After claiming his maiden bracelet back in 2023 when he took down the $800 No-Limit Hold’em Deep Stack, Mao has now joined a more illustrious club after outlasting a field of 200 entries at King’s Resort in Rozvadov.
Italy’s Dario Alioto finished as runner-up after dominating the tournament throughout, only failing at the final hurdle.
Alioto held the chip lead from almost the beginning of the event but was ultimately forced to settle for €138,800 and no trophy.
Defending champion Dennis Weiss made the final table but didn’t come close to a repeat victory.
In his winner’s interview, Mao said:
“I don’t know how Hellmuth does it. The bracelet means a lot because the WSOP is always different. The first one was a big-field event that required a lot of luck, but I probably wouldn’t be playing that many tournaments now without it.
“This one was a higher buy-in with more pros and more fighting, so I’m super happy to take down this field. It proves that I can not only beat Hold’em, but other formats as well.
“There were a lot of highs and lows in this tournament against players who wanted to fight for the win. Even at the final table: I was the chip leader at the start, but I lost a huge pot.
“There were a lot of sick rivers, like the aces-aces. I lost the same hand against Nacho Barbero this summer in Vegas, but this time luck was on my side.
“But I was pretty relaxed because I didn’t have much to lose. Heads-up was relatively simple because I just had to focus on doubling down on my aggression and try to fight back. I would have been happy with second place if I lost, so I wasn’t nervous at all.”
Action Recap
Only 31 players returned for Day 2 with Fahredin Mustafov nowhere to be seen as he was held up. Fortunately, the Bulgarian had bagged up more than a million chips at the end of Day 1 and he was still in good shape as he arrived just in time for the final table.
Shaun Deeb had a deep run while still seeking that elusive eighth WSOP bracelet. One of Mustafov’s first acts of the day was to knock the American out in 11th place for only €13,900.
There were six finalists seated at the TV feature table and the tempo slowed noticeably as the event approached the end. More than 90 minutes passed before Salih Atac lost to a rivered straight when he and Mao both got pocket aces in pre-flop.
And then the floodgates opened.
Czech player Zdenek Zizka was out in fifth for €45,600 and Mustafov followed him in fourth for €64,000, both eliminated by Alioto.
That left Grzegorz Derkowski chasing Mao and Alioto with a microstack which grew when he doubled through Mao.
Mao then turned it around, doubling through both his opponents to leave Derkowski on the brink. The German was knocked out a couple of hands later, banking €92,800 for his podium finish.
Alioto now entered heads-up play with a three-to-one advantage, but Mao won the first two all-in confrontations, leaving him in front when the third came about which he duly won to claim the title and his second WSOP bracelet.
Event#8: €5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
| 1 | Renji Mao | China | €213,600 |
| 2 | Dario Alioto | Italy | €138,800 |
| 3 | Grzegorz Derkowski | Germany | €92,800 |
| 4 | Fahredin Mustafov | Bulgaria | €64,000 |
| 5 | Zdenek Zizka | Czech republic | €45,600 |
| 6 | Salih Atac | Switzerland | €33,500 |
| 7 | Vadim Zakharyan | Israel | €25,500 |
| 8 | Kumaran Sarvendran | Norway | €20,050 |
| 9 | Dennis Weiss | Germany | €16,400 |
