Poker player wins WSOP $565 Pot-Limit Omaha event

Name: Tyler Smith
Nationality: American
Birthplace: McComb, MS
Current Residence: Biloxi, MS
Age: 30
Profession: Self-Employed
Number of WSOP Cashes: 13
Number of WSOP Final Table Appearances: 0
Number of WSOP Gold Bracelet Victories (with this tournament): 1
Best Previous WSOP Finish: 15th in 2011 $10,000 Six-Max No-Limit Hold'em for $43,976
Total WSOP Earnings: $448,400

Tyler Smith emerged victorious in the first Pot-Limit Omaha tournament of the 2017 World Series of Poker, Event #18: $565 Pot-Limit Omaha, for $244,344 and his first gold bracelet.

The event drew a staggering 3,186 entries, making it the largest live PLO event ever held (and beating last year's previous record by 707 entries).

The win represents the biggest cash of Smith's poker career thus far and puts his lifetime earnings in excess of $1,000,000. While Smith had a dominating chip lead for much of the final day, he still had to fight through a final table full of fearsome opponents, including 2014 WSOP Asia-Pacific Main Event winner Scott Davies.

The first elimination of the day occurred when play had been underway for approximately an hour. Yves Kupfermunz put his stack in on the river and discovered, to his dismay, that his opponent, Igor Sharaskin, had a straight flush. Next to fall was Ryan Wince, who got his stack in on the flop with a draw and failed to improve against his opponent's top set. John Dallaire finished in seventh place when he got his stack in preflop with a handful of baby cards against Sharaskin, who held all Broadways and got no help from the board, thus ending the Arkansas native's first-ever PLO tournament.

Jessie Bryant, who had the chip lead at the start of Day 3, was the next to go. First, the eventual Champion doubled through him to leave him with less than one big blind, and then Sharaskin took the remainder of Bryant's stack just two hands later when he was all in on his big blind. Next, Marek Ohnisko was eliminated in fifth place when he got his stack in with the nut flush draw against Tyler Smith, who had flopped queens full. The fourth-place finisher was bracelet winner Scott Davies, whose deep run in this tournament came to a close when he got his stack in preflop with aces, but Smith flopped a flush. Igor Sharaskin finished in third place when he got his stack in preflop with double-suited queens against Smith, who had an ace-king hand and spiked an ace on the turn.

Heads-up play lasted only one hand. Jason Stockfish, whose rail had been incredibly enthusiastic and steadily growing the entire day, got all his chips in the middle preflop with a suited ace and connecting sidecards but found himself behind and got no help from the board. Smith won the pot with ace-queen high and a pair of jacks that were on the board to take the title.

1. Tyler Smith, U.S. - $244,344
2. Jason Stockfish, U.S. - $138,655
3. Igor Sharaskin, Russia - $102,045
4. Scott Davies, Canada - $75,699
5. Marek Ohnisko, Czech Republic - $56,607
6. Jessie Bryant, U.S. - $42,673
7. John Dallaire, U.S. - $32,432
8. Ryan Wince, U.S. - $24,852
9. Yves Kupfermunz, Belgium - $19,201

(Article courtesy of World Series of Poker)