Event #28: $50,000 HIGH ROLLER Pot-Limit Omaha

The 2022 World Series of Poker (WSOP) at Bally's and Paris Las Vegas has crowned yet another repeat winner during live poker's annual spectacle in Sin City. England's Robert Cowen secured his second gold bracelet in Event #28: $50,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller. After a short-lived heads-up duel with Dash Dudley, the latter was denied a third title in the four-card variant while Cowen doubled his tally.

In total, the most expensive non-hold'em tournament on the schedule attracted a field of 106 entries and a prize pool worth $5,074,750, which was shared between the top 16 finishers. The lion's share of that was up for grabs on the final day, which saw five players return to the PokerGO live-streamed feature table in the Bally's Event Center.

After just four hours of play, Cowen came out on top to score the top prize worth $1,393,816 ,which nearly double his all-time cashes on the live poker circuit according to The Hendon Mob. When asked what it feels like to win his second bracelet in such a high-stakes competition, he said: "It's the same, it is just PLO. It is obviously a lot tougher because everyone is gambling a lot more ... you can't really run anyone over."

The final day also included the 2011 WSOP Player of the Year Ben Lamb, Bulgarian poker pro Veselin Karakitukov and Jared Bleznick. Lamb held more than half of the chips in play with four contenders remaining only for Cowen to pull ahead after scooping several big pots to then close out the victory not even one hour later. The top three finishers in the high-stakes competition now share five WSOP PLO titles between them.

Event #28: $50,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller Final Table Results

Both Cowen and runner-up Dudley were supported by a boisterous rail and it was the Brits who had reason to celebrate after both four-card enthusiasts had navigated their way through a field filled with High Roller regulars and some of the best mixed game players in the world.

"There were a couple of times I was short here again but with everyone behind me makes it a lot easier to fight," runner-up Dudley said in the final interview before adding "It's great, I couldn't have been happier to have this rail, they have been here forever, and it keeps getting bigger and bigger."

The rail from Michigan included his wife, Racquel, and his mother, Kim. It was the second-biggest cash for the Michigan State graduate, who earned a payday of $861,442. The couple are now also parents of a nine-month old daughter as well and the 2022 WSOP in its new home at Bally's and Paris Las Vegas could not have commenced much better for the PLO specialist.

While he specializes in the great game of pot-limit Omaha, the previously biggest score of the 36-year-old from Alcester in Warwickshire near Birmingham came in a no-limit hold'em Event as he took down the EPT Prague €10,300 High Roller earlier this year for €475,410.

Prior to that, Cowen finished 39th in the 2021 WSOP Main Event for $163,900 before claiming the elusive gold bracelet a few days later in Event #80: $3,000 6-Handed Pot-Limit Omaha.

"It's nice to close it out. The first one was very quiet. It was on a side table. There wasn't much around. So it's nice to get that experience this time," the Englishman admitted in the interview after his victory.

He was surrounded by some of the biggest names in the world of poker during the entire event, which seemingly didn't have any influence on him at all.

"Honestly, it doesn't phase me when I play. Coming into this final table, I felt indifferent to any other poker tournament. It's difficult to explain, I don't really know what to say."

With such a success as of late, Cowen has certainly experienced the most profitable time in his career thus far on the live poker circuit and there is no apparent magic reason for it.

"I just spend a lot of time focusing on playing my best. My effort on the table is incremental," Cowen added.

While he was one of the more active players not only on the final day but also prior, the Englishman pointed out that he had a lot of decent hands en route to victory.

"I ran pretty good on that final table, I had a lot of good cards. Earlier on when we were deep enough, I could just fold and it wasn't too critical to win pots. But when we got three-handed, I was picking up big cards. The blinds were so big up to that point and every pot was critical and it was just nice to get heat at the right time."

The Action of the Final Day

While only five players returned to their seats in the Thunderdome, that number was almost immediately down to four. In the second hand of the day,Jared Bleznick was in rough shape in a preflop contest when his kings ran into the aces of Dudley. With one live suit at his disposal, Bleznick had only the case king at his disposal after the turn and found no magic escape.

From there on, start-of-the-day chip leader Veselin Karakitukov started to drop not only into the middle of the pack but also at the top of the leaderboard as the other three contenders took advantage of his passive approach. It was Dudley who soared to the top of the chip counts but he then doubled Cowen with an ill-timed move when his queen-high rundown failed to crack double-suited aces.

