2025 Pure Poker Tour Series #2 – Event #11: $450 PLO

Considering Luteng Li just flew in from Richmond, BC, and this is the very first event he’s ever played on the Pure Poker Tour, it’s safe to say he’s off to a good start. He started off his Edmonton trip with a win, besting some fairly notable regulars along the way.

He made it through the 69 entries in about 13 hours tonight, and when they got down to the business end, he was facing a table that contained a lot of faces we regularly see deep in 4-card games here on the PPT. Runner-up Varan Sidhu, 4th place Nu Teliani, 5th place Sebastian Crema, 6th place Josh Myers, and 7th place Tony Ma are all regulars deep in PPT games (Ma and Crema were both working on their 3rd final table in this series alone). Add to that the wildcard of David Fong (3rd), and it’s clear that Li wasn’t facing down a table of fish tonight.

Perhaps he had the advantage of being an unknown quantity, but he played a solid, quiet game at the final table. He was rarely the chip leader, until it counted, but he was also rarely short-stacked. He played a waiting game, taking full advantage of the spots where he had the goods and making solid laydowns when it mattered.

In one example of the latter, Li was stuck in the middle of Fong and Teliani. In what turned into a massive pot, Teliani bet the 8♠7♦3♠ flop and Li called before Fong potted it and Teliani called for less. That left Li facing a decision — Fong outchipped him at the time, and after a couple of minutes of going over the hand action, he found a fold in the huge pot. I don’t know what he folded, but regardless, it was an example of strategic play that ensured he kept playing with a stack. Teliani eventually ran out to a bigger boat than Fong to stay alive with a double plus.

When he got heads-up with Sidhu, they were about even, but it didn’t take long for Li to chip into the lead. Heads up only took about 15 minutes to complete. In the final hand, Li turned a set of aces against a boatload of straight outs for Sidhu. The river ran clean for Li, and he took down his first PPT trophy in his very first PPT event.

Final Results for PLO

Place	Player	Prize
1	Luteng Li	$9,440
2	Varan Sidhu	$6,555
3	David Fong	$4,195
4	Nu Teliani	$2,620
5	Sebastian Crema	$1,575
6	Josh Myers	$1,050
7	Tony Ma	$785

The PLO game is now over, and Varan Sidhu ended his day as the runner-up. He was about even with Luteng Li when they got heads up, but Li quickly chipped up to take the lead. In the final hand, Sidhu potted for 90k, Li repotted for 270k and Sidhu called to a flop of 9♠3♠8♦.

Li potted, enough to put Sidhu all in and Sidhu called. Li was on ace-ace-king-seven against si-four-three-deuce. The aces held on a A♥7♠ runout, and Sidhu had to settle for second.

The PLO game is heads up now after David Fong ended his day in 3rd. He was short for much of the last two levels and while he managed to find a double, it didn’t last long. In the final hand, He limped, then called when Varan Sidhu raised to 90k.

He shoved the 2♠8♦3♠ flop. Fong shoved the rest of his stack and Sidhu called. They both hit the three, but Sidhu had the best kicker and held to take it down.

David Fong was down to his last 125k in the final hand of the last level, and he shoved the small blind against Varan Sidhu. Sidhu called, and it was J♥J♠10♠3♣ for Fong against Q♣8♠8♣5♠. The board was A♦A♣4♥10♥5♠ and the jacks held for the win and a double to about 300k.

They are down to 3 left after Nu Teliani hit the rail for 4th place tonight. She shoved with queens and threes, and hit a set of threes on the flop, but then lost to a diamond flush.

Varan Sidhu is leading with a bit more than 1 million now, to 600k for Luteng Li and 410k for David Fong.

I missed the action while I was finishing up the side game action tonight, but the PLO is now down to 4 players after Sebastian Crema ended his day in 5th. This was Crema’s 3rd final table of the series after 5th place in Event #3 and runner-up in Event #7.

The side game is now heads up so I’ve moved over to cover that one more closely until a winner is decided, but this game is now on the break following Level 20 with Varan Sidhu in the lead.

I’ve been over doing some clean up work with the side event, which is now down to heads up, and while I was gone, Varan Sidhu went from 3 big blinds to the chip leader. He has more than 600k in front of him now. There’s a break coming in about 25 minutes and I’ll get full counts then.

