on Monday, July 15.

"I doubt I'll run as pure as I did in this one but I gotta give it a try, ya know."

Speaking of running pure, Sanders did have to navigate a field of 1,306 players, including some of the best PLO players in the world over a course of three days, which is no easy task.

Event #90: $1,500 6-Handed Pot-Limit Omaha Final Table Results

Day 3 Action

Today saw six players return to action at noon but the action started off relatively slow as the players were still fairly deep-stacked, with Long Tran as the chip leader with 100 big blinds. The first elimination of the day was an hour and a half into play when short-stacked Dustin Nelson got it all in on the flop against Alfred Karlsson with just a pair of fives, but Karlsson rivered a superior pair of tens to send him out in sixth place.

After that, the action REALLY slowed down as the next elimination wasn't until Mike Leah dwindled down to around 13 big blinds when he got it all in preflop against Karlsson who held aces. The board ran out seven-high and Karlsson wound up making a wheel to send out Leah in fifth.

With Leah gone, the players seemed to get a lot more loose as the chips began to fly. The lead changed several times before they eventually accumulated in front of Zlotnikov, who at one point earlier in the day was down to 10 big blinds himself. He then went on a tear, first by eliminating Long Tran in fourth by hitting a full house, then quickly followed that up by sending out Karlsson in third with a rivered straight.

Zlotnikov then entered the heads-up battle against Sanders with over a 2:1 chip lead, but in one of the first few hands, Sanders scored a huge double when he rivered a full house after Zlotnikov had turned a straight. Sanders then took down another big pot after that when he check-raised the flop to force a fold from Zlotnikov in a big pot, putting him in a dominating chip position. It wasn't long before all of the chips were back into the middle once again, but this time it was Zlotnikov whose tournament life was on the line. They got it in on a flop of nine-nine-ten, and Zlotnikov held aces for top two pair, but Sanders held a nine for trips that held to send out Zlotnikov as the runner-up for $179,689. Sanders was then awarded the WSOP gold bracelet along with the grand prize of $269,530.

That's it for the coverage on this event but be sure to keep a tab open on PokerNews for all of the remaining coverage during the 2024 WSOP.

On the flop of    , all of the chips between Joseph Sanders and Anatoliy Zlotnikov got into the middle, with Sanders at risk.

Joseph Sanders:     
Anatoliy Zlotnikov:     

Sanders was in the lead with his aces, but Zlotnikov still had an open-ended straight draw. Sure enough, the   peeled on the turn to give him the nut straight as well as top set for Sanders. Miraculously, the   spiked on the river to give Sanders a full house to claim the pot for a huge double into the lead.

Joseph Sanders	18,000,000	8,250,000
Anatoliy Zlotnikov	14,000,000	-8,800,000

After Joseph Sanders limped from the button, Anatoliy Zlotnikov in the small blind raised to 1,125,000. Alfred Karlsson in the big blind then raised again to 3,675,000 and made Sanders fold. "Pot" Zlotnikov said and Karlsson called, finding himself at risk for 6,000,000.

Alfred Karlsson:      
Anatoliy Zlotnikov:     

Zlotnikov was in the lead with queens, and he hit two pair with the     flop.

"Spades" Karlsson asked. He was heard, as he found a flush draw with the   turn. But the   river didn't change anything and Karlsson was eliminated.

Anatoliy Zlotnikov	22,800,000	2,800,000
Joseph Sanders	9,750,000	750,000
Alfred Karlsson	0	-4,500,000

In the 846th episode of the PokerNews Podcast, Chad Holloway and Kyna England are joined at Level 9 Studio by PokerNews Pennsylvania Ambassador Keith Becker, who served as special co-host to talk about the latest happenings at the 2024 World Series of Poker (WSOP).

That included a controversial hand from Day 3 that some viewed as an angle and/or scummy, as well as the wild seven-bet bubble hand on Day 4. What two hands could inspire two big stacks to get 120 big blinds all in preflop on the money bubble? Find out here. The trio also take a look at the WSOP Main Event payouts and how they compare to past years, which former Main Event champs lasted the longest, and how both Mo Nuwwarah and Josh Reichard took pre-tournament misfortune and used it as motivation to make a deep run into Day 5.

Chad also shares why he was inspired to turn extra links from his WSOP gold bracelet into a pair of gold earrings, while Keith talks about his life in the Keystone State, which includes a successful Twitch stream. As a matter of fact, he even streamed from the recently completed Global Poker x PokerNews Cup, which crowned a pair of Freeroll Finale Champions.

Finally, hear about recent WSOP gold bracelet winners including Garth Yettick, Carsten Heidemann, Matthew Alsante, and Chance Kornuth, who took down Event #85: $1,000 Flip & Go for his fourth gold bracelet. Hear from Kornuth himself in our winner's interview. Oh, and don't forget your regular $25K Fantasy update.

Click here to listen to the new PN Podcast!

Joseph Sanders opened to 600,000 from under the gun, then called after Mike Leah on the button three-bet to 2,175,000.

On a flop of    , Sanders moved all-in for 2,200,000 and Leah called.

Joseph Sanders:      
Mike Leah:     

Sanders flopped two pair against Leah's aces, and he even hit a full house with the    runout to double up.

Joseph Sanders	9,000,000	3,750,000
Mike Leah	1,075,000	-5,325,000

Anatoliy Zlotnikov raised from the small blind and was called by Mike Leah in the big blind.

Zlotnikov continued for 475,000 on the    . But after some time, Leah decided to raise, pushing forward two piles of chips for a total of 2,000,000.

It didn't take long for Zlotnikov to fold.

Anatoliy Zlotnikov	6,600,000	-1,250,000
Mike Leah	6,400,000	1,300,000

Mike Leah under the gun and Anatoliy Zlotnikov in the big blind apparently checked the     flop, then Leah bet 400,000 on the   turn.

Zlotnikov, who checked, announced "pot" and raised to almost 2,000,000. Leah took his time and called.

On the   river, Zlotnikov moved all-in for 2,660,000. Leah went into the tank and folded. Immediately, Zlotnikov flipped over      and cheered with his rail.

Anatoliy Zlotnikov	7,000,000	-50,000
Mike Leah	4,400,000	-2,150,000