Vivian Saliba has won her first career WSOP bracelet after winning WSOP Europe Event #4: €2,000 Pot Limit Omaha.
After five final tables in World Series of Poker events, the Brazilian 888Poker ambassador finally seized victory and achieved a major career goal.
Saliba outlasted a field of 229 opponents to scoop the €91,400 winner’s prize at King’s Casino in Rozvadov.
Germany’s Markus Anheier was the runner-up, banking a consolation prize of €59,700 which was almost twenty times his previous best cash.
Speaking to the awaiting media, Saliba said:
“I was just like okay, please don’t come second. I was really aiming for the bracelet. Of course I feel happy, but to summarize my feelings in one word, it’s relieved. It was a real marathon
“It was a real marathon, we played a lot yesterday and I went to bed around six in the morning. I could concentrate thanks to my experience and motivation, just because I really, really wanted to win. I’m very competitive and not even tired right now, I’m hyped!”
Action Recap
From the field of 229 players, there were 50 remaining when Day 2 kicked off, all of them eyeing up the money bubble line of 35 cash prizes.
As expected, play was relatively conservative in the early rounds. In fact it took more than an hour and a half before the bubble burst with a minimum cash of €4,130 guaranteed for those players remaining.
Anson Tsang, a three-time WSOP bracelet winner and also double winner of this €2,000 PLO event, was one of the favourites but could do no better than 25th.
By the time play was four-handed, the stacks were all relatively equal and each player had a turn in the lead.
Anheier was the man on the move after starting with the shortest stack and moving up into the lead in only a few hands. He then knocked out Alen Sabic when he rivered a flush to deny the Bosnian a top three finish.
Saliba was now the player in danger with less than half of the chips of Hokyiu Lee in second place. The average stack was only 19 big blinds, too, so at least she was going to be able to risk her fate in the lap of the gods in many spots.
And this is what happened, working out very well for Saliba who doubled through Lee twice before sending him home.
Saliba was in a dominating position with a three-to-one advantage as she squared up against Anheier for the heads-up finale.
But it didn’t take long for the tables to turn when Saliba’s pocket kings were cracked by a rogue ace on the turn to give the German the chip lead. How quickly things can change in a short-stacked heads-up battle.
The Brazilian then repaid the favour when a rivered flush not only kept her in the event but also gave her back the chip lead.
She then seized the victory when turning a flush against Anheier’s two pair, and then avoiding a paired board.
2024 WSOPE Event #4: €2,000 Pot Limit Omaha Final Results
Place | Player | Country | Prize (EUR) |
1 | Vivian Saliba | Brazil | €91,400 |
2 | Markus Anheier | Germany | €59,700 |
3 | Hokyiu Lee | Hong Kong | €40,100 |
4 | Alen Sabic | Bosnia and Herzegovina | €27,700 |
5 | Thomas Hueber | Germany | €19,700 |
6 | Samuel Albeck | Germany | €14,500 |
7 | Eran Carmi | Israel | €11,000 |
8 | Milan Skacel | Czechia | €8,600 |
9 | David Sosic | Croatia | €6,980 |
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