I arrived at the table with the flop reading 8♠7♦3♠. Nu Teliani was all in from the hijack, Luteng Li was considering his move as David Fong had a 360 pot bet in front. While I missed the actual action, it looked like Teliani potted the flop, Li called, Fong repotted, Teliani called all-in for less, and Li was left with the decision.

He eventually mucked to set up a spot where Teliani was drawing to 5 outs with 9♣8♥7♣5♠ against the made set of sevens for Fong with Q♥J♥7♠7♥. The 4♣ turn was a brick, but the 8♦ river gave Teliani the better boat with eights full of sevens over sevens full of eights.

Varan Sidhu raised to 35k from the short stack and then called it all off when Luteng Li potted to put him all in. It was Q♠10♦9♣4♣ for Li against J♦10♣9♠6♦. When the board of 10♥K♠A♦4♦6♠ was complete, the two pair for Sidhu was good for a double.

It was limped preflop between Varan Sidhu in the small and Sebastian Crema in the big. Sidhu check-called for 10k on the 4♦6♠K♦ flop.

They both checked the 5♣ turn, but on the 6♦ river, Sidhu bet 15k and Crema called. “Flush”, Crema said, showing [KhJc9d2d[/pcn] while SIdhu mucked.

They are down to 5 just before the end of Level 16. David Fong limped the hijack and Varan Sidhu called the cutoff before Josh Myers potted the button from the small stack.

Fong called while Sidhu mucked. It all went in on the Q♠2♦6♦ when Fong check-called the shove from Myers. Fong flopped a set of queens and a diamond draw against a pair of sixes for Myers. Fong bricked his diamonds, but the set of queens was enough to send Myers out in 6th.

Josh Myers limped the middle before Nu Teliani raised to 16k from the cutoff. They both checked the [2dAc4s[/pcn] flop, and Myers check-called for 10k on the J♣ turn. He check-called again for 10k on the 2♣ river, and Teliani showed J♠10♣8♠5♣ for the running club flush while Myers showed the ace of spades as he mucked.

There is a break coming in about 5 minutes and I’ll grab exact counts then, but it looks like Sebastian Crema is still the leader with Teliani in 2nd.

Sebastian Crema raised to 21k under the gun, and Josh Myers called from the big blind. “I haven’t been able to beat you in a pot yet,” he said as he called. “Maybe this is the one.”

The flop came 8♣7♣Q♠ and Myers check-called for 17k. They both checked the [invalid notations] river.

Myers hit the tank for a bit. “I feel like you’re bluffing me now,” he said, before finally putting out the call.

“Flush,” Crema said, showing Q♥J♣J♥8♣ for the club flush.

“Nice check,” said Myers as he mucked his hand.

Tony Ma is having a decent week here at PPT #2. This was his third final table, including a win in the High Roller, and his third cash of the series so far.

While I missed the preflop action, Nu Teliani checked the J♣2♦8♣ flop before Ma shoved his remaining stack. Josh Myers called from the button and Teliani backed out of the pot.

Ma had top pair with J♣2♦8♣ against Q♣6♥4♥2♣ for Myers. Myers missed his club draw on the Q♦8♥ runout, but the queen was enough for him to take it down.

In the first hand, David Fong opened his button to 9k and Varan Sidhu called from the big blind. He check-raised the 2♣J♠9♦ flop fro 10k to 40k and forced the fold.

In the next hand, Sebastian Crema limped under the gun, Tony Ma potted to 18k, and Josh Myers called from the big blind, as did Crema. They all checked the 2♥6♣8♦ flop and, after a check from Myers on the 6♠ turn, Crema bet 23k. That pushed Ma out, but Myers was sticky to the 5♠ river.

They both checked the river and both players announced a straight, but Crema had the higher one with K♣K♥7♠4♦ and took the pot.

Josh Myers potted the hijack to 10.5k and Sebastian Crema repotted the cutoff to 36k. Myers check-called a pot bet (79.5k) from Crema on the J♥3♠5♦ flop. Myers shoved the 5♣ turn to force Crema all in, and Crema made the call. Myers was drawing to a straight with king-ten-six-deuce, but Crema was on aces. 6♣ on the river didn’t change anything and Crema got the full double-up.

