Ronaldo Keijzer Wins Poker Masters Event #3 for $202,500

Playing poker as a specialist in Pot Limit Omaha is all about taking your shot and making the most of it, and Dutch player Ronald Keijzer did exactly that after a dominating performance in Event #3 of the 2022 Poker Masters.

After ending Day 1 of the event with almost 50% of the chips in play, Keijzer took his lead and went wire to wire as he reigned supreme on Day 2 and won the top prize of $202,500.

Early Domination as Big Names Crash Out

With 81 entries, only a dozen players would make the money places, and after a long journey to profit, it was Nick Schulman who snuck past the bubble, min-cashing for $16,200 in 12^th place. Once the bubble burst, players such as Adam Hendrix (11^th for $24,300) and Nathan Zimnik (10^th for $24,300) both cashed but fell short of the final table of nine.

The previous two events had been very dramatic, with Jeremy Ausmus winning Event #1 and Ethan ‘Rampage’ Yau stunning his opponents with a dominant display to take down Event #2.

Out in ninth was the popular poker professional and big ticket on the PokerGO Tour, Sam Soverel. The American cashed for $32,400, with Samantha Perryman (8^th) also cashing for the same amount. Jared Bleznick’s exit in seventh place for $40,500 was the last on Day 1.

Once the last day of action was reached, Keijzer began his ascent. The ruthless elimination of Dan Shak in sixth place for $48,600 saw Keijzer on the rise, with Shak’s tournament ended first on the final day. Shak was ahead all the way until the river when Keijzer scored a six-high straight to move into a dominant lead.

Le Loses in Dramatic Fashion

With five remaining, it was Keijzer’s tournament to lose. The Dutchman, who started the evening with less than $800,000 in live tournament earnings, had 5.4 million chips, with Alex Livingston closest to him on 2.2 million. Behind the two of them, players such as Ben Lamb (675,000), Damjan Radanov (900,000) and Allan Le (860,000) were all playing catch-up.

It was Le who busted in fifth place for $64,800, as he slid to shortie and couldn’t spin up his stack. All-in with pocket aces and a king-high flush draw from the flop, Le was losing to Keijzer’s pair of tens on the flop. A five on the turn gave Keijzer a set but Le the wheel straight, only for a four to land on the river and pair the board to a full house for the Dutchman, who was just 14% to win the hand heading to 5^th street.

Both Lamb and Radanov were leaping up the ladder on the leaderboard, but after wielding the axe to all three of the players to have been busted so far, Keijzer continued that trend as he removed Radanov in fourth for $81,000. Radanov was all-in with A-A-Q-J but Keijzer won the hand with A-7-5-4 as he flopped a four and faded 12 outs on the river to send Radanov home with a five on the river sealing the elimination.

Livingston and Lamb Lose Out

While three men were left in the hunt for the win, Keijzer had 7.4 million, way ahead of Livingston with 2.1 million and Lamb with 545,000. Less than an hour of final table action had taken place, but the Dutchman’s eventual victory would take another two hours of action as both of his opponents battled to stay in the chase for Poker Masters points and the Event #3 title.

Lamb had nothing to lose and his fearless play enabled him to not only bounce back but overtake Livingston. With their chip stacks essentially being reversed, Keijzer still had a strong lead, but Lamb’s elimination of Livingston in third place for $97,200 gave him one more leap up the ladder. Lamb’s aces stayed ahead of Livingston’s flopped pair of sevens through the board and play was heads-up, with Keijzer holding a lead of roughly 3:1 in chips.

In the final duel, Keijzer’s chips worked for him, although a double-up staved off the denouement. Eventually, however, Lamb could survive no more. Keijzer flopped set of sixes followed by a brick on the turn meant Ben Lamb was drawing dead to the river and Lamb claimed $145,800 for his second-place finish. It was Keijzer’s day and his win, worth $202,500, added to the $475,000 he won in a WSOP $3,000-entry PLO six-max event in 2018 has further marked him out as a PLO player to watch.