Earlier this week, the PokerGO Tour journeyed to the Champions Club in Houston for the second running of their PGT Texas Poker Open. The event was a rousing success, as the $2 million guaranteed bounty was exceeded. In the end, local player Ravee ‘Sonny’ Sundara outlasted the 699-entry field to take home a nice payday of over $300,000.
Pros Come Out for Texas Event
The tournament, which ran eight opening flights to build the prize pool ($3000 buy-ins), was not wanting for star power. Several top pros were able to scoop a bit of the prize pool, including David Chen, Phil Hellmuth, Isaac Kempton, Matthew Wantman, Ray Quartomy (more on him later), and Joey Weissman. By the time the final table was determined, however, there were only a few notable names among the players, Justin Liberto, Viet Vo, and Andrew Moreno, but they would not last long on the final table.
Liberto was the short stack at the start of the final table, and he could not find the magic to climb above ninth place. Vo and Moreno would last a bit longer, with Vo losing his chips to Aaron Gao to depart in eighth and Moreno dropping in seventh place once his open-ended straight draw failed to come home against a turned two pair from Kaleb Harwell. The win in that hand cast Harwell into the chip lead with five players left to go.
Sundara began to make his move when he topped Phu Vo’s A-J that rivered a Broadway straight by holding a Q-10 for a Queens over tens full. Sundara then took a chunk out of Gao to pull nearly equal with Harwell and Gao, while Jason Bullock fought from the short stack. After Bullock departed in fourth place after a clash with Gao, the remaining three men decided to dice up the remaining pool:
Sundara (chip leader): $250,643
Gao (second): $247,328
Harwell (third): $237,029
The trio did leave $60,000 for the eventual champion, as well as the shiny gold belt buckle signifying the champion of the event.
Although it would take a couple of hours, Sundara’s run good was still in line. Harwell would knock off Gao in third place, drawing almost equal with Sundara for the heads-up battle. Then came a rather strange conclusion…instead of playing it out normally, Sundara and Harwell decided to do a “best two of three” Pot Limit Omaha flip (cards up, no betting) to decide the winner. Sundara won both flips to win the PLO decider 2-0 and take down the championship and the remainder of the prize pool.
1. Ravee ‘Sonny’ Sundara, $310,643*
2. Kaleb Harwell, $237,029*
3. Aaron Gao, $247,328*
4. Jason Bullock, $125,000
5. Phu Vo, $100,000
6. Andrew Moreno, $80,000
7. William Benson, $60,000
8. Viet Vo, $50,000
9. Justin Liberto, $40,000
(* – reflects three-way deal)
Ray Quartomy Rages on Side High Rollers
There were also four $5000 “High Roller” events held on the Champions Club property while the PGT Texas Poker Open was ongoing, and Ray Quartomy raged through those tournaments. Of the four contests, Quartomy not only won two of them, but he also final tabled a third to scoop up more than $100,000 ($101,450, to be exact). Tack on $5500 for his deep finish in the PGT Texas Poker Open, and it was a profitable week for Quartomy!
The PGT now goes on hiatus, but a slew of tournaments are on the horizon. Over thirty events will be held during the 2025 World Series of Poker, and all are points-paying events towards the battle for the PGT World Championship. Players will be setting their sights on more than just WSOP gold when it comes to the trip to the Meadows later this month.
(Photo courtesy of PokerGO)
