Tomas Ribeiro won his first WSOP bracelet on Thursday after coming back from an 11-big blind stack. (King's Photo)

With six players remaining in the €2,200 Pot Limit Omaha event on Thursday, Tomas Ribeiro was staring at a stack of just 11 big blinds while Marc Palatzky was in the midst of steamrolling everybody in his path. The last two hours of play changed the entire narrative however and Ribeiro stormed back to win his first WSOP bracelet and €128,314.

An hour after the final table began, a German vs. German confrontation ended up being the cause of the first bustout of the day. Christopher Frank raised to 120,000 from UTG before Palatzky re-raised to 360,000 from the button. Frank responded by moving all in for 810,000. Palatzky called and turned over AhKdTd5h while Frank showed 8d 7s6s4d. The AcAs9d flop was a great one for Palatzky and all Frank could do was watch as the 4h turn and Jh river failed to save him from an eighth place finish.

A half hour later, Palatzky was responsible for yet another elimination. This time it was Leonid Yanovski who found himself all in preflop against Palatzky. Yanovski had AcKdTc9c against the AdQd9d6s of Palatzky. The 9s6c6h flop gave Palatzky a full house and Yanovski had no choice but to collect his belongings and head to the cashier after the 2c turn and Js river completed the board.

Palatzky continued to be the enforcer. Another thirty minutes passed and Anson Tsang, who was looking to defend the title he won last year, became the next victim. Down to just three big blinds, Tsang called Palatzky’s raise with AsKd9d3c and his tournament life was on the line against Palatzky’s KsQdTc7s. The Ts5s2cQsQh runout gave Palatzky trip queens and ended Tsang’s hope at a repeat victory with a sixth place finish.

Five-handed play lasted 90 minutes before Palatzky continued sending players to the rail. Palatzky raised to 120,000 from the hijack and Ilyaz Dosikov called from the big blind. After the 8s4h2d flop, Dosikov checked and Palatzky bet 90,000. Dosikov then mad it 545,000 to go before Palatzky tank-shoved all in. Dosikov called and turned over 9d8c7s4s for two pair while Palatzky tabled Ad AhQc7h for a pair of aces. The Kc turn kept Dosikov safe but the Ks river gave Palatzky a better two pair and eliminated Dosikov in fifth place.

After busting the first four players from the final table, Palatzky took a back seat on the next elimination. Tobias Peters raised to 160,000 from UTG and Ribeiro made it 480,000. Peters moved all in and Ribeiro called. Peters showed KdQhJs9d but was behind Ribeiro’s AcKsQd 9c. The board ran out Ah4c4h7s6s to eliminate Peters in fourth.

Another 50 minutes passed and Palatzky once again got involved in an elmination hand, but unfortuantely it was his own. After seeing his stack drop from 4.2 million to 890,000, Palatzky moved all in after Ribeiro raised from the button. Ribeiro called and tabled Qs7d4c2d which put him behind Palatzky’s Kc7h5h3c. The AcAs8d flop changed nothing, but the 4d turn gave Ribeiro a pair and then Js river failed to bail out Palatzky and he was sent packing in third place.

Ribeiro had a dominating 5-1 chip lead over Omar Eljach when heads up play began and over the next 40 minutes he went to work accumulating the rest. On the final hand of the night, Ribeiro raised to 300,000, Eljach re-raised to 900,000 and Ribeiro moved all in and Eljach called with his tournament on the line. Eljach showed AhKhJs6s while Ribeiro tabled KcQdQsTs. The 6d4c4h flop kept Ribeiro in the lead. The Jd turn and 9s river gave Ribeiro a straight to eliminate Eljach and give the Portuguese poker pro his first career bracelet.

Final Table Payouts

  1. Tomas Ribeiro – €128,314
  2. Omar Eljach – €79,291
  3. Marc Palatzky – €54,787
  4. Tobias Peters – €38,581
  5. Ilyaz Dosikov – €27,701
  6. Anson Tsang – €20,285
  7. Leonid Yanovski – €15,157
  8. Christopher Frank – €11,561