Ming Ashing was the bubble to the money tonight as the field is now down to 7 players left. All remaining players are now guaranteed at least $785.

They are down to 8 remaining now, on the money bubble after John Muzorewa ended his final table run in 9th place. There are seven paid spots tonight and 8 players left now.

Josh Myers opened the hijack to 6.5k and got three callers. They all checked the 10♥J♦2♠ flop and, after a check from Nu Teliani in the small blind on the 4♦ turn, Ashing fired 8k. Myers called, chip leader John Muzorewa mucked, and Teliani called.

Teliani checked again on the 5♠ river, and Ashing fired 20k. Myers slid in the call while Teliani folded. Ashing had 10♠10♣9♦5♠ against J♦7♦4♠4♣ for a set of tens to beat Myers’ set of fours.

John Muzorewa is the chip leader as they set up the final table with about 25 minutes to play in Level 11. Stay tuned for pictures of the final nine shortly.

They are down to 11 left in the PLO game now, four players off the money spots. The average stack is just below 100 big blinds to start Level 11.

The final numbers are confirmed at 69 entries for prizes of $26,220. 7 players will get a piece of that at the end of the night tonight, and we might not have long to wait to find out who wins it. The field is down to 17 remaining shortly after they returned from dinner, putting them just 10 players off the money. That said, the average stack right now is more than 100 big blinds, so it’s still very deep.

The players are about to sit down for Level 9 after their dinner break, and Josh Myers is the leader as entries close. It looks like the final number was 69 entries for $26,220 in prizes, but those numbers are yet to be confirmed when the prizes are up. If they hold, seven players will be sharing in the prizes later tonight.

Tony Comely, as well as the runner-up from last night’s side game, Brian MacNevin, were new entries at dinner.

There are about 10 minutes to play in Level 8, and the remaining players will be out for their dinner break following this level. Entries will close when they return from dinner (30 minutes) and start Level 9.

Entries for the Deepstack Hyper sidegame tonight are open until about 7:30 PM, however, so there’s still poker to play for players who bust after the PLO closes.

There are just moments left in Level 7 with the field at 66 entries for prizes of just over $25k. There is still one more level of poker before the dinner break, with entries set to close after dinner when they return for Level 9 at about 5:45 PM.

Level 5 is nearly complete with the field now at 61 entries. There are about 2 hours left to enter this game, so a field of 70+ looks like a lock at this point, but the final numbers are still a couple of hours away. The final chance to enter this game will come at about 5:45 PM tonight.

Big Stacks on Break

Level 4 has just begun and the players will take their first break of the day when this level concludes. There are still more than 3 hours left to get into the game with entries open for four more levels, plus the dinner break, following the upcoming break.

The field is now at 40 entries with 30 still alive and Pav Braich among the recent entries to the game.

The field is just a few entries away from $15k in prizes with a bit more than 20 minutes to play in Level 3. There are still 29 live players in their seats with 6 rebuys on the board currently.

There is another level of poker following this one before the first break of the day, then four more levels following that before dinner and the end of entries.

It’s a pretty decent turnout so far for the PLO game with 30 entries in their seats and 29 players still alive. There are still abotu 15 minutes to play in Level 2, and among the recent entries I’ve spotted getting into the game are Pete Fylyma, Mike Malm, Winner of the High Roller Tony Ma, and Bobby Rutledge, who is freshly back from a few months of world travel. With the current numbers, it looks likely that the field today will be 70+ as there are still just shy of four hours left to enter.

The PLO action is underway here for Thursday’s main game. There are 12 players in their seats to start the game, including Tony Comely, Keith Schultz, runner-up from E10 Larry Quon, Malcolm Bolger, Skyler York, Keith Sarnoski, Brady O’Hara, and runner-up from the 6-Max Sebastian Crema.

Thursday is the day for four-card lovers as the $450 PLO runs at 1 PM. Players sit down with 30k in chips for 30-minute levels, and this one-day event will end on Thursday (or more likely, early Friday morning).

Entries are open for 8 levels with the desk set to close after dinner at about 5:45 PM. I’ll be on the floor for this as my main focus on Thursday.

