The 2025 PokerGO Tour Pot-Limit Omaha Series II has been a star-studded affair so far, with the first four champions all being among the world’s most accomplished tournament players. Jesse Lonis and Alex Foxen, the two highest-ranked Card Player Player of the Year contenders, took down the first two tournaments of the festival. They were followed by Poker Hall of Famer Erik Seidel, the ten-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner who triumphed in event no. 3.
The last player standing in event no. 4 fits right in with that illustrious company. Ben Lamb, a two-time WSOP main event final tablist and two-time bracelet winner. Lamb’s win at the PGT PLO Series II saw him overcome 117 entries in the $10,000 buy-in held inside the PokerGO Studio at ARIA Resort & Casino Las Vegas. Lamb’s first-place prize of $292,500 grew his career haul to more than $19.2 million.
More than $5 million of Lamb’s earnings have come in PLO tournaments, including his $814,436 win in the 2011 WSOP $10,000 PLO championship. That puts Lamb inside the top 20 on the game’s all-time tournament earnings leaderboard.
This was the first title and fifth final-table finish of the year for Lamb. With 2,340 points and more than $2.3 million in POY earnings so far in 2025, he is now ranked just outside the top 150 in the overall standings. He also climbed to 44th on the PGT’s season-long leaderboard.
Narrowing The Field
A total of 117 entries built a prize pool of $1,170,000 that was paid out amongst the top 17 finishers. Several big names cashed, only to hit the rail late on day 1. Among them were Nacho Barbero (13th), two-time bracelet winner Allan Le (12th), three-time bracelet winner Michael Wang (11th), and two-time bracelet winner AP Louis Garza (8th).
The final day kicked off with six remaining and Christopher Costa in the lead. Costa expanded his advantage by knocking out Sean Winter (6th – $58,500). The majority of Winter’s stack went in preflop with A♥J♥10♦9♦ facing the K♦K♣10♥6♣ of Costa. The remainder was piled in after the A♦A♣Q♦ flop gave Winter trip aces, a flush draw, and a straight draw. Costa was in rough shape, but added some outs with the 2♣ turn. The K♥ on the end improved Costa to kings full of aces to see him score the first elimination of the day. This was already Winter’s third cash and second final-table finish of the series, having placed eighth in the kickoff tournament and third in event no. 3 just a day earlier.
Cary Katz, PokerGO’s founder, had won an event at the Poker Masters at the same venue just a few weeks earlier and was back at the final table with a shot at another title. Despite earning an early double up, he was ultimately the next to fall. His last chips went in after a K♦10♦7♣ flop with A♣Q♣9♥6♥. He was up against 9♦8♣7♥6♣ for Fernando Habegger. The 2♥ turn and 4♣ river improved neither player, and Katz was eliminated in fifth place ($76,100). The bracelet winner grew his career earnings to nearly $41.4 million with this score.
Lamb Surges Down The Stretch
Lamb had worked his way toward the top of the counts heading into four-handed action. He then went on a knockout spree, busting each of his three remaining opponents on his way to securing the title.
Stefan Christopher’s last stand pitted A♥K♦8♥7♥ against Lamb’s A♦6♦5♠3♠. The flop came down 9♠6♣2♥ to give Christopher an open-ended straight draw. The 6♥ turn improved Lamb to trips, while Christopher added a flush draw. The 8♥ on the end kept Lamb’s hand best, though, and Christopher was sent to the rail in fourth place ($99,400).
Costa soon put the majority of his stack in preflop with A♠Q♠Q♦2♠. He was up against J♣7♣6♣3♦ for Lamb. Costa wagered his final 400,000 before the flop came down A♣6♦4♥. Lamb called after seeing the flop and the two rolled over their hands. Lamb took the lead on the J♥ turn. The 10♦ river saw Costa, a Las Vegas plastic surgeon who won a PGT PLO Series one event earlier this year, head to the payout desk to collect $128,700.
With that, Lamb held more than a 6:1 chip lead over Habegger going into heads-up play. He expanded that advantage even further before the final hand of the tournament was dealt. It began with Lamb raising to 300,000 on the button with Q♥8♣4♥3♣. Habegger shoved for 775,000 from the big blind with K♥K♣9♦7♠. The Q♣5♣4♦10♠ runout gave Lamb queens full of fours for the win. Habegger took home $181,400 as the runner-up, the second-largest live score of his tournament career. The PLO specialist, poker coach, and content creator known to many as ‘JNandez’ now has nearly $1.1 million in cashes to his name.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points | PGT Points |
| 1 | Benjamin Lamb | $292,500 | 600 | 293 |
| 2 | Fernando Habegger | $181,400 | 500 | 181 |
| 3 | Christopher Costa | $128,700 | 400 | 129 |
| 4 | Stefan Christopher | $99,400 | 300 | 99 |
| 5 | Cary Katz | $76,100 | 250 | 76 |
| 6 | Sean Winter | $58,500 | 200 | 59 |
| 7 | Daniel Aharoni | $46,800 | 150 | 47 |
Photo credit: PokerGO Tour / Antonio Abrego.
