Event #3 of the World Series of Poker Europe made the switch from No Limit Hold’em to Pot Limit Omaha. The first two events at the WSOPE featured new names to take down gold bracelets, but event number 3 was a different story, as Steve Billirakis now took down his second gold bracelet of his career. The final table of this PLO event featured some big names as well, so the task wasn’t easy in any way for Billirakis. He made it past the likes of Sam Trickett, 2011 November Nine participant Eoghan O’Dea, and Sam Chartier.
It was about three hours of play until the final table was down to its final five players, but Billirakis and Trickett remained alive and in the hunt for the gold bracelet. When five players remained, Billirakis was at the back of the pack though, and sitting in fourth place in chips; while what some would consider his toughest opponent, Trickett, was in first place. It wasn’t until just before dinner break that Billirakis was able to make his move though, and took a big pot from Trickett, moving him all the way up to second in chips.
After the break, play didn’t take nearly as long as it did to get to this point, as Billirakis and Michele Di Lauro made it out on top, and headed into heads up play. Heads up play was the shortest of all the action, as it lasted a grand total of two hands before the new champion was crowned. Billirakis took a one million chip pot from Di Lauro on the first hand, to give himself a massive four to one chip lead over his opponent; and his next hand ended the tournament all together.
Billirakis won the bracelet, and the €238,140 first place prize for his incredible run. Di Lauro on the other hand had a nice payout for the second place finish, getting €147,171.
The World Series of Poker Europe will now continue on with a few more events before the players head into the €10,000 WSOPE Main Event, which will feature some of the best names in the game.