Considering Luteng Li just flew in from Richmond, BC, and this is the very first event he’s ever played on the Pure Poker Tour, it’s safe to say he’s off to a good start. He started off his Edmonton trip with a win, besting some fairly notable regulars along the way.

He made it through the 69 entries in about 13 hours tonight, and when they got down to the business end, he was facing a table that contained a lot of faces we regularly see deep in 4-card games here on the PPT. Runner-up Varan Sidhu, 4th place Nu Teliani, 5th place Sebastian Crema, 6th place Josh Myers, and 7th place Tony Ma are all regulars deep in PPT games (Ma and Crema were both working on their 3rd final table in this series alone). Add to that the wildcard of David Fong (3rd), and it’s clear that Li wasn’t facing down a table of fish tonight.

Perhaps he had the advantage of being an unknown quantity, but he played a solid, quiet game at the final table. He was rarely the chip leader, until it counted, but he was also rarely short-stacked. He played a waiting game, taking full advantage of the spots where he had the goods and making solid laydowns when it mattered.

In one example of the latter, Li was stuck in the middle of Fong and Teliani. In what turned into a massive pot, Teliani bet the 8♠7♦3♠ flop and Li called before Fong potted it and Teliani called for less. That left Li facing a decision — Fong outchipped him at the time, and after a couple of minutes of going over the hand action, he found a fold in the huge pot. I don’t know what he folded, but regardless, it was an example of strategic play that ensured he kept playing with a stack. Teliani eventually ran out to a bigger boat than Fong to stay alive with a double plus.

When he got heads-up with Sidhu, they were about even, but it didn’t take long for Li to chip into the lead. Heads up only took about 15 minutes to complete. In the final hand, Li turned a set of aces against a boatload of straight outs for Sidhu. The river ran clean for Li, and he took down his first PPT trophy in his very first PPT event.

Final Results for PLO

Place	Player	Prize
1	Luteng Li	$9,440
2	Varan Sidhu	$6,555
3	David Fong	$4,195
4	Nu Teliani	$2,620
5	Sebastian Crema	$1,575
6	Josh Myers	$1,050
7	Tony Ma	$785

The PLO game is now over, and Varan Sidhu ended his day as the runner-up. He was about even with Luteng Li when they got heads up, but Li quickly chipped up to take the lead. In the final hand, Sidhu potted for 90k, Li repotted for 270k and Sidhu called to a flop of 9♠3♠8♦.

Li potted, enough to put Sidhu all in and Sidhu called. Li was on ace-ace-king-seven against si-four-three-deuce. The aces held on a A♥7♠ runout, and Sidhu had to settle for second.

The PLO game is heads up now after David Fong ended his day in 3rd. He was short for much of the last two levels and while he managed to find a double, it didn’t last long. In the final hand, He limped, then called when Varan Sidhu raised to 90k.

He shoved the 2♠8♦3♠ flop. Fong shoved the rest of his stack and Sidhu called. They both hit the three, but Sidhu had the best kicker and held to take it down.

David Fong was down to his last 125k in the final hand of the last level, and he shoved the small blind against Varan Sidhu. Sidhu called, and it was J♥J♠10♠3♣ for Fong against Q♣8♠8♣5♠. The board was A♦A♣4♥10♥5♠ and the jacks held for the win and a double to about 300k.

They are down to 3 left after Nu Teliani hit the rail for 4th place tonight. She shoved with queens and threes, and hit a set of threes on the flop, but then lost to a diamond flush.

Varan Sidhu is leading with a bit more than 1 million now, to 600k for Luteng Li and 410k for David Fong.

I missed the action while I was finishing up the side game action tonight, but the PLO is now down to 4 players after Sebastian Crema ended his day in 5th. This was Crema’s 3rd final table of the series after 5th place in Event #3 and runner-up in Event #7.

The side game is now heads up so I’ve moved over to cover that one more closely until a winner is decided, but this game is now on the break following Level 20 with Varan Sidhu in the lead.

I’ve been over doing some clean up work with the side event, which is now down to heads up, and while I was gone, Varan Sidhu went from 3 big blinds to the chip leader. He has more than 600k in front of him now. There’s a break coming in about 25 minutes and I’ll get full counts then.

