Alex Livingston defeats Francisco Benitez in a 4-hour-long heads-up play to secure his second WSOP bracelet. Alex Livingston emerged victorious in Event #97: $3,000 PLO at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas casino. The 37-year-old Canadian player not only earned his second bracelet, but also claimed the first-place prize of $390,621.
Livingston won his first gold bracelet in a $1.5k Seven-Card Stud at the 2022 World Series of Poker. He tried his luck claiming a second bracelet in 2023 and even made three final table finishes with two 2nd place finishes in $10k H.O.R.S.E and $10k Deuce to Seven Draw lowball.
Alex Livingston returned this year with a motive to claim his second bracelet. He cashed in 10 bracelet events at this year’s WSOP. He took a last chance in the final week, and it paid off. Before the final table began, Livingston went on to X and said, “1 last shot at a bracelet this summer. Coming back w an average stack and 17 left in the 3k PLO.”
Event #97: $3k PLO drew a field of 844 entries, creating a prize pool of $2,253,480, which was split among the top 127 finishers
Livingston wasn’t the only player looking to grow his bracelet numbers, this event attracted several bracelet players looking for another bracelet, including six-time bracelet winner Jeremy Ausmus (73rd), five-time bracelet winner Yuri Dzivielevski (48th), three-time bracelet winner David Baker (34th), Jim Collopy (24th), six-time bracelet winner Shaun Deeb (13th), two-time bracelet winner Dylan Weisman (11th), bracelet winner Alex Foxen (9th), Ari Engel (8th), and bracelet winner Hokyiu Lee (5th).
Event – 97: $3,000 PLO Final Table Recap and Standings
| Rank | Player | Prize |
| 1st | Alex Livingston | $390,621 |
| 2nd | Francisco Benitez | $260,403 |
| 3rd | Martin Zamani | $177,114 |
| 4th | Andrew Watson | $122,746 |
| 5th | Hokyiu Lee | $86,709 |
| 6th | Christopher Roth | $62,457 |
| 7th | Tolga Demirel | $45,892 |
Out of 844 entries, only 17 players returned to the final day, which gradually decreased to only 7 players at the final table. Livingston started the final table with an average stack size, but soon doubled up against chip leader Martin Zamani and eventually knocked him out in 3rd place for $177,114.
In the heads-up play, Francisco Benitez holds a 50% chip lead against Livingston. Both Benitez and Livingston had a 4-hour long fourth and back action, with both players taking the lead against each other.
Ultimately, Livingston took the chip lead and held it until the final hand. Benitez was short stacked in the end and moved all-in pre-flop with K♥︎Q♣︎J♥︎3♣︎, and Livingston snap called it with 10♠︎10♦7♦5♠︎. The board came out 3♦4♠︎6♦Q♦7♥︎, giving Livingston a flush, and ending Benitez’s deep run. Benitez received $260,403 for his deep run.
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