For some poker players, two cards just aren’t enough. For those in Event #83: $1,500 Double Board Bomb Pot Pot-Limit Omaha, even four cards doesn’t bring the right amount excitement, especially not for Justin Fawcett, who has just taken down the only double board tournament on offer at the 2026 World Series of Poker.
With double the cards and double the boards of a standard No-Limit Hold’em tournament, 19 managed to navigate his way through an absolute minefield of a poker variant, as well as a massive 1,673 entries to end up on top, earning a second WSOP bracelet in the process.
As if the luxurious piece of poker silverware wasn’t enough, Fawcett will also be walking away with $322,564 in prize money, which is the lion’s share of the mammoth $2,220,907 prize pool that was generated across the sole Day 1 flight. That number completely trumped last year’s total of $1,927,530, showing that external factors simply can’t stop the bomb potters.
This score absolutely skyrockets Fawcett’s live earnings past the seven-figure mark, as well as almost matching his previous career-high score of $355,110.
The loser of the heads-up battle, Abdul Amer, put in a very valiant effort across the three days of play, and will be receiving a very respectable score of $214,946.
Event #83: $1,500 Double Board Bomb Pot Pot-Limit Omaha Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Justin Fawcett | United States | $322,564 |
| 2 | Abdul Amer | United States | $214,946 |
| 3 | Hokyiu Lee | Hong Kong | $153,802 |
| 4 | Julio Trimmer | Mexico | $111,414 |
| 5 | Antoine Labat | France | $81,720 |
| 6 | Daniel Walmsley | New Zealand | $60,701 |
| 7 | Paul Fehlig | United States | $45,669 |
| 8 | Jesse Lonis | United States | $34,806 |
Winners Reaction
Fawcett is somewhat well-versed in large-field hold’em tournaments, with his bracelet in last year’s $600 Ultra Stack demonstrating just that. However, one hand of PLO, and he became a man possessed.
He recounted the story of his first taste of Omaha to PokerNews. Fawcett was playing a hand for a friend, peeled back the cards, and “looked at four cards, then the board, then back at the cards. There are just so many possibilities.” Those possibilities led him to play Omaha cash games in his native Florida, with a bomb pot on the dealer change.
“It’s a great structure; there was so much play,” he commented when asked about the uniqueness of the tournament. That was backed up by the three full days of play through which he had to navigate en route to victory, something that played right into his strengths. Fawcett, having made the jump from cash to tourney, is more than used to “playing 50 hours in a row,” meaning the 14-hour days let him notice when his opponents tired faster than he did.
This edge allowed Fawcett to double down on his incredibly impressive closing record at the WSOP: he has made the top 20 twice, and neither time has he ended up without the bracelet.
“When you get there, you just have this part in the back of your head that tells you, third is better than fourth, second is better than third,” and Fawcett used this mentality to progress past player after player, until he was the only one left standing. He spoke with huge respect for his talented opponents, including PLO crushers, whom he managed to work his way past to become champion.
Fawcett also acknowledged that he wouldn’t have made it past them without help from others. His parents, sister, and niece gave him the support he needed to garner a second victory, as well as his incredible rail and masseuse May, who stuck with him for nigh-on the full tournament.
He additionally praised to his friend Wayne, who helped him navigate shorter stack play, as well as his good friend and “mental game coach,” John, who helped him out in the bomb pot streets. Along with his friends who were there for his maiden bracelet win, his Day 1s and Florida poker comrades, the “thank yous” were aplenty from Fawcett.
Final Day Action
Nineteen returned to the third and final day of action, and relatively quickly the final two tables were confirmed. The first to go was Brian Hunkins, with Matthew Baiza falling shortly afterwards. Yuanting Wang made it three in quick succession, as he was chopped up by two boats.
It then took a full two hours of play for the 16th-placed finisher to be determined. Christopher Amaral to missed out on the pay jump, receiving $13,414 after falling to Julio Trimmer.
Christopher Wood did incredibly well in managing a short stack for the full final day, taking home $16,683 after being next to bust out. The three to follow received the same reward: Andrew Ung got scooped by Hokyiu Lee, Ali Sheikholeslami’s stack was chopped up as he left, and Jacob Fishbein, similarly to Amaral, lost out to Trimmer.
Jared Koppel missed the world to receive no part of the pot, shortly before Timothy Frazin got his last 10,000 into the middle. He had outs to chop, but couldn’t do so as Daniel Walmsley sent him home. Each player left the tournament $21,033 richer.
Thus the unofficial final table was confirmed, and it wouldn’t be a short journey to the official final table, as shortest stack Jean-Marc Thomas managed to hold on for quite some time, chopping his way to survival on multiple occasions. He got it in as good as he could with just one ante behind, but couldn’t keep the spin-up going, with his top set getting cracked.
Jesse Lonis and Paul Fehlig, who chip lead both Day 1 and 2, were the next two bustouts, each of whom got chopped up by tablemates to exit. Walmsley followed, as the kiwi’s top pair got rivered by Fawcett to send him home.
Antoine Labat and Julio Trimmer came fifth and fourth respectively. Lee made a flush and a boat against the former, with the latter falling to two-pair and king-high on a three-of-a-kind board.
Three-handed was a battle, with the chip lead changing hands on multiple occasions. Eventually, Lee lost a massive cooler to Amer, being just pipped on both boards, which left him short enough to shove. Soon after it was the same opponent who sent him packing.
Lee adds to an incredible summer in the PLO streets, notching two runner-up finishes, and adds a third-place to his Vegas résumé, too.
Heads-up began with a three-to-one chip lead in favour of Amer, but that flipped extremely quickly as Fawcett scooped a couple of small pots before a massive one went his way. The players got it all in on the flop, with Fawcett freerolling and hitting on the river to take the chip lead. It wouldn’t’ take long for him to grind his opponent down to dust, and secure a bracelet for the second summer running.
That’s a wrap on PokerNews coverage of Event 83, but be sure to stay tuned as the rest of the series is brought to you live, right here.