I arrived at the table with the flop reading 8♠7♦3♠. Nu Teliani was all in from the hijack, Luteng Li was considering his move as David Fong had a 360 pot bet in front. While I missed the actual action, it looked like Teliani potted the flop, Li called, Fong repotted, Teliani called all-in for less, and Li was left with the decision.

He eventually mucked to set up a spot where Teliani was drawing to 5 outs with 9♣8♥7♣5♠ against the made set of sevens for Fong with Q♥J♥7♠7♥. The 4♣ turn was a brick, but the 8♦ river gave Teliani the better boat with eights full of sevens over sevens full of eights.

Varan Sidhu raised to 35k from the short stack and then called it all off when Luteng Li potted to put him all in. It was Q♠10♦9♣4♣ for Li against J♦10♣9♠6♦. When the board of 10♥K♠A♦4♦6♠ was complete, the two pair for Sidhu was good for a double.

It was limped preflop between Varan Sidhu in the small and Sebastian Crema in the big. Sidhu check-called for 10k on the 4♦6♠K♦ flop.

They both checked the 5♣ turn, but on the 6♦ river, Sidhu bet 15k and Crema called. “Flush”, Crema said, showing [KhJc9d2d[/pcn] while SIdhu mucked.

They are down to 5 just before the end of Level 16. David Fong limped the hijack and Varan Sidhu called the cutoff before Josh Myers potted the button from the small stack.

Fong called while Sidhu mucked. It all went in on the Q♠2♦6♦ when Fong check-called the shove from Myers. Fong flopped a set of queens and a diamond draw against a pair of sixes for Myers. Fong bricked his diamonds, but the set of queens was enough to send Myers out in 6th.

Josh Myers limped the middle before Nu Teliani raised to 16k from the cutoff. They both checked the [2dAc4s[/pcn] flop, and Myers check-called for 10k on the J♣ turn. He check-called again for 10k on the 2♣ river, and Teliani showed J♠10♣8♠5♣ for the running club flush while Myers showed the ace of spades as he mucked.

There is a break coming in about 5 minutes and I’ll grab exact counts then, but it looks like Sebastian Crema is still the leader with Teliani in 2nd.

Sebastian Crema raised to 21k under the gun, and Josh Myers called from the big blind. “I haven’t been able to beat you in a pot yet,” he said as he called. “Maybe this is the one.”

The flop came 8♣7♣Q♠ and Myers check-called for 17k. They both checked the [invalid notations] river.

Myers hit the tank for a bit. “I feel like you’re bluffing me now,” he said, before finally putting out the call.

“Flush,” Crema said, showing Q♥J♣J♥8♣ for the club flush.

“Nice check,” said Myers as he mucked his hand.

Tony Ma is having a decent week here at PPT #2. This was his third final table, including a win in the High Roller, and his third cash of the series so far.

While I missed the preflop action, Nu Teliani checked the J♣2♦8♣ flop before Ma shoved his remaining stack. Josh Myers called from the button and Teliani backed out of the pot.

Ma had top pair with J♣2♦8♣ against Q♣6♥4♥2♣ for Myers. Myers missed his club draw on the Q♦8♥ runout, but the queen was enough for him to take it down.

In the first hand, David Fong opened his button to 9k and Varan Sidhu called from the big blind. He check-raised the 2♣J♠9♦ flop fro 10k to 40k and forced the fold.

In the next hand, Sebastian Crema limped under the gun, Tony Ma potted to 18k, and Josh Myers called from the big blind, as did Crema. They all checked the 2♥6♣8♦ flop and, after a check from Myers on the 6♠ turn, Crema bet 23k. That pushed Ma out, but Myers was sticky to the 5♠ river.

They both checked the river and both players announced a straight, but Crema had the higher one with K♣K♥7♠4♦ and took the pot.

Josh Myers potted the hijack to 10.5k and Sebastian Crema repotted the cutoff to 36k. Myers check-called a pot bet (79.5k) from Crema on the J♥3♠5♦ flop. Myers shoved the 5♣ turn to force Crema all in, and Crema made the call. Myers was drawing to a straight with king-ten-six-deuce, but Crema was on aces. 6♣ on the river didn’t change anything and Crema got the full double-up.

