2025 WSOPC Calgary – Event #2: $600 NLH/PLO

The side game was a marathon as expected with play going for more than 14 hours. The final hand played out after 5 am in the poker room but when it was all over, Praba Siva was wearing the ring and holding the giant cheque.

Siva played well but was also running very hot. In a big hand that gave him a big lead, both players ended up with trip jacks. Siva had Youssef Hmama out-kicked and took it down. In the final hand of play, it was another great spot for Siva when he woke up with ace-ten and called off the shove from Hmama with king-ten.

Siva hit two pair on the flop with both an ace and a ten leaving Hmama drawing pretty thin. He bricked the rest of the board and it was all over. This was Siva’s 3rd career win and first WSOP-C Ring.

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Final Results for E2

Place	Player	Prize
1	Praba Siva	$21,980
2	Youssef Hmama	$14,395
3	Michael Khan	$9,715
4	Alex Liu	$6,763
5	Colton Yamagishi	$4,861
6	Craig Caldwell	$3,611
7	Stephen O’Bertos	$2,776
8	Michael Baldwin	$2,210
9	Michael Wo	$1,826
10	Stephen Scuderi	$1,567
11	Andy Truong	$1,567
12	John Dalphond	$1,399
13	Pushpinder Singh	$1,399
14	Scott Stuve	$1,302
15	Abudukadeer Adili	$1,302
16	Darlene Hernandez	$1,302
17	Garett Maybery	$1,302
18	Illia Hulenko	$1,240
19	Michael Rayburn	$1,240
20	Kirk Miller	$1,240
21	Greg Genge	$1,240
22	Jerry Li	$1,240
23	Ke’ Andra Willis	$1,240
24	Malachy Hagan	$1,240
25	Chris Klementis	$1,240
26	Devon Lane	$1,240
27	Teo Sanchez	$1,240

It wasn’t an easy heads-up for Youssef Hmama. He got to the final phase of the game with close to even stacks, but Praba Siva found the heat during the heads-up.

One key hand saw both players flop a pair of jacks and river trips. Siva had the best kicker when the cards were turned over with a ten kicker to double-pip the eight for Hmama.

When they started heads up play they were pretty even but so far it’s been mostly Praba Siva’s game He now has the lead with about 300k in front of him compared to about 150k for Youssef Hmama. He picked up some of those chips in a recent hand when both players flopped a jack and rivered trips with Siva on the best kicker for the win.

They are heads up now after Michael Khan couldn’t win a race with ace-ten against the pocket fours for Youssef Hmama. Khan shoved his button and Hmama called from the small blind with his small pair holding to put him heads up against Praba Siva.

They are down to three left now after the Main Event winner from August Alex Liu hit the rail in 4th place.

Colten Yamagishi was nearly all in from the big blind with just a couple of 5k chips behind and he called the rest off after Youssef Hmama raised the cutoff. Yamagishi was in rough shape with six-four-deuce-deuce against queen-queen-seven-deuce, but he found trip sixes on the turn and river to take it down and stay alive once again.

He didn’t last long with the double however as shortly after he ran into trip deuces for Hmama and hit the rail for 5th place worth $4,861.

Alex Liu was all in from the big blind with button Praba Siva covering him. Siva was dominated with K♠5♠ against ace-king off for Liu. The board missed both hands leaving the big slick in front and doubling up Liu to around 500k.

In the first hand, Youssef Hmama bet 195k, then called when Michael Khan made it enough to put him all in. Hmama was in rough shape with ace-queen into ace-king, but the 10♥K♦A♠10♦J♣ took Hmama to Broadway for the win and the double.

A couple of hands later, Stephen O’Bertos shoved 265k early and Craig Caldwell called from his left. Youssef Hmama shoved his big blind, which forced Caldwell all in when he called.

O’Bertos had ace-six against king-queen suited for Caldwell and pocket tens for Hmama. O’Bertos nailed the flop with A♦6♥9♥ for two pair, but after the 3♦10♦ was complete Hmama rivered a set for the win.

Place	Player	Prize
6	Craig Caldwell	$3,611
7	Stephen O’Bertos	$2,776

Praba Siva is leading the way after 22 levels of play tonight. He has 1.79 million, almost twice as much as 2nd place Michael Khan with 945k. See below for all the final table stacks.

