Every so often a player runs so far above expectation that even they cannot explain it. Brandon Mueller was dealt pocket aces at least 14 times on the final day of the $650 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship at the Borgata — and rode that heater all the way to $24,575 and the first live PLO title of his career.
- Brandon Mueller won Event #8: $650 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship at the 2026 Borgata Summer Poker Open.
- The event drew 197 entries and built a $112,290 prize pool, with 25 players paid down to $1,525.
- Mueller beat Danny Chang heads-up for $24,575 — his first live PLO title.
- He claims he was dealt aces at least 14 times on the final day, including seven times in the first nine hands.
Mueller, a Pennsylvania native and a familiar face on the East Coast circuit, arrived in Atlantic City as a hold'em player first and foremost. He left it as a Pot-Limit Omaha champion, having outlasted 197 entries in Event #8 of the 2026 Borgata Summer Poker Open to bank $24,575 from a $112,290 prize pool.
He began Day 2 as the second-largest stack in the room, but it took him barely a level to fix that. A three-way all-in in the opening level went his way when his aces held, and from that moment on the chip lead essentially never left his side of the table.
Seven Times in Nine Hands
Ask Mueller how he did it and he will not talk about ranges, blockers or pot geometry. He will talk about the deck. The run of premium holdings he described was the kind of thing most players see once in a career, if ever.
“The first nine hands we played today, I had aces seven times. I'm not even joking. I literally had aces a minimum of 14 times, and they held every time except one.”
— Brandon Mueller
In Pot-Limit Omaha, of course, aces are a long way from a lock. Doubled-up equity edges get run down constantly, and a big pair is often little more than a coin flip against a coordinated rundown. Holding them 14 times and winning 13 of those pots is a different story entirely — and it turned a solid stack into an unassailable one.
The final table itself was a blur. Nine players hit the rail inside the first 30 minutes as short stacks collided and the pot-limit betting structure did what it always does when the average stack gets thin.
Final Table Payouts
The $112,290 prize pool was spread across 25 finishers, with a min-cash of $1,525. The official top eight looked like this:
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Brandon Mueller | $24,575 |
| 2nd | Danny Chang | $17,025 |
| 3rd | Mark Aridgides | $11,875 |
| 4th | Terence Beaman | $8,075 |
| 5th | Mario Damiao | $5,925 |
| 6th | Elan Chabi | $4,855 |
| 7th | Joseph Arena | $3,985 |
| 8th | Brian Cole | $3,350 |
The Hand That Ended It
Mueller carried only a slight lead into heads-up play against Danny Chang, but he ground it out patiently, extracting value street by street rather than looking for a knockout blow.
The finish came on a king-king-five flop. Chang check-raised, telling a convincing story of strength — but Mueller had flopped trip kings with the best kicker. He simply called down, keeping Chang firing, and when Chang jammed the rest of his stack on the river, Mueller snap-called. The title was his.
“I Have No Idea How to Play PLO”
Winners are rarely this candid about their own game. Mueller, still processing the result, gave arguably the most honest champion's interview of the series so far.
“I'm just super, super excited. This is my first live PLO win. I have no idea how to play PLO. I don't know how I won, but here we are.”
— Brandon Mueller
Self-deprecation aside, converting a two-day field of 197 entries and then closing out a heads-up match with a well-disguised monster is not something the deck does on its own. Mueller now plans to stick around Atlantic City and fire at more events on the Borgata Summer Poker Open schedule — presumably hoping the aces travel with him.
