David Peters Wins US Poker Open Main Event
Last year, Poker Central debuted the US Poker Open, a series of live high-stakes tournaments played at the PokerGO Studios at ARIA on the Las Vegas Strip. It was a big enough hit with players and fans that it returned this month for its second iteration.
The series offered 10 tournaments, each with buy-ins between $10K and $100K. From No Limit Hold’em to Pot Limit Omaha and mixed games, high rollers had the chance to compete for substantial prize pools.
The series wrapped on February 23 after 11 days of poker action that was livestreamed on PokerGO. Filming of the US Poker Open will also be edited for a future broadcast on the NBC Sports Network, dates of which have yet to be determined.
History was made in this second US Poker Open, as Lauren Roberts became the first woman to claim a title thus far, and David Peters won the championship finale. Only two players won events in the first and second US Poker Open series, and Peters was one of them (Stephen Chidwick was the other).
Let’s check out all of the results:
Event 1: $10K NLHE
Entrants: 90
Prize pool: $900K
Winner: Stephen Chidwick ($216K)
Final table finishers: Sean Winter ($157K), Joseph Cheong ($112,500), Joseph Cappello ($90K), Lazaro Hernandez ($72K), Joseph Orsino ($54K), Jerry Robinson ($45K), Maxx Coleman ($36K)
Note: Chidwick won two events and the championship tournament at the inaugural USPO.
Event 2: $10K PLO
Entrants: 64
Prize pool: $640K
Winner: Jordan Cristos ($179,200)
Final table finishers: Manig Loeser ($128K), Martin Zamani ($83,200), Adam Hendrix ($64K), Cary Katz ($51,200), Sean Winter ($38,400), Brent Roberts ($32K), Dan Shak ($25,600)
Event 3: $10K NLHE
Entrants: 91
Prize pool: $910K
Winner: Lauren Roberts ($218,400)
Final table finishers: Koray Aldemir ($159,250), Stephen Chidwick ($113,750), Brandon Adams ($91K), Sean Winter ($72,800), Ralph Wong ($54,600), Rodger Johnson ($45,500), Jerry Robinson ($36,400)
Note: Lauren Roberts became the first woman to win a USPO title thus far, as few – if any – women enter most of the USPO tournaments.
ICYMI: @PlayPokerLkAMan took down #USPO Event #3 and became the first female #HighRollerTripleCrown winner in the process! Read about the historic victory and then relive the action on @PokerGO!https://t.co/cYL2jiFMcs pic.twitter.com/upLYqPohJk
— PokerGO Tour (@PokerGOTour) February 17, 2019
Event 4: $10K Short Deck
Entrants: 42
Prize pool: $420K
Winner: Sean Winter ($151,200)
Final table finishers: David Peters ($100,800), Seth Davies ($67,200), Ben Lamb ($42K), Ben Yu ($33,600), Stephen Chidwick ($25,200)
Note: Winter made final tables in each of the first three events of this series before winning this one.
Event 5: $25K NLHE
Entrants: 59
Prize pool: $1,475,000
Winner: Ali Imsirovic ($442,500)
Final table finishers: Cary Katz ($295K), Dan Shak ($206,500), Nick Petrangelo ($147,500), Kristin Bicknell ($118K), Joseph Cappello ($88,500), Brandon Adams ($73,750), Chris Hunichen ($59K), Justin Bonomo ($44,250)
Event 6: $25K PLO
Entrants: 39
Prize pool: $975K
Winner: Stephen Chidwick ($351K)
Final table finishers: Cary Catz ($234K), Tom Marchese ($156K), Ben Lamb ($97,500), Sean Rafael ($78K), Anthony Zinno ($58,500)
Note: This was Chidwick’s second win of the 2019 series, putting him on top of the annual standings for the series. He edged ahead of Sean Winter with this victory.
Event 7: $25K NLHE
Entrants: 60
Prize pool: $1.5 million
Winner: Bryn Kenney ($450K)
Final table finishers: Jake Schindler ($300K), Ben Yu ($210K), Keith Tilston ($150K), Nick Schulman ($120K), Nick Petrangelo ($90K), Dan Shak ($75K), Martin Zamani ($60K), Lauren Roberts ($45K)
Event 8: $25K 8-Game Mix
Entrants: 20
Prize pool: $500K
Winner: Nick Schulman ($270K)
Final table finishers: Brandon Adams ($150K), Chris Vitch ($80K)
Event 9: $50K NLHE
Entrants: 41
Prize pool: $2.05 million
Winner: Koray Aldemir ($738K)
Final table finishers: Ryan Riess ($492K), Sean Winter ($328K), Alex Foxen ($204K), David Peters ($164K), Seth Davies ($123K)
Note: Sean Winter’s final table tied him with Stephen Chidwick for the leaderboard standings in the series, each with 540 points thus far.
Event 10: $100K NLHE Main Event
Entrants: 33
Prize pool: $3.3 million
Winner: David Peters ($1.32 million)
Final table finishers: Chris Hunichen ($858K), Keith Tilson ($528K), Martin Zamani ($330K), Ryan Riess ($264K)
Back-to-back $100K wins and this time @dpeterspoker17 takes home the series title! @RemkoRinkema catches up with the #USPO Champion! pic.twitter.com/p6jOx2V0Ew
— PokerGO Tour (@PokerGOTour) February 24, 2019
Points Winner
The concern about points throughout the US Poker Open pertains to the High Roller of the Year race hosted by Poker Central. Since its events throughout the year are focused on buy-ins of $10K or higher, it made sense to reward players who steadily compete at that level.
Points are accrued for each in-the-money tournament finish, and the eventual winner will be awarded an automatic seat into the