The PokerGo Tour set a new attendance record over the weekend and, for once, it wasn’t a Texas Hold’em tournament that brought out the masses.
PokerGo has become the go-to platform for streaming and video content since launched in 2017 but, over the last two years, it’s become equally revered for its live events.
The PokerGo Tour (PGT) started in 2021 and, on March 11, its first Pot Limit Omaha (PLO) festival got underway. The pros were out in force but it was amateur poker player, Daniyal Iqbal, who won the $5,000 buy-in opening event
Players love Pot Limit Omaha
The PGT PLO Series follows another recent innovation, the Mixed Game festival, which took place in February. The prospect of playing Omaha, rather than Texas Hold’em, was clearly appealing to a lot of poker pros, as the opening event attracted 200 entries.
Of that figure, 140 were unique buy-ins. Those are record numbers for a tournament solely owned and operated by the PokerGo Tour. With new records for the number of total and unique entries set, attention soon turned to the prizepool.
There was $1 million to play for over the weekend. The prizepool, plus the fact familiar faces such as David Williams, Jeff Madsen, and Ethan ‘Rampage’ Yu made Day 2, ensured it would be an entertaining finale.
Indeed, when the finale got underway inside PokerGo’s Las Vegas studio on Sunday, it didn’t disappoint. The aforementioned names put on strong displays, as did one of the best PLO players in the world, Eelis Parssinen. However, when the betting was over, Daniyal Iqbal stood victorious.
PokerGo Tour PLO Series Event #1 result
- Daniyal Iqbal – $160,000
- Roussos Koliakoudakis – $120,000
- Stanislav Halatenko – $90,000
- Eelis Parssinen – $70,000
- Peng Zheng – $60,000
- Jeff Madsen – $50,000
- Sean Troha – $40,000
- Ethan Yau – $40,000
- David Williams – $30,000
Unlike his opponents at the final table, Iqbal doesn’t play poker full-time. By day, he’s an engineer. However, he plays poker in his spare time, including PLO cash games. What he may have lacked in experience, Iqbal made up for within patience and timing.
Amateur beats pros in PokerGo Tour PLO opener
He started Day 2 with the chip lead but had to bide his time after losing it towards the latter part of the finale. This strategy served Iqbal well as he soon got back in front after hitting a set to eliminate Parssinen in fourth place.
From there, he never looked back. Once he’d taken out Stanislav Halatenko and Roussos Koliakoudakis, Iqbal lifted his first PokerGo Tour trophy. Not only that, he picked up $160,000, which is the biggest win of his career.
Beating a record-breaking field is impressive, as is the fact Iqbal had to face some of the top PLO players in the world. However, it’s more impressive that Iqbal’s victory was a mic drop moment.
Although he’s planning to play a few more PokerGo Tour PLO Series events, he won’t be staying for long because of work. So, like a boss, Iqbal has taken down a record-breaking PokerGo Tour event and, just like that, he’s walking away with his trophy and a bag full of cash.
