It was quite a heads-up battle between two PLO crushers. Ronnie Dattani ended up facing down Julius Roque for the Ring in the PLO Monster, and if you were making a list of the top 10 PLO players on the local scene, there's a pretty good chance both players would find a spot on it.
Tonight, it was Dattani's game as he dictated the play for much of the HU. Roque had a chip lead for a lot of the final table, but Dattani picked his spots early and got heads-up with a slight advantage over Roque. He gave some back and dropped to second when he had to fold a paired board on the turn to Roque's aggression.
After that, it was all Dattani though. There weren't a lot of showdown hands, but Dattani was relentless with bets and raises, effectively handcuffing Roque and chipping him down. Roque found one double-up with aces when he was down to about 2 million, but shortly after, Dattani found the aces in a dream spot where he flopped a set while Roque flopped two pair. The chips hit the middle, and Dattani ran out to aces full of kings for the big win.
Dattani is no stranger to the winner's circle and big scores. This win is his first Circuit rung, but 4th win on the live felt and 3rd here at Deerfoot after he took down the Main Event in last year's Summer Super Stack as well as the Canadian Open Poker Championship back in 2010. The prize tonight is certain to push his lifetime earnings over $600k.
Heads up was relatively short after a long night. They started heads up pretty much even, though Umang "Ronnie" Dattani had the slight advantage. Roque took an early lead after he pushed Dattani off a paired board on the turn, but after that, it was all Dattani.
Not a lot of hands went to showdown, but Dattani was relentless with bets and raises to keep Roque off balance. Roque got a double with aces when he was down to about 2 million to stay alive, but shortly after, the aces ended up in Dattani's hand on a flop that saw Roque hit two pair against Dattani's set of aces.
The aces held and it was all over for Roque, who picked up #,##0","3":1},"12":0}">$14,874 for second place.
Player | Chips | Progress | |
---|---|---|---|
Umang 'Ronnie' Dattani | ![]() |
13,600,000 | 2,800,000 |
Julius Roque | ![]() |
0 | 0 |
Ronnie Dattani is back with a big lead now after a few hands with no showdown went his way.
Player | Chips | Progress | |
---|---|---|---|
Umang 'Ronnie' Dattani | ![]() |
10,800,000 | 5,800,000 |
Julius Roque | ![]() |
2,800,000 | 5,800,000 |
Julius Roque limped and Ronnie Dattani called to see . Dattani check-called for 500k to see the board pair
on the turn. Roque fired 1.4 million after a check from Dattani and got the fold.
Player | Chips | Progress | |
---|---|---|---|
Julius Roque | ![]() |
8,600,000 | 2,000,000 |
Umang 'Ronnie' Dattani | ![]() |
5,000,000 | 2,000,000 |
Player | Chips | Progress | |
---|---|---|---|
Umang 'Ronnie' Dattani | ![]() |
7,000,000 | 4,200,000 |
Julius Roque | ![]() |
6,600,000 | 2,800,000 |
They both limped it preflop and checked the flop. Julius Roque fired 500k on the
turn and Ronnie Dattani called. They both checked the
river.
"Two pair," said Dattani.
"Two pair," Said Roque.
Dattani showed and Roque sent his cards to the muck.
Juss Viet just ran into pocket aces for Julius Roque, and after Roque flopped a set it was all over for VIet.
Player | Chips | Progress | |
---|---|---|---|
Larry Gerrard | ![]() |
0 | 0 |
Juss Viet | ![]() |
0 | 0 |
Larry Gerard was short, and the money went in under the gun for 625k. It folded around to Julius Roque in the big blind and he called without looking.
Larry Gerard:
Julius Roque:
The board ran out to clubs and Roque had the best of it. "I play better when I don't look," Roque joked.
They are down to four now after Bradley Ellis and Julius Roque got it in blind on blind. Ellis raised, then called off his stack when Roque potted the big blind.
Bradley Ellis:
Julius Roque:
The board ran out giving Roque a boat and the win.
As the casino floor was closing, the game has now moved to the Poker Room to finish out the night.
Marc Kudjick shoved under the gun, and he was called by Larry Gerrard and Ronnie Dattani in the blinds. Both active players checked the flop of but after a check from Gerrard, Dattani bet 200k and got the fold.
Dattani was on for trip eights and the lead against
for Kudjick and the
river just made it worse for Kudjick.
Player | Chips | Progress | |
---|---|---|---|
Mark Kudjick | ![]() |
0 | 0 |
When the blinds went up Mike Flanagan was in rough shape with less than two bigs and he couldn't spin it up, hitting the cage for 7th place worth $3,404.
Player | Chips | Progress | |
---|---|---|---|
Mike Flanagan | ![]() |
0 | 0 |
The money went in on the flop of with Julius Roque holding a wrap with
against
for Larry Gerrard.
bricked the turn, but Gerrard hit his king on the river and Roque missed all his outs.
Player | Chips | Progress | |
---|---|---|---|
Julius Roque | ![]() |
3,800,000 | 2,000,000 |
Larry Gerrard | ![]() |
2,000,000 | 460,000 |
Mark Kudjick limped the cutoff and Julius Roque checked his option in the big blind. Both players checked the flop and turn, but Roque led for 15k on the
river. Kudjick called quickly.
"Is this good in Omaha," Roque asked with a smile, showing a single jack. Judjick rolled over and took it down.
"I know how you bet,"Kudjick says. "When you have it, you bet big."
