Phillipp Mellon Turns $120 Satellite Into WSOP High Roller Seat
The Miami transplant coordinator climbed three steps to the $100,000 PLO event before busting on Day 1 against Sergio Martinez Gonzalez.
Phillipp Mellon turned a $120 satellite into a seat in the WSOP $100,000 High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha by running a three-step ladder that started with a Step 1 Landmark satellite, moved through a $850 Step 2, and finished with a $7,500 Step 3 win. He was not staked, had no recorded live tournament results, and does not even have a page on The Hendon Mob.
According to PokerNews, Mellon is from Miami, Florida, and his LinkedIn profile lists him as an organ procurement transplant coordinator/RN and associate partner for T-1 Med LLC. He declined an interview.
Event #76 was an 8-handed, $100,000 buy-in PLO event at the 2026 WSOP. It was billed as a three-day contest, started on June 30, used 600,000-chip starting stacks, and played 10 levels of 60 minutes on Day 1. Late registration stayed open through Level 12, until about 2:15 p.m.
By the end of Day 1, the event had generated a $4.8 million prize pool from 50 entries. Only 19 players were left after the full slate of levels, with Artur Martirosian bagging 5,815,000 chips and Sean Winter close behind on 3,695,000.
Mellon briefly made a splash before going out. The Day 1 recap said he became the first player to cross the million-chip mark, but he busted in level five after about four hours against Sergio Martinez Gonzalez. One account said he flopped two pair and ran into top set, while the Day 1 recap described his top two pair and flush draw that could not improve.
The event later grew into a much bigger prize pool as the final table picture took shape. The general event page put the field at 83 entries and $7.968 million, and Daniel Negreanu eventually beat Artur Martirosian heads-up for $2,257,718 and bracelet number eight.
