Chris Ferguson Wins 2017 WSOPE Event #7: €1,650 PLO

Chris Ferguson has consolidated his position atop of the WSOP Player of the Year Leaderboard after taking down WSOP Europe Event #7: €1,650 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better to claim a first place prize worth €39,289 ($45,677).
The tournament attracted a field of 92 players, with the 54 year-old pro progressing all the way through to heads-up play where he eventually defeated Ukraine’s Stanislav Wright to capture a sixth career gold bracelet, and his first bracelet since 2003. In fact, all of Ferguson’s bracelets have been won between 2000 and 2003, with his biggest score coming after claiming victory at the WSOP $10,000 Main Event for $1.5 million.
In 2008, Chris “Jesus” Ferguson finished runner-up against Sebastian Ruthenberg at the $5,000 World Championship Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo for $202,405. This summer, he then reached the heads-up phase of the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship with a 30-1 chip lead against Mike Wattel, only to see the win slip through his hands. Commenting on finally capturing another bracelet after almost a decade and a half, the Californian pro with $8,970,796 in lifetime earnings, stated:
“It’s kind of surreal because I wasn’t expecting to win this bracelet at all. I was just trying to sneak in, just trying to advance a little bit. And it just kind of happened. It’s the best way.”
Having reached the final table of eight, Ferguson then proceeded to eliminate Rex Clinkscales in 5th, followed by Artur Sojka in 4th, and Eldert Soer in 3rd to take a 4:1 chip advantage over Stanislav Wright into heads-up play.
The deciding hand then saw Ferguson (Ac-10s-8h-3d) and Wright (Ah-5c-4h-2h) go all-in on an 8s-6s-4d flop, with the 2d and 5h on turn and river subsequently completing Ferguson’s straight to secure the victory. Referring to his extended absence from the game since 2010, having only returned to the WSOP arena in 2016, Ferguson said:
“I had actually been planning to take a break from poker, and it turned out to be bigger than I expected. I’ve always found that when I take a break from something and you come back to it, you come back to it with a fresh perspective and often you’ll do better.”
Final Table Results:
1: Chris Ferguson $45,968
2: Stanislav Wright $28,411
3: Eldert Soer $19,430
4: Artur Sojka $13,681
5: Rex Clinkscales $9,925
6: Divanshu Khurana $7,426
7: Dario Alloto $5,735
8: Sebastian Langrock $4,578