De Wolfe makes history with WSOP PLO-8 win

Roland de Wolfe created a slice of history today by taking down the $5k Omaha-8 event at the World Series.

He not only won his first WSOP bracelet but became only the second man to collect the fabled Triple Crown of an EPT, WPT and WSOP win, behind Gavin Griffin.

"I am very much aware of the history of it," De Wolfe said. "It's fantastic!"

He came into the final well placed in chips although he had to contend with favorite Scott Clements to get his hands on the bracelet.

Clements is regarded by many as the best Omaha-8 player in the world and with his big stack, it looked like he might be unstoppable.

The early stages seemed to bear that appraisal out as Clements used his stack to pressurise his opponents, bullying the table and furthering his chip lead.

"I picked up from Scott the value of aggression," said de Wolfe.

"He came in today with the chip lead and really dominated. He wasn't just playing nut cards, he was very aggressive."

Clements' tactics paid dividends early on when he sent Antony Lellouche to the rail and the aggression he showed set a fast pace for the final table.

The third hour of play was particularly action-packed, Armando Ruiz II, Robert Campbell, Andy Black and Alex Kravchenko all having their tournament hopes extinguished as the carnage continued.

Clements may be the best Omaha-8 player in the world but he could only manage 3rd here.

That left the play four-handed and when de Wolfe busted Robert Campbell it appeared as though he and Brett Richey might be battling it out for 2nd place behind Scott Clements.

De Wolfe had other ideas though.

He hauled himself into the chip lead three-handed before playing out a monster pot with Clements in which he bested the favorite to send him shell-shocked to the rail and enter heads-up with an overwhelming 4-1 chip advantage.

He polished off Richey soon after to take the title and $246,616 in cash.

Remarkably, de Wolfe achieved his bracelet win with next to no experience at Pot Limit Omaha-8.

"I think I've played PLO-8 for less than an hour," he said.

"I've played quite a lot of Hi-Lo Limit and Pot Limit Omaha and just tried to mix the two together!"

Buoyed by this success, de Wolfe has lots of plans mapped out for his poker future.

"I want to be the first man to win two EPTs and create history," said de Wolfe. "I also want to win the Main Event. Everyone wants to win the Main Event!

"I'll be playing a lot through the series. I'm only six bracelets behind Ivey now!"