Lamb took over the lead from Cowen when he flopped the bottom end of a jack-high straight and caught his opponent firing three barrels with naked kings. The lead of Lamb grew to essentially half of the chips in play while Karakitukov became the fourth-place finisher after he fell to Cowen.

From there on, Cowen hit several big hands and took a large chunk out of Lamb's stack to take over the role as the commanding chip leader. A clash of the two shortest stacks between Dudley and Lamb put more misery on the latter and his bid for a second gold bracelet ended a few minutes later.

Cowen started the heads-up duel with a lead of three-to-one over Dudley and the Michigander scored a double to bring the stack sizes to nearly even. However, once Cowen pulled ahead again, a typical PLO showdown crowned the new champion.

In a three-bet pot, Dudley went with his overpair and flush draw while Cowen looked him up with top pair and a wrap. The rather dramatic conclusion of the hand gave Dudley a flush eventually but Cowen improved to a full house with running nines on turn and river. The initial confusion subsided quickly as the British rail burst out in celebration and Dudley had to settle for the runner-up spot.

That brings an end to the PokerNews coverage for this tournament but the next gold bracelet during the 2022 WSOP in its new home at Bally's and Paris Las Vegas is already around the corner.

Dash Dudley defended the big blind with the      following a button raise by Robert Cowen to 1,200,000, who had the     . On the     flop, Dudley checked his top pair and Cowen bet 1,800,000 for Dudley to call.

The   turn left Dudley drawing dead to win the pot as he checked his additional wrap. Cowen fired a bet worth 1,450,000 and Dudley mulled it over before sending the cards into the muck.

Robert Cowen	19,825,000	3,750,000
Dash Dudley	11,950,000	-3,750,000

The final two players are back in their seats and Dash Dudley has some 19 big blinds at his disposal.

Dash Dudley raised the pot to 1,200,000 with the      and Ben Lamb called with the     . On a flop of    , Dudley bet the pot and Lamb folded with a dry smile on the face.

Robert Cowen	22,500,000	-400,000
Dash Dudley	7,900,000	2,000,000
Ben Lamb	1,375,000	-1,625,000

Ben Lamb limped in with the      flop and Robert Cowen checked it back with the     . Both checked the     flop and Lamb checked the   turn with the nuts and flush redraw. Cowen bet 550,000 and Lamb made the call as they headed to the   on the river, giving Cowen quads.

With 2,300,000 in the middle, Lamb checked and Cowen bet the full pot. Some 15 seconds of consideration followed and Lamb then called to have Cowen declare his quads before flashing the cards

"I was hoping it was aces full versus quads," Dash Dudley said in table chat right after the cards were tabled.

Robert Cowen	22,900,000	4,250,000
Ben Lamb	6,325,000	-4,050,000
Dash Dudley	2,550,000	-200,000

Ben Lamb limped the small blind with the      and Robert Cowen raised the pot with the      for Lamb to call. On the     flop, Lamb checked and folded once Cowen bet 1,350,000.

Cowen then raised the pot with the      in the small blind and Dash Dudley glanced at the      in the big blind. A very reluctant fold followed as Cowen pulled even further ahead with his very aggressive play.

Robert Cowen	18,650,000	2,000,000
Ben Lamb	10,375,000	-1,200,000
Dash Dudley	2,750,000	-800,000

Robert Cowen raised it up to 900,000 out of the small blind and Veselin Karakitukov used a time bank before calling out of the big blind as the shortest stack at the table.

They headed to the     flop on which Cowen eyeballed the stack of his neighbour before betting the pot worth 2,100,000. Karakitukov verified the size of the pot and once the cards were revealed, Karakitukov gasped a "wow" before shaking his head.

Veselin Karakitukov:     
Robert Cowen:     

Karakitukov was in damned shape and the British rail shouted for an ace, which was instantly delivered on the   turn to make the   river a formality. Cowen headed to his rail to celebrate before shaking hands with Karakitukov, who was eliminated in 4th place for $458,016.

Robert Cowen	10,325,000	2,200,000
Veselin Karakitukov	0	-2,800,000

In a limped blind battle, Robert Cowen bet the     flop for 550,000 with the      for just a pair of fours. Veselin Karakitukov just called with the      and the   turn improved Cowen to two pair.

The Brit fired a bet worth 1,650,000 and Karakitukov folded once more to drop further into the danger zone.

Ben Lamb	13,625,000	325,000
Robert Cowen	8,125,000	975,000
Dash Dudley	7,075,000	-150,000
Veselin Karakitukov	2,950,000	-1,150,000