For a pot-limit Omaha specialist such as Stephen Hubbard, the recent proliferation of tournament festivals centered around his game of choice offers a wealth of opportunities.
Hubbard cashed in, in a big way, during the 2025 Texas PLO Roundup in Houston, Texas. The Utah native bested a field of 337 in the $3,300 buy-in, PokerGO Tour-sanctioned main event. He won a first-place prize of $215,000, and earned 720 Card Player Player of the Year points in the process. That nearly doubled his total in the 2025 POY race, presented by CoinPoker.
The victory represented a double in multiple ways. It was Hubbard’s second title of the series, following a win in a $5,300 PGT PLO high roller for $36,000. The win also joins Hubbard’s previous PGT PLO win, earned inside the PokerGO Studio in 2023. He now has nearly $1.4 million in total tournament cashes under his belt.
With 215 PGT points for this win alone, Hubbard sits in 100th place on the season-long PGT leaderboard with only a few events left in the season. The top 40 qualifying players automatically earn a seat into the 2025 PGT $1,000,000 Championship freeroll.
A Runaway Victory
Hubbard entered the final table as the chip leader, having been out in front during several stretches of the tournament. Hubbard navigated a field that included deep runs from multi-time WSOP bracelet winners Alex Livingston (8th), Jim Collopy (15th), Caleb Furth (17th), and Bryce Yockey (24th), as well as World Poker Tour champions club member Frederic Normand (35th).
Once action on the final day kicked off, Hubbard proceeded to knock out five of his last six opponents, including the final four eliminations of the tournament. Among those to fall at the final table were Chris Costa (4th), a plastic surgeon based out of Las Vegas who has two PLO high roller wins on his poker résumé. By the time the field was reduced to three, Hubbard had more than three times as many chips as his two remaining opponents combined.
Philip Shing faced a massive deficit when heads-up play began. Shing battled back, managing one sizable double-up, but got no closer than a 5:1 deficit. On the final hand, the chips went in on the river of an A♠Q♥8♦10♠5♦ board. Shing, after betting all the way down with K♠8♥6♣3♥, attempted a river bluff for all of his chips. Hubbard, who had turned a straight with J♠9♥7♥7♦, was all too happy to call and secure his victory.
Shing earned $155,000 as the runner-up. He now has nearly $3 million in lifetime earnings to his name.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points | PGT Points |
| 1 | Stephen Hubbard | $215,000 | 720 | 215 |
| 2 | Philip Shing | $155,000 | 600 | 155 |
| 3 | David Shaw | $100,000 | 480 | 100 |
| 4 | Chris Costa | $65,000 | 360 | 65 |
| 5 | Vito Qingyu Lu | $50,000 | 300 | 50 |
| 6 | Joe Firova | $40,000 | 240 | 40 |
| 7 | Sterling Savill | $30,000 | 180 | 30 |
Photo credit: PokerGO Tour / Antonio Abrego.
