Tom-Aksel Bedell Takes Down 10k PLO Grand Slam Championship For €438,000

After qualifying for the €10,300 Championship event by having the most buy-ins (eight) in the €5,200 Opener event, Tom-Aksel Bedell beat the field of 191 players to win €438,000 in the biggest event of the series, which had a GTD prize pool of €2,000,000.

With this win, Tom-Aksel Bedell moved up to fourth place in the Norweigan All-Time Money List, making his total live earnings $4,195,511. This was also the most significant win of his live MTT career.

Bedell beat Lautaro Guerra in the heads-up battle for the title. Guerra won €296,000 for his second-place finish.

“It’s always nice to win in PLO, as you need to have a lot of luck, rarely getting it in with more than 65 percent. I never look at the pay jumps, but was lucky that I had the chip leader on my right. That way, I was the only one who could play back,” said Bedell for PokerNews.

This festival was an excellent treat for PLO specialists as most of the events were PLO events, and the total GTD prize pool of the festival was set at €5,000,000. The festival started on January 23 and ran till January 30. 2025, and it took place at the luxurious Arena Casino Tirana in Albania. The event had daily cash games with limits up to €100/€100.

The 10k PLO Grand Slam Championship had two starting days and a final day and attracted players from all around the world.

10k PLO Grand Slam Championship Final Table Results

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	Tom-Aksel Bedell	Norway	€438,000
2	Lautaro Guerra	Spain	€296,000
3	Daniel Tordjman	France	€197,500
4	Tom Vogelsang	Netherlands	€161,500
5	Oleksii Kovalchuk	Ukraine	€129,500
6	Sofoklis Palekythritis	Cyprus	€100,500
7	Gergo Nagy	Hungary	€74,500
8	Andrew Ige	United States	€54,500
9	Maksim Shuts	Belarus	€43,500

Final Table Action

Coming into the final table, Daniel Tordjman from France was the big chip leader with 229 big blinds, ahead of the second-placed Tom Vogelsang, who had 68 big blinds.

The first final table elimination came after Maksim Shuts shoved from SB against Tordjman, who was in HJ and called. Shuts had A♠J♣8♦3♠ vs A♦K♥8♣7♥, and the board ran 2♦Q♦5♥6♠9♠, giving Tordjman the straight and knocking Shuts out in ninth place for €43,500.

The next one to leave was Andrew Ige, who was eliminated in a similar way as Shuts when he was shoved from SB against Tordjman in MP, who called. Ige had A♥A♦K♣9♦ against 9♠7♠6♥5♥, and the board ran [invalid notations], giving Tordjman the straight on the turn and sending Ige home in eighth place for €54,500.

Tordjman continued with eliminations when all the chips were in on the turn of 4♠4♦3♣7♥ board after Nagy snap-called Tordjman’s turn shove. The river was 10♣, Tordjman showed 6♠5♠5♦2♠ for a straight, and Nagy mucked his hand and left as he was eliminated in seventh place for €74,500.

Tordjman was on the roll as his next victim was Sofoklis Palekythritis, who shoved on the flop of 9♥K♦4♥, and Tordjman called with K♥K♣10♦7♦ against A♥K♠Q♦10♣. Tordjman had a top set, and only a miracle gutshot could save Palekythritis; the turn was 4♦, and the river was 6♦, ending the game for Palekythritis in the sixth place for €100,500.

Oleksii Kovalchuk was all-in from the SB against—you already know who—Tordjman in CO, who called with A♣6♦5♠4♣ against A♠Q♠10♣7♦. The flop came 8♥7♠6♥, and Kovalchuk was drawing dead. He finished in fifth place for €129,500.

Tom Vogelsand limped from SB and called against BB raise from Tordjman. The flop came 3♦A♠K♠, Vogelsang check-shoved and got called by Tordjman who had A♥K♦Q♦9♦ vs K♣J♣10♠6♠. It was a race of two pairs against flushdraw and a gutshot. The turn was 10♦, and the river was 5♦, giving Tordjman the winning flush. Vogelsang finished his run in fourth place for €161,500.

After losing multiple pots, Tordjamn was short-stacked, and he shoved for the remaining chips and got called by Bedell. Tordjman had 9♣7♥6♠5♦ against Q♥Q♣9♥4♥, and the board ran 7♦8♣8♠8♥Q♦ and Tordjman was eliminated in third place for €197,500.

Heads-Up

Bedell came into the heads-up battle against Guerra as the 4.5:1 chip leader and immediately put pressure on him. After a few hands, Guerra managed to get two double-ups before Bedell took over the dominance.

The final hand happened when Geurra shoved as a short stack from BB, and Bedell called from BTN. Guerra had Q♥J♦9♥5♦ against A♣Q♠Q♣3♣, and the board came 8♠4♥A♦5♣7♦ where Bedell took the lead on the flop and finished strong on the river. Guerra was eliminated in second place for €296,000, and Bedell was crowned the 10k PLO Grand Slam Championship champion.

Images and hands courtesy of PokerNews