After three days of four-card poker, an anonymous player was crowned the Diamond Poker Series €10,300 PLO Grand Slam Champion at Arena Casino Tirana. The player who went by the nickname "Benjamin N" throughout the tournament secured himself the largest part of the €1,203,200 prize pool in a four-way deal before finishing in style by shipping the trophy and the extra €20,000 which the players had reserved for first place, totaling his winnings to €219,200.
He defeated another anonymous player, nicknamed "Phil Ejri", during a short, jovial, and volatile heads-up. "Phil Ejri" took home €166,500 for his efforts, while fourth-place finisher Nikolaos Lampropoulos and bronze medalist Lautaro Guerra walked away with €190,800 and €170,700 respectively. Meanwhile, the likes of Day 1 chip leader Harun Ertural and two-time bracelet winner Alex Livingston were eliminated from the final table before the deal discussions began
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Benjamin N" | €219,200* | |
| 2 | "Phil Ejri" | €166,500* | |
| 3 | Lautaro Guerra | Spain | €170,700* |
| 4 | Nikolaos Lampropoulos | Greece | €190,800* |
| 5 | Dimitrios Amoiridis | Greece | €89,000 |
| 6 | Harun Ertural | Germany | €70,000 |
| 7 | Alex Livingston | Canada | €54,000 |
| 8 | Vasil Medarov | Bulgaria | €41,000 |
| 9 | Belarmino De Souza | Brazil | €30,000 |
* Denotes four-way deal
"It feels amazing to win the trophy," the champion stated after all was said and done. "I came here for the great guarantees. There are not many 5K and 10K events around out there, so it looked nice."
When asked about his love for the great game of pot-limit Omaha, "Benjamin N" had a simple answer: "That's what I play. I love PLO tournaments. It's just fun. It's been an amazing venue and an amazing city. I'll be back."
The day started with 11 returning players from a total of 128 entries. Brazilian Belarmino De Souza looked to be the first casualty of the day when he jammed his kings into the aces of the eventual champion "Benjamin N" and was left with just one big blind.
However, miraculously, €5,200 PLO Opener winner Aaron Pahlawani and the short-stacked Stefan Polster busted before him. De Souza laddered up and made the final table against all odds.
On the first hand of the final table, De Souza got his aces cracked and still headed to the rail. In the meantime, start-of-day chip leader "Phil Ejri" had gotten short after a brutal early beat against Dimitrios Amoiridis.
He then got his chips in against Livingston with top set and held for the double-up. Livingston was left with just one small blind, but, like De Souza, he made a miracle pay jump as Vasil Medarov was eliminated before him in a full house over full house situation.
Livingston would follow shortly thereafter, and mere minutes later Ertural also said his goodbyes when he bluffed all-in against Guerra. Five-handed, Amoiridis had a solid chip lead. However, after losing several big pots over the next two hours, he was left shortest. He busted when his aces could not improve against the flopped two pair of "Phil Ejri", and was the last elimination before the remaining four players would strike a deal.
At the start of four-handed play, the possibility of a deal started being discussed. However, Guerra quickly shut it down and the tournament continued as normal. The players went on to trade pots and double-ups back and forth during the next three hours. By that point, the average stack had shrunk to 20 big blinds and all players were quite close in chips, prompting another inquiry for a deal.
This time, Guerra agreed. The numbers were quickly decided on and the players started to relax as the ICM pressure mostly dissipated. It took half an hour longer for Lampropoulos to bite the dust, getting his aces cracked by "Benjamin N". Guerra was eliminated by "Phil Ejri" another 30 minutes later, and the two anonymous players prepared for a heads-up battle.
The average stack was still just 25 big blinds when the heads-up began, leading to lots of action. In a short span of 15 minutes, "Phil Ejri" overcame the two-to-one chip advantage "Benjamin N" had at the start by doubling up before "Benjamin N" retook the lead as he doubled himself only a few hands later.
The third all-in would be the final one of the tournament. "Phil Ejri" got his 17 remaining big blinds in with top pair against "Benjamin N"s flush draw. "Benjamin N" had his opponent drawing dead as the turn made his flush and the two players shared some jokes before "Phil Ejri" left to pick up his payout.
"Benjamin N" stayed behind and admired his new trophy while many other players in the tournament room, all of which "Benjamin N" had battled with in the past week, came to say their congratulations.
That concludes the live report for the first-ever Diamond Poker Series. However, with seven-figure guarantees being broken and an overall positive reception, it might not be the last.