Ming Ashing was the bubble to the money tonight as the field is now down to 7 players left. All remaining players are now guaranteed at least $785.

They are down to 8 remaining now, on the money bubble after John Muzorewa ended his final table run in 9th place. There are seven paid spots tonight and 8 players left now.

Josh Myers opened the hijack to 6.5k and got three callers. They all checked the 10♥J♦2♠ flop and, after a check from Nu Teliani in the small blind on the 4♦ turn, Ashing fired 8k. Myers called, chip leader John Muzorewa mucked, and Teliani called.

Teliani checked again on the 5♠ river, and Ashing fired 20k. Myers slid in the call while Teliani folded. Ashing had 10♠10♣9♦5♠ against J♦7♦4♠4♣ for a set of tens to beat Myers’ set of fours.

John Muzorewa is the chip leader as they set up the final table with about 25 minutes to play in Level 11. Stay tuned for pictures of the final nine shortly.

They are down to 11 left in the PLO game now, four players off the money spots. The average stack is just below 100 big blinds to start Level 11.

The final numbers are confirmed at 69 entries for prizes of $26,220. 7 players will get a piece of that at the end of the night tonight, and we might not have long to wait to find out who wins it. The field is down to 17 remaining shortly after they returned from dinner, putting them just 10 players off the money. That said, the average stack right now is more than 100 big blinds, so it’s still very deep.

The players are about to sit down for Level 9 after their dinner break, and Josh Myers is the leader as entries close. It looks like the final number was 69 entries for $26,220 in prizes, but those numbers are yet to be confirmed when the prizes are up. If they hold, seven players will be sharing in the prizes later tonight.

Tony Comely, as well as the runner-up from last night’s side game, Brian MacNevin, were new entries at dinner.

There are about 10 minutes to play in Level 8, and the remaining players will be out for their dinner break following this level. Entries will close when they return from dinner (30 minutes) and start Level 9.

Entries for the Deepstack Hyper sidegame tonight are open until about 7:30 PM, however, so there’s still poker to play for players who bust after the PLO closes.

There are just moments left in Level 7 with the field at 66 entries for prizes of just over $25k. There is still one more level of poker before the dinner break, with entries set to close after dinner when they return for Level 9 at about 5:45 PM.

Level 5 is nearly complete with the field now at 61 entries. There are about 2 hours left to enter this game, so a field of 70+ looks like a lock at this point, but the final numbers are still a couple of hours away. The final chance to enter this game will come at about 5:45 PM tonight.

Big Stacks on Break

Level 4 has just begun and the players will take their first break of the day when this level concludes. There are still more than 3 hours left to get into the game with entries open for four more levels, plus the dinner break, following the upcoming break.

The field is now at 40 entries with 30 still alive and Pav Braich among the recent entries to the game.

The field is just a few entries away from $15k in prizes with a bit more than 20 minutes to play in Level 3. There are still 29 live players in their seats with 6 rebuys on the board currently.

There is another level of poker following this one before the first break of the day, then four more levels following that before dinner and the end of entries.

It’s a pretty decent turnout so far for the PLO game with 30 entries in their seats and 29 players still alive. There are still abotu 15 minutes to play in Level 2, and among the recent entries I’ve spotted getting into the game are Pete Fylyma, Mike Malm, Winner of the High Roller Tony Ma, and Bobby Rutledge, who is freshly back from a few months of world travel. With the current numbers, it looks likely that the field today will be 70+ as there are still just shy of four hours left to enter.

The PLO action is underway here for Thursday’s main game. There are 12 players in their seats to start the game, including Tony Comely, Keith Schultz, runner-up from E10 Larry Quon, Malcolm Bolger, Skyler York, Keith Sarnoski, Brady O’Hara, and runner-up from the 6-Max Sebastian Crema.

Thursday is the day for four-card lovers as the $450 PLO runs at 1 PM. Players sit down with 30k in chips for 30-minute levels, and this one-day event will end on Thursday (or more likely, early Friday morning).

Entries are open for 8 levels with the desk set to close after dinner at about 5:45 PM. I’ll be on the floor for this as my main focus on Thursday.