Miles Rampel Wins $25K PLO Event While on Vacation

Miles Rampel was on vacation in Las Vegas when he saw the 2021 Poker Masters series in full swing. The successful internet entrepreneur from California had never cashed in a live poker tournament but decided to enter the $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha event. It was an incredible decision because Rampel came out on top and banked $365,500!

Forty-three players bought into the ninth event on the 2021 Poker Masters schedule, which created a $1,075,000 prize pool. The top seven finishers won a slice of that princely sum.

Rampel navigated his way to the star-studded seven-handed final in fourth place. He climbed one rung of the pay ladder when Jake Daniels busted. Daniels was all-in with Ah-Ac-Kc-6c and Lou Garza looked him up with Qc-Jh-8h-7c. The board ran Jc-Qh-8s-9h-6h gifting Garza a flush.

Garza sent Stephen Chidwick to the rail in sixth place soon after. Garza opened to 50,000 before calling Chidwick’s 180,000 three-bet. The flop fell Jc-8c-5s, Chidwick potted to 400,000 and called when Garza set him all-in for his last 20,000. Chidwick flipped over As-Kh-Kd-4h, and Garza 9d-7s-5h-4d. The Ad turn kept Chidwick in front, but the 7c river improved Garza to two pair.

Garza Leads on Day 2; Rampel Third From Five

Two dangerous players busted early on Day 2. Jeremy Ausmus dusted off his stack in fifth for an $86,000 payout. PLO specialist Ben Lamb followed Ausmus to the cashier’s cage and collected $118,250.

Rampel excelled during three-handed play and found himself top of the chip counts for long periods. He progressed to the heads-up stage when high roller Sean Winter crashed out.

A flush over flush scenario put the ball firmly in Rampel’s court. He continued chipping up to the point that Garza was down to 11 big blinds when the final hand took place. Garza raised with Ah-Kh-8d-7s, and Rampel called with Jc-Tc-2s-2h. All the chips went into the middle on the Jh-9d-4h flop. The 4d turn and Qd river completed the board, and Rampel became a Poker Masters champion.

Place	Player	Points	Prize
1	Miles Rampel	219	$365,500
2	Lou Garza	142	$236,500
3	Sean Winter	97	$161,250
4	Ben Lamb	71	$118,250
5	Jeremy Ausmus	52	$86,000
6	Stephen Chidwick	39	$64,500
7	Jake Daniels	26	$43,000

From $1/$2 Hold’em Cash Games To $25K PLO Tournaments

Rampel spoke to the PokerGO team shortly after his impressive victory. He revealed he usually played $1/$2 and $2/$5 No-Limit Hold’em cash games and had never bought into a tournament costing more than $100.

“I’ve been playing $1-2 and $2-5 no-limit [hold’em] for 10 years, starting in college. I went to UCSB so I played at the Chumash Casino in a little $60 max buy-in $1-2 game. I started playing PLO this year and enjoyed it a lot. It’s fun to think a little bit more. Then my friends and I just came to Las Vegas on a whim and saw that this tournament was here. I thought, ‘You know what, I’ll take a shot.’ On the morning of registration, I was hemming and hawing thinking I didn’t want to start the trip stuck $25,000 with it being all pros, but I said, ‘You know what? I’ll register.’ Lots and ups and downs.”

Rampel admitted to running hot throughout the tournament, but he also played incredibly well. You may receive good cards but you still have to play them well and do so against some of the world’s elite poker players.

“It hasn’t hit me yet, but I feel great, I feel great, I ran really hot. I picked up aces a bunch of times, and I ran hot. There are some plays I probably made that were bad, and I probably played middle of the road with my own unique style that has some leaks in it, but I ran hot and picked up aces like five or six times.”

Brad Johnson

You name the game, and you can bet your bottom dollar that Brad has either played it or placed a wager on it! Brad calls himself a natural gambler, and someone who gains as much enjoyment from writing about the crazy game of poker as he does playing it.

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