Colten Yamagishi was still short with about 130k in front of him. He put that in from the middle and Youssef Hmama called from the cutoff. Hmama was on queen-queen-eight-seven against ace-ace-jack-six for Yamagishi and the aces held for the win. The next break is about 5 minutes away, and I’ll get full counts while they are out of the room.

Colten Yamagish was on less than two big blinds and he got it in with pocket nines, getting calls from three players. The action checked through the 7♣J♦3♦10♣10♥ board, and Yamagishi revealed pocket nines for the win after everyone else folded.

There is a break coming up in a bit more than 20 minutes and I’ll get full chip counts then.

They are down to seven left in the Mix game now after Michael Wo and Michael Baldwin hit the rail in 9th and 8th places respectively.

Stephen Scuderi was the first player off the final table tonight. I’ll get pictures and names for the final table shortly, but the field is now down to 9 and I’ll be moving over to cover the rest of this one shortly as Event #1 just finished up.

Payouts from 15 – 10

Place	Player	Prize
10	Stephen Scuderi	$1,567
11	Andy Truong	$1,567
12	John Dalphond	$1,399
13	Pushpinder Singh	$1,399
14	Scott Stuve	$1,302
15	Abudukadeer Adili	$1,302

There are 15 players left in the Mix game tonight with about 5 minutes to play in Level 17. Full prizes are under the Payouts tab with cashers since my last post below.

Place	Player	Prize
16	Darlene Hernandez	$1,302
17	Garett Maybery	$1,302
18	Illia Hulenko	$1,240
19	Michael Rayburn	$1,240
20	Kirk Miller	$1,240

They are down to 20 left as Level 16 ends tonight. The prizes so far are loaded under the Payouts tab and also below.

Place	Player	Prize
21	Greg Genge	$1,240
22	Jerry Li	$1,240
23	Ke’ Andra Willis	$1,240
24	Malachy Hagan	$1,240
25	Chris Klementis	$1,240
26	Devon Lane	$1,240
27	Teo Sanchez	$1,240

They are down to 30 left in the Mix game now with the action in Level 13. That puts them three off the money spots and two away from the bubble.

The numbers are final for the side event with 178 entries putting a bit more than $91k into the prizes. That will be divided 27 ways later tonight and they are already closing in on the payouts with 37 players left in the game. I’m still watching the end of Event #1 so I’m not following this very closely, but the prizes will be loaded into the Payouts tab shortly.

Final Table Payouts for NLH/PLO Mix

The side event field is at 169 entries now with action in Level 9. Entries will close after the break following Level 10 so there is about an hour left to enter the second ring event of the series.

Level 7 of the side event is just underway with the players working with two cards this level. The field is currently at 147 entries with 89 players still alive. I don’t have a good handle on everyone in the game right now, but when I was last in the room I did see defending champion Julius Roque in the action. Roque won this event in November at the Fall Super Stack, as well as the ring in this one last May so it’s pretty clear he likes this event.

The side game is into Level 4 with the first break of the day scheduled following this level. The field is up to 100 entries now with 90 players still at the felt for prizes of $51,5k. Entries remain open until the start of Level 11, which should be around 8:45 pm.

The side game is into Level 2 now with the field up to 56 entries for prizes closing in on $30k. The action is taking place in the Chrome Showroom so I don’t have direct eyes on the game from the Sundance room where I am watching Event #1, but I’ll try to keep the numbers up to date.

The second event of WSOP-C Calgary Jan 2025 is set to get started in about 15 minutes in the Chrome Showroom. The NLH/PLO Mix game kicks off at 3 pm with entries open until about 8:45 pm. I won’t be following this one very closely until the Event #1 ring is awarded, but I expect this to be a late one, so no doubt I’ll be able to catch the endgame of this one.

There are 21 entries in the field right now with action still a few minutes away. I expect the numbers on this one to grow steadily throughout the night as players bust out of Event #1.

The side event on opening day is the NLH/PLO Mix. This is traditionally the only mixed game event featured at a Calgary WSOP-C, but this year there is also a HORSE game added later in the series for a double shot of mixed game action this time around.

The game kicks off at 3 PM with entries open for 10 levels or until about 8:45 PM. Players sit down with 25k in chips for 30-minute levels throughout the game, so this could be a late one. This is a one-day event, so the winner will be decided before they end for the night.

My focus early in the day will be on Event #1 until it finishes, but I expect this one to go well into the early morning hours of Thursday, so I expect I’ll catch the endgame of this one after the Big 30 Stack ring is awarded.