Sam Soverel needed just seven hands of overtime play to secure his place in high-stakes history on Sunday night. The Florida-based pro made short work of the unscheduled third day of the $100,000 PLO Main Event at Triton Poker Series Paradise, defeating Andras Nemeth to capture his first Triton title.
This victory in the four-card showpiece event earned Soverel a career-high payout of $2.594 million. The score pushes his lifetime earnings past the $30 million mark and serves as a spectacular debut on the Triton tour.
In addition to the massive payday, the win secured Soverel his fourth career World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet. He previously claimed WSOP hardware in 2016, 2023, and earlier this year.
“It’s a good start,” Soverel dead-panned during his winner’s interview.
An Unscheduled Finish
The tournament was originally set to conclude on Saturday, but the massive field of 103 entries pushed the action deep into the night. Play was forced to halt at 3:30 a.m. due to local gaming regulations, requiring the final two players to return the following day.
Soverel entered the bonus day with a dominant advantage. He held 20.75 million in chips, equating to 83 big blinds. This gave him a nearly four-to-one lead over Nemeth, who sat on 5 million chips, or roughly 20 big blinds. With only four hands remaining in the current level, the pressure was on immediately.
The Winning Moment
The heads-up match started quietly with small pots exchanging hands, but the fireworks began on the seventh hand of the day.
Soverel looked down at King-King-5-3 in the small blind and set a trap by limping in. Nemeth, holding Ace-Jack-Jack-9, raised from the big blind. Soverel sprung the trap with a three-bet, and with his stack dwindling to around 14 big blinds, Nemeth committed the rest of his chips.
The board ran out 7-10-6-2-K. The river king improved Soverel to a set, sealing the victory and eliminating Nemeth. The Hungarian pro took home $1.751 million for his runner-up finish but missed out on a second Triton title.
Surviving the Swing
While the final day was a breeze, the path to the trophy was volatile. Soverel entered the final table with a narrow lead but had to navigate a “weird” dynamic where chip stacks fluctuated wildly.
“The chip lead is really big in PLO,” Soverel explained. “I felt pretty good right after it happened. But I think I very quickly lost [the chip lead], so it was back to a battle. Normally someone gets the chip lead and kind of runs everyone over. But this was all back and forth the whole time with everyone.”
Soverel secured his position by winning a crucial hand against Richard Gryko to bust the Brit in fourth place. He then amassed an insurmountable lead by eliminating Dan Dvoress in the final hand of Saturday night’s session.
A Change of Heart
Soverel is one of America’s premier pros but had to be persuaded to attend the series in the Bahamas. He admitted that a previous trip two years ago was plagued by rain and left a bad impression, but Triton Paradise has changed his mind.
“In a lightning-fast unscheduled Day 3, Sam Soverel needed just seven hands to defeat Andras Nemeth, claiming his first Triton title and fourth WSOP bracelet.,” he said. “I love to play. Happy I came down here now. All the tournaments have been run amazing and it’s been a good experience so far.”
Event #3: $100K PLO Main Event Final Table Results
Prize Pool: $10,300,000
Entries: 103
| Rank | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Sam Soverel | USA | $2,594,000 |
| 2nd | András Németh | Hungary | $1,751,000 |
| 3rd | Dan Dvoress | Canada | $1,135,000 |
| 4th | Richard Gryko | UK | $941,000 |
| 5th | Philip Sternheimer | UK | $760,000 |
| 6th | Ben Lamb | USA | $598,000 |
| 7th | Joni Jouhkimainen | Finland | $457,500 |
| 8th | Nacho Barbero | Argentina | $345,000 |
| 9th | Phil Ivey | USA | $257,000 |
| 10th | Daniel Negreanu | Canada | $211,000 |
| 11th | Jesse Lonis | USA | $211,000 |
| 12th | Gergő Nagy | Hungary | $185,500 |
| 13th | Dirk Gerritse | Netherlands | $185,500 |
| 14th | László Bujtás | Hungary | $185,500 |
| 15th | Santhosh Suvarna | India | $161,000 |
| 16th | Martin Kabrhel | Czech Republic | $161,000 |
| 17th | Kayhan Mokri | Norway | $161,000 |
