Gambling Editor
Sean Rafael won the Super High Roller Bowl: Pot-Limit Omaha IV, taking home $1,150,000 after a commanding run through a 32-entry field. The result is the biggest live tournament score of his career and his first seven-figure payout, according to Card Player.
The fourth edition of the high-stakes PLO event carried a $100,000 buy-in. Rafael’s victory came after he recorded six of the tournament’s final seven eliminations, including four of the five opponents he faced at the final table.
A 32-entry field and $3.2 million prize pool
The tournament began with 27 entries on Day 1, with players permitted one re-entry before registration closed at the start of Day 2. Five more players entered at the last minute, bringing the total to 32 and creating a $3.2 million prize pool, paid to the top six.
Seven-handed play continued for about five hours before the money bubble burst. Youness Barakat, who had started Day 2 as chip leader, finished seventh without a payout when Rafael flopped the nut flush to secure the elimination.
Rafael had built a substantial lead during the bubble and carried just over 4.9 million chips into the final day. Joao Simao, with 1.415 million, and Lautaro Guerra, with 1.125 million, were the only other players to bag more than a million.
Rafael controls the final table
Cesar Garcia was the first finalist eliminated, earning $190,000 in sixth place. Guerra followed in fifth for $255,000 after Rafael’s rivered flush overtook his aces, while Talal Shakerchi took fourth for $350,000 when Rafael made a Broadway straight.
Richard Gryko finished third for $480,000, losing to Simao’s flush in a three-way all-in pot. Simao then took $775,000 as runner-up after Rafael came from behind on the final hand: with one card to come, Simao was ahead, but the river completed Rafael’s flush.
The win lifted Rafael’s recorded career tournament earnings to $7,899,472. He also earned 480 Card Player Player of the Year points, taking his annual total to 4,176 and 36th place in the standings, plus 400 PokerGO Tour points. His season total of 684 put him 58th on the PGT leaderboard.
A specialist’s career milestone
Rafael has spent much of the past three years traveling the growing international PLO tournament circuit. Apart from a small cash in the 2025 WSOP Main Event, all but one of his recorded tournament cashes have come in PLO; the other exception was a 13th-place finish in the 2013 WSOP Millionaire Maker.
Card Player reported that Rafael sees room for more live PLO tournaments, particularly in the United States and at mid-stakes. His latest result makes a strong case for the demand among specialists: he turned a dominant final-table performance into the largest score of his career and a major title.
