Events #7 and #8 concluded over a busy weekend in Las Vegas as Brazilian player Joao Simao bagged two final table appearances and the overall lead with two events to play. With a $25,000 Championship Bonus on the line, Simao’s consistency in this series, the second of its kind to take place on the PokerGO Tour this year, is remarkable. Finishing fourth and seventh respectively in the latest two events, just two more events remain for players behind him on the leaderboard to pull off a last-minute sprint for the line.

Jim, Joni and Joao All Lose to Juhasz in Event #7

Event #7 of 10 on the PokerGO Tour’s Pot Limit Omaha Series II cost players $10,100 to take part – if they arrived on time. Plenty did, with an overall turnout of 86 entrants meaning a ‘lucky’ 13 players would be paid. Lautaro Guerra was the unlucky player to bust just outside that number, losing out to Joao Simao as the Brazilian further improved his chances of taking down the tournament.

Though the final day only featured six, the final seven comprised a final table packed with quality. Juhasz led at that stage, with a big pile, his stack of 2.65 million dwarfing all those around him, with no-one else over 2 million in chips. Florian Langmann was te unlucky player to miss out on the final six, as the German busted to Finnish superstar Joni Jouhkimainen, winning $43,000 in seventh place and elevating the Finn to the position of second in chips on 3.25m, just a three-bet behind the chip leader.

The final day saw eliminations for Matthew Wantman (6^th for $51,600) ad Zhen Cai (5^th for $68,800) before Joao Simao lost to the eventual winner, his overpair to the flop losing out to the Hungarian player’s turned flush. Three-handed, Jouhkimainen was the player to miss out, as an extended period of play ended with him on the rail with $107,500 and Jim Collopy looking at a chip deficit of 10:1 heads-up. That was insurmountable, and Juhasz had the victory when his top pair on the flop survived to pronounce him the champion and award him a top prize of $206,400.

Cai is King as Schulman and Simao Miss Out

A prizepool of $550,000 was on offer in the eighth event of the series, with Zhen Cai reigning supreme when the dust settled to collect a top prize of $176,000. Joao Simao once more found a cash, sneaking into the top eight money places to bag a cash of $27,500 but more importantly the PGT Points that contribute importantly to the strength of his hand.

Cai’s victory was extremely dominant, coming into the final day of five players with over 30% of the chips in play. Taking out Adam Hendrix for a score of $44,000, Cai grabbed even more control and after the elimination of Nick Schulman in fourth place, the writing looked to be on the wall.

So it proved, as first Jesse Lonis and then Ryan Rapaski both lost out in third and second place respectively. Cai’s victory was worth $176,000 and whilst that money will no doubt have been the main motivation for playing, the American – part of an all-U.S. final six – will be hoping another tournament win before the festival’s end proclaims his the overall leaderboard champion.

Simao the Man to Beat

With just two events left on the schedule, Joao Simao’s stunning performance so far in the PGT PLO Series II puts him in pole position to win the $25,000 Championship Bonus for whoever ends the festival top of the leaderboard. Simao’s record of cashing in five of the eight events so far is impressive, all the more so because he only cashed once in the first four.

In Event #2, the $7,600-entry Pot-Limit Omaha Bounty event, Simao won $22,350 in 10^th place. Whiffing Events #3 and #4, the Brazilian would cash in each of the next four events, cashing in 15^th place of Event #5, the $10,100 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha event, winning Event #6, the $10,100 Pot-Limit Omaha Dealer’s Choice event for $182,000 and coming fourth in Event #7 and seventh in Event #8 as described above.

Leading the way with 341 PGT Points, Simao is 54 points only ahead of nearest challenger Jim Collopy, who sits on 287 PGT Points. Behind the top two, plenty of others are close too, with Zhen Cai (284 Points), Bryce Yockey (283 Points), Ben Juhasz (275 Points), Adam Hendrix (270 Points) and Stephen Hubbard (262 Points) all previous event winners. Elsewhere in the top 10, Richard Gryko (46), Eelis Parssinen (236) and outsider Allan Le (205) all still have a shot at victory.