Day 2 of the 2025 PPT #2 is complete. Day 1a of Event #3 was the main focus of the day as 97 entries put prizes over $55k, with another flight set to take off on Saturday. There was some interesting side action on Friday as well, however, with a PLO Deepstack Hyper playing out alongside Event #3.
Alan Zhu Leads After Opening Flight to Event #3
| Event 3: | $670 NLH Day 1A ($600+$70) |
| Date: | May 16, 1 PM |
| Blinds: | 40 Minutes |
| Starting Stack: | 25k |
| Late Entry: | 9 Levels (~8:15 PM) |
| Day 1 Ends: | 12.5% of the Starting Field |
| Entries (Prizes): | 97 ($55,290) |
The first flight to Event #3 is now complete, and 1b players will have a tough time catching Alan Zhu. Zhu bagged up 565.5k at the end of the night, about 200k more than second-place Taran Parmar.
Day 1a action played into Level 15, but hand-for-hand play on the bubble was short. They went hand-for-hand with 31 minutes left in the level, but it was just a couple of hands later that Garry Sandhu bubbled Day 2. Trevor Patrick, who bagged the 5th place stack from 1a, was almost the bubble in the hand before Sandhu exited the game. Patrick was at risk against Lynne Stephenson, with both players on top pair. Money went in on a queen-high flop, and Patrick’s ace kicker was best over the king for Stephenson. The ace held up, and Patrick chipped up to the top-five while Stephenson ended up in 7th place.
Day 1b starts at 1 pm on Saturday and the field should be significantly bigger. A 1b field of 150 isn’t out of the question, and if they hit that number, the prizes will be more than $140k. 130 entries seems like a near lock based on the 1a numbers, and that would mean a prize pool just shy of $130k. Follow the exclusive 1b reporting at https://www.poker.pro/live-reporting/2025-pure-poker-tour-series-2-event-3-670-nlh/.
Day 1a Qualifying Stacks
| Player | Chips |
|---|---|
| Alan Zhu | 565,500 |
| Taran Parmar | 363,500 |
| Alex Richmond | 272,500 |
| Matthew Ouellette | 200,000 |
| Trevor Patrick | 188,500 |
| Hongwei Liu | 187,000 |
| Lynne Stephenson | 175,000 |
| John Donnelly | 169,500 |
| Kris Steinbach | 162,000 |
| Weston Pring | 92,000 |
| Ivan Magulak | 45,000 |
| Parth Patel | 44,000 |
Benny Sarnelli Gets 3rd Win & 2nd PPT Trophy in PLO Deepstack Hyper
| Event 4: | $300 PLO Deepstack Hyper ($270+$30) |
| Date: | May 16, 5 PM |
| Blinds: | 15 Minutes |
| Starting Stack: | 50k |
| Entries: | 69 |
| Prizes (Winner): | $17,708 (Benny Sarnelli, $4,528 after 4-way deal) |
The PLO Deepstack Hyper was an interesting format with a 50k stack to start, but super-fast 15-minute blinds. As expected, the action was hot and heavy, with the game playing down from 69 entries to the winner in about 8 hours.
When play got to the final four, the average stack was under 10 bigs, and they decided that smoothing out the money was the way to go. They made an ICM chop and left $200 to play for.
Benny Sarnelli then went on a tear in the extra-hyper action to follow. He quickly sent the other three to the rail to collect his 3rd live win, and second PPT trophy. He won a bounty event on the tour in 2023, but also picked up the win in the January Monthly Deepstacks here at Yellowhead.
Final Results for Event #4
| Place | Player | Prize (*Denotes Deal) |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Benny Sarnelli | $4,528* |
| 2nd | Joseph Sylvain | $4,262* |
| 3rd | Saleh Abouelkhair | $3,679* |
| 4th | Stefan Maloney | $2,944* |
| 5th | Tony Comely | $1,060 |
| 6th | Andrew Taylor | $705 |
| 7th | Bruce Drake | $530 |
There is still plenty of action to come here at Pure Casino Yellowhead. Saturday features the second and final flight to Day 2 of Event #3, plus an evening NLH side game, while the High Roller, the 6-Max, and the Main Event are all on the horizon next week. Follow all the exclusive reporting here on poker.pro.
