David Eldridgehas claimed his second gold bracelet after defeating a tough field of 476 in Event #73: $25,000 High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha.
The American takes home the massive $2,246,728 first-place prize after beating six-time bracelet winner Brian Rast in an exciting heads-up fight where he came back from a huge disadvantage.
Final Action
When the call to shuffle up and deal was broadcast, Event #73: $25,000 High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha only had five players left in contention.
Eldridge started the day with a comfortable lead, while Rast and Juha Helppi were the two short stacks.
But this is PLO. NL hold’em tournament poker is crazy enough but PLO with short stacks is just insane with the most remarkable comebacks always being a possibility.
The Finn was the first to make a move, chipping up nicely from the outset. And then Rast made the table much more interesting after doubling up through Eldridge when a runner-runner flush cracked his bottom set.
Helppi continued his recovery, getting back to an average stack, but then Rast sent him to the rail after a combo draw gave him a wheel to crack the Finn’s set.
China’s Yang Wang was next out, ending a brief period of quiet play where his stack dwindled away after losing a handful of small pots.
Usually, when play hits three-handed, there is a moment of calm while the players reassess the new paradigm. But not today.
In typical PLO style, the big pots came thick and fast. Ethan Cahn was the first to score, with Eldridge losing yet another all-in spot to double-up his opponent.
But then the tables turned and he lost it all to Rast who hit the nuts, leaving him as the shorty once again.
Soon after, Rast handed it all back to Cahn who got his pocket aces in pre-flop before finally ending his run a couple of hands later.
The intensity was palpable with the non-stop aggressive play.
Rast was the man stamping his authority on the tournament by now, and it didn’t take long before he held a five-to-one chip advantage over David Eldridge.
The comeback started with a series of small pots, before a typical PLO horror show saw Rast lose out with bottom set to Eldridge’s top set to lose the lead for the first time in a while.
Rast wasn’t done, though, because only a matter of hands later he caught Eldridge bluffing to once again hold a commanding lead.
The epic duel continued with Eldridge doubling up soon after followed up by bluffing Rast off a straight in what turned out to be a key hand of the event.
Eldridge won the event after a standard flip all-in gave him all the chips to deny Rast a seventh WSOP bracelet.
Eldridge told reporters:
“I’m feeling good. It was a long four days, but things worked out.
“That hand [against Brian Rast] was a really big deal. I would have had about half the chips in play, and Rast would have been eliminated, so I think that was a pretty big swing. But, I just kept grinding, and I made a lot of good hands, fortunately.”
Event #73: $25,000 High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha Final Table Results
| Place | Name | Country | (Prize USD) |
| 1 | David Eldridge | United States | $2,246,728 |
| 2 | Brian Rast | United States | $1,497,824 |
| 3 | Ethan Cahn | United States | $1,038,097 |
| 4 | Yang Wang | China | $731,819 |
| 5 | Juha Helppi | Finland | $524,911 |
| 6 | Billy Tarango | United States | $383,191 |
| 7 | Liran Twito | Israel | $284,794 |
| 8 | Anuj Agarwal | United States | $215,563 |
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