They are down to seven now after Jordan Pennock hit the rail in 8th place. His chips went across to Julius Roque when Roque flopped two pair and turned the boat.
Player | Chips | Progress | |
---|---|---|---|
Julius Roque | ![]() |
5,800,000 | 550,000 |
Jordan Pennock | ![]() |
0 | 0 |
Ronnie Dattani limped the middle and both Julius Roque and Larry Gerrard came along from the blinds. The flop came and Roque fired 300k into the middle. Gerrard came over the top to 600k, leaving just 340k behind.
Roque hit the tank for a bit and asked to see Gerrard's stack. It took a while, but he finally sent his hand into the muck reluctantly.
I arrived at the pot with the board already out reading and Ronnie Dattani called a bet from Julius Roque.
"Aces," Roque said.
"Aces are good," Dattani replied.
"Three aces," said Roque with a smile, showing ace-ace-ace-ten. Dattani showed king-king-jack-x keeping his fourth card face down.
Bradley Ellis potted to 280k from the hijack, and Julius Roque flatted from the cutoff. The heads-up flop came and Ellis checked to Roque who casually slid out a 500k plaque, forcing the fold from Ellis.
Adam Young opened the middle with a pot to 280k. Ronnie Dattani asked to see his stack, then raised enough to put Young all in and Young made the call.
Adam Young:
Ronnie Dattani:
Dattani was way ahead and the board of was no helo for Young.
Player | Chips | Progress | |
---|---|---|---|
Umang 'Ronnie' Datani | ![]() |
2,800,000 | 800,000 |
Adam Young | ![]() |
0 | 0 |
Player | Chips | Progress | |
---|---|---|---|
Julius Roque | ![]() |
5,250,000 | 2,000,000 |
Umang 'Ronnie' Datani | ![]() |
2,000,000 | 800,000 |
Larry Gerrard | ![]() |
1,540,000 | 160,000 |
Jordan Pennock | ![]() |
1,125,000 | 0 |
Juss Viet | ![]() |
1,050,000 | 0 |
Bradley Ellis | ![]() |
970,000 | 930,000 |
Mark Kudjick | ![]() |
910,000 | 0 |
Mike Flanagan | ![]() |
775,000 | 0 |
Adam Young | ![]() |
540,000 | 0 |
Jonathan LeBlanc was the bubble to the final table tonight. See below for a look at the final 10 players.
They are down to 11 players left in the game now, one elimination off the 10-handed final table. Don Russell and Van Ta were the most recent players to hit the cage.
They are down to 14 players left now in the PLO Monster with Matt Shaw and previous chip leader Stefan Maloney hitting the rail recently. Meanwhile, below is a look at a few of the big stacks tonight.
Player | Chips | Progress | |
---|---|---|---|
Bradley Ellis | ![]() |
1,900,000 | 0 |
Larry Gerrard | ![]() |
1,700,000 | 0 |
Umang Datani | ![]() |
1,200,000 | 0 |
They are down to the final two tables now with 18 players left. Among the recent busts was Mystery Bounty winner Jodie Dunfield and Yeping Shan.
I've just had a quick look around the room and it looks like Stefan Maloney is the leader right now with about 1 million chips. Juss Viet also just chipped up when he got kings into aces but spiked a king on the board to hold on for a double.
They are back in action now for Level 21 and among the players still battling for the big prizes are Stefan Maloney, Matt Shaw, Julius Roque, Juss Viet, Yeping Shan, Umang "Ronnie" Datani, and Mystery Bounty winner Jodie Dunfield.
The final 26 players are on a break now with the end of Level 20. They'll be back in action in about 10 minutes for Level 21 with blinds at 15k/25k/25k.
They are down to three tables remaining in the PLO Monster now with 27 players left. Wei Hou, Dylan Payne, Thomas Taylor, and Darlene Lee were among the recent busts before the final three tables.
There are about 5 minutes left in Level 18 and they are down to 41 players left in the game. Prizes down to 43rd place are under the Payouts tab and I'll keep updating it through the night.
They are down to 5 tables left now in the PLO Monster Stack game with 44 left. Among the players still alive in the game looking for a deep run are Thomas Taylor, Dylan Payne, Juss Viet, Mystery Bounty winner Jodie Dunfield, and Wei Hou, who won a ring here in Calgary in the first WSOP-C in 2022 in the mixed NLH/PLO game.
I've just made it over and got set up at the PLO Monster as the game got into the money. There are 50 players left in the game and the prizes and current payouts so far are under the Payouts tab.
Level 11: 150/2500/2500
Entries: 209/342
The PLO Monster shows 342 entries for the game with action now in Level 11 and entries closed for the night. I'll confirm the numbers when the prize pool is posted, but right now it looks like 52 players will be sharing in more than $112k in prizes. This game is likely to go very late this evening, and I'll be moving over for more coverage once Day 1 of the $1k ends.
Event #8: $400 PLO Monster Stack ($330 + $70)
Jan 15, 4 pm
Start Stack: 40k
Blinds: 25 Minutes
Entries: 10 Levels (~8:40 pm)
There are two Monster Stack games this series, and Monday marks the four-card version of the game. Players get 40k in chips for their $400 buy-in and they'll play 25-minute levels throughout the event. The last chance to enter the game should come around 8:40 pm.
This is a one-day event so I'm expecting it to go quite late with a 40k start stack and a 4 pm start time. My attention will likely be on Event #7 early in the day, but I'll move to the endgame of this once they bag the $1k.