Event #66: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship

Championship final days at the 2024 World Series of Poker have been dominated by the game's biggest stars, but in a seldom-seen twist this summer, the five players who returned for today's $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship finale had never tasted success on poker's grandest stage.

Giants like Stephen Chidwick, John Hennigan, and Michael Mizrachi were just some of the huge names who made way for a new crop of talent to take centre stage under the bright lights of the Horseshoe Events Centre, all vying for their own crowning moment.

After the final hand was dealt, it was Elie Nakache who seized the opportunity and etched his name in poker's history books. Nakache defeated Joshua Adkins in heads-up to stand tall over the record-setting field of 811 entries. His prize was his maiden WSOP bracelet, along with the $1,320,945 set aside for the winner. Adkins, who had never cashed in a WSOP event before, banked $880,621 for his runner-up performance.

Jonathan Bowers rounded out the podium finishes, while Manh Nguyen and Oshri Lahmani bowed out in fourth and fifth, laying the path for Nakache's victory.

$10K PLO Championship Final Table Results

Nakache's Love Affair with PLO

Nakache's poker story began with grinding Spin-and-Go's before Pot-Limit Omaha became his favorite game to play.

"I'm a spin player, but during the last two years, I fell in love with PLO." gushed Nakache. "I like to play a lot of hands, and tournaments are perfect for that. I had the feeling that I could do something in this tournament. And it was amazing. I'm very lucky, and I won a bracelet."

The switcheroo has now proved to be the correct decision as it resulted in a seven-figure windfall, taking his previous $281,249 in live tournament earnings to new lofty heights.

Nakache produced a stunning heads-up display, railroading Adkins as the duo fought in a one-sided battle.

"The key is just a lot of aggression, and that's how I play heads up." said Nakache. "You can't just wait for a hand. I had good hands as well. And in the last hand, he had enough of it, he called…and that's it."

"I think he had the image of me that I wasn't an aggressive player. I think that was useful. But in heads-up, it's not the same. We have to play. So I played, and it worked."

"The path was more exciting than the result, but a few minutes after I won, it was a very good feeling."

Nakache's Route to PLO Supremacy

The quintet of four-card aficionados had each secured $315,098 from the $7,542,300 prize pool before a single chip was exchanged, marking their biggest cash to date—except for Adkins, who previously notched a $331,480 payout on the World Poker Tour in 2019.

The stakes had never been higher for the final five, and it was Bowers who thrived under the pressure when the cards went in the air. The Brit doubled through Adkins before collecting Lahmani's short stack, reducing the field to four. Adkins' once insurmountable lead was now in Bowers' sights, but Adkins regained momentum, widening the gap after eliminating Nguyen in fourth place. While Nguyen missed out on the winner's spoils, his $436,751 payday saw him cross the $1 million mark in live earnings, a milestone achievement for any poker player.

Nakache bided his time in the early stages, choosing his spots wisely as he climbed the counts, while Bowers tumbled down to become the short stack. "Johnny English" — as his supporters fondly called him, was worn down by Adkins — who then delivered the final blow to Bowers, setting up a heads-up showdown with Nakache.

Adkins held a 3:1 advantage over his opponent, but the script flipped dramatically as Nakache came alive. The Frenchman wasted no time in seizing control, steadily pulling away from Adkins, whose chip lead at the start of Day 4 now seemed a distant memory.

Nakache withstood Adkins' aggression in key three-bet pots during heads-up that turned the tides in his favor, and then sealed the triumph. Nakache flopped a six-high straight and was paid off by Adkins' aces to become France's 36th bracelet winner.

This concludes PokerNews' coverage of the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship, but be sure to explore our live update hub to keep up with all the action from the 2024 WSOP.

Joshua Adkins raised to 900,000 on the button holding      and Elie Nakache called with      from the big blind.

The flop fell    . Nakache checked, and Adkins fired out a bet of 1,050,000. Nakache check-raised to 3,500,000, and Adkins instantly folded.

Elie Nakache	31,525,000	1,950,000
Joshua Adkins	17,075,000	-1,950,000

Earlier this year on an ordinary Monday afternoon, a bespectacled man walked into the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop on Las Vegas Blvd. Tucked under his arm was an uninteresting box that only he knew contained something rather interesting – a pair of gold watches dating back more than 40 years.

These were not your run-of-the-mill wristwear, but rather evidence of a unique and often overlooked time of poker history, a year when the World Series of Poker (WSOP) gold bracelet, now the game's highest accolade, was replaced in favor of watches.

The man holding the box was David Sklansky, who in 1978 forever changed poker by advocating a mathematical approach to the game in his groundbreaking book The Theory of Poker. Nicknamed "The Mathematician," he proved his prowess just four years later when he won two WSOP tournaments in five days.

First, he won the 1982 WSOP Event #7: $800 Mixed Doubles Limit Seven Card Stud, a tournament that paired one man with one woman, alongside Dani Kelly, and followed that up by taking down Event #12: $1,000 Limit 5-Card Draw High. A year later, the Binions reverted back to the beloved bracelets players know today, and Sklansky captured his third piece of WSOP hardware by winning Event #11: $1,000 Limit Omaha.

It was a remarkable accomplishment, and for more than four decades he's kept safe the evidence of his victories, both of which still worked. So, why was Sklansky carrying his 1982 WSOP gold watches, two of only 15 ever awarded, into a pawn shop? Well, he was looking to sell them of course, but not to just any of the dozens of pawn shops spread across Las Vegas. Oh no, he was walking into arguably the most famous pawn shop in the world, the home to the wildly popular television show Pawn Stars, and he was there to do it with cameras rolling.

Read all about the 1982 WSOP watches here in our feature article!

Joshua Adkins called from the button with     . Elie Nakache raised to 750,000 from the big blind holding     , and Adkins called.

The     flop saw Nakache bet 600,000 and Adkins call.

The turn came the  . After Adkins checked, Nakache bet 2,950,000 and after some tanking, Adkins threw his cards into the muck.

Elie Nakache	29,425,000	1,350,000
Joshua Adkins	19,175,000	-1,350,000

Joshua Adkins limped from the button with     , and Elie Nakache checked out of the big blind with    .

Nakache check-called a bet of 250,000 on the     flop.

The   on the turn got checked through for the   to come on the river. Nakache bet 400,000 and Adkins swiftly folded.

Elie Nakache	28,825,000	500,000
Joshua Adkins	19,775,000	-500,000

Elie Nakache limped from the button with     , and Joshua Adkins raised to 750,000 out of the big blind with     . Nakache called and they headed to the flop.

The     flop saw both players check to see the   come on the turn. Adkins check-folded to bet of 600,000 from Nakache.

Joshua Adkins	30,125,000	-1,000,000
Elie Nakache	18,475,000	1,000,000

Jonathan Bowers called from the small blind and Joshua Adkins raised to 750,000 out of the big blind. Bowers called.

Bowers checked the monotone flop of     and Adkins bet 300,000. Bowers called and they headed to the turn.

On the   turn, Bowers checked again and Adkins bet 2,350,000. Bowers moved all in for 25,000 more and Adkins snap-called.

Jonathan Bowers:     
Joshua Adkins:     

The river was an inconsequential  , and Bowers bowed out in third place.

Joshua Adkins	37,475,000	5,050,000
Elie Nakache	11,600,000	-1,125,000
Jonathan Bowers	0	-3,925,000

Jonathan Bowers limped from the button with     . Joshua Adkins called from the small blind with      and Elie Nakache checked out of the big blind holding     . The     flop saw Adkins bet 350,000 and only Nakache called. The turn came the   and Adkins check-fold to bet a of 600,000 from Nakache.

In the next hand, Adkins raised from the button to 750,000 with     . Nakache called from the small blind with      and Bowers followed suit from the big blind with     . The     saw Nakache and Bowers check-fold to a bet of 600,000 from Adkins.

Joshua Adkins	32,925,000	4,150,000
Elie Nakache	11,225,000	100,000
Jonathan Bowers	4,925,000	-2,750,000

Joshua Adkins called from the small blind with      and Elie Nakache checked out of the big blind with     .

Both players checked the     flop to see the   come on the turn. Adkins then check-folded to a bet of 500,000 from Nakache.

Joshua Adkins	28,775,000	375,000
Elie Nakache	11,125,000	750,000
Jonathan Bowers	7,675,000	-500,000
Manh Nguyen	1,500,000	-625,000