Event #53: High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha (8-Handed)

Shaun Deeb defeated Ka Kwan Lau heads up to win the 2021 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Event #53: $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller, earning his fifth career WSOP gold bracelet and a $1,251,860 top prize. Deeb prevailed in this prestigious tournament for a second time, defeating a field of 212 entries that produced a prize pool of $5,008,500.

Deeb adds this title to his win back in 2018 and becomes the newest member of the WSOP five-bracelet club. It marked his second final table of the 2021 WSOP and his 12th overall cash, vaulting him up to fourth in the Player of the Year standings.

"Now I'm gonna start multi-tabling, I really took it easy," Deeb said. "For the rest of the year, you're gonna see me firing pretty hard so it's gonna be a battle."

With a fifth title in hand, Deeb was candid about his WSOP goals moving forward.

"I'm gonna pass Phil (Hellmuth) eventually. It's gonna take me a while but I'm gonna pass Phil. It's gonna take me a decade or two but I'll be there."

Former WSOP $25,000 PLO Winners

Final Table Play

Deeb acknowledged that he was not the most experienced PLO player at the final table.

"Usually I have my one set plan, but I really kept trying to switch it up on these guys and figure out what way worked best versus them, and just running them over and making the nuts a bunch is the way to go."

Deeb went on to eliminate every opponent of the final five, thanks to a double-up on the very first hand of the day.

"I have a cold four-bet for my whole stack," Deeb explained, "it was like a crazy, crazy runoff to get me to like seven and a half, eight million right off the start which puts me in second place and from there I never really lost my momentum."

Veselin Karakitukov began the final day as the short stack and was the first to be eliminated after running into Deeb's aces. The fifth-place finish marked the Bulgarian's first cash of the 2021 WSOP and the largest cash of his career. Next to go was Maxx Coleman, who was also taken out by Deeb in fourth place. Coleman now has six cashes and a second final table of the 2021 WSOP, adding to a great year after a win in the Poker Masters $10,000 8-Game Mix and three final tables at the 2021 U.S. Poker Open.

John "KasinoKrime" Beauprez entered the day second thanks to a wild runout on Day 3 that sent Ben Lamb packing. The 2013 WSOP bracelet winner added to his 31st-place run at the same event in 2017 with a third-place finish on Saturday.

Ka Kwan Lau brought the chip lead into the final day after finishing eighth in this event back in 2019. The Spaniard, who was born in Hong Kong, carried some significant tournament experience into his heads-up battle with Deeb. Despite doubling up early on, Lau was never able to mount a serious charge at Deeb's chip lead and settled for a runner-up finish.

Event #53: $25,000 PLO High Roller Final Table Results

The rest of the official final table participants were eliminated on Day 3. Charles Sinn finished eighth, Lamb came in seventh and David Benyamine was knocked out in sixth.

Prior to the final table, a number of WSOP bracelet winners found the money including Ben Yu, Joseph Cheong, Scott Seiver, Chance Kornuth, Bryce Yockey, Joao Vieira, Simon Lofberg, Jeremy Ausmus and Tommy Le.

This concludes PokerNews' coverage of this event, but be sure to check out the live reporting hub where you can continue to follow our coverage of the 2021 World Series of Poker.

Check out our 2021 WSOP Hub here!

Shaun Deeb raised to 900,000 from the button and Ka Kwan Lau three-bet to 2,700,000. Deeb four-bet to 8,100,000 for Lau to fold.

Shaun Deeb	22,300,000	1,500,000
Ka Kwan Lau	9,500,000	-1,500,000

Ka Kwan Lau raised to 900,000 from the button and Shaun Deeb three-bet to 2,700,000 for Lau to call.

The flop came     and Deeb checked. Lau considered his options for about forty seconds before shoving for 4,600,000 to get the fold.

Shaun Deeb	21,500,000	-3,000,000
Ka Kwan Lau	10,300,000	3,000,000

Ka Kwan Lau limped in on the button and Shaun Deeb opted to check.

The flop came    , they both checked tot he   on the turn. Deeb bet 700,000 for Lau to give up.

Shaun Deeb	25,400,000	900,000
Ka Kwan Lau	6,400,000	-900,000

Shaun Deeb raised to 900,000 from the button and Ka Kwan Lau called.

The flop came    , Lau check-called the 500,000 continuation-bet of Deeb.

The turn was the  , Lau checked again and then called the 1,200,000 barrel of Deeb.

The river completed the board with the   and they both checked. Deeb tabled the      for the full house to get Lau to muck.

Shaun Deeb	21,800,000	-1,100,000
Ka Kwan Lau	10,000,000	1,100,000

Ka Kwan Lau limped in on the button and Shaun Deeb opted to check.

The flop was the    , Deeb check-raised the 500,000 bet of Lau to 1,500,000 for Lau to give up.

Shaun Deeb	22,900,000	800,000
Ka Kwan Lau	8,900,000	-800,000

Ka Kwan Lau raised to 900,000 from the button and Shaun Deeb defended.

The flop came    , Deeb checked, Lau bet the pot, Deeb reraised to put Lau all-in who called for the 5,000,000 or so he had behind.

Ka Kwan Lau:     
Shaun Deeb:     

The turn was the   for Lau to hit a straight

The river was the   for Lau to improve to a full house to paint an even prettier picture for his double-up.

Shaun Deeb	20,300,000	-5,300,000
Ka Kwan Lau	11,500,000	5,300,000

Shaun Deeb completed the small blind and John Beauprez opted to check.

The flop came    , they checked to the   on the turn. Deeb bet 500,000 for Beauprez to call.

The river completed the board with the   and Deeb continued with a bet of 300,000. Beauprez tanked and then shoved for 2,680,000. Beauprez was holding      for a wheel, but Deeb called with the      for the higher straight. That meant Beauprez would bust in third place.

Shaun Deeb	24,100,000	4,700,000
Ka Kwan Lau	7,700,000	-900,000
John Beauprez	0	-3,800,000

Ka Kwan Lau limped in on the button and Shaun Deeb completed his small blind while John Beauprez opted to check.

The flop came    , Deeb checked and Beauprez bet 400,000. Lau folded but Deeb called.

The turn was the  , Deeb checked again. This time, Beauprez fired a bet of 700,000 into the pot. Deeb considered it for a while before making the call.

The   completed the board and Deeb checked for the final time. Beauprez opted to check too. Deeb tabled the      for a straight and that earned him the pot.

Shaun Deeb	18,400,000	3,075,000
Ka Kwan Lau	8,900,000	-1,050,000
John Beauprez	4,500,000	-2,025,000

Ka Kwan Lau limped in on the button and Shaun Deeb completed his small blind. John Beauprez opted to check in the big blind.

They all checked through the     flop to the   on the turn. It was checked to Lau who opted to bet 350,000. Deeb folded and so did Beauprez for Lau to pick up the last pot before the players were sent for another break.

Shaun Deeb	15,325,000	-275,000
Ka Kwan Lau	9,950,000	750,000
John Beauprez	6,525,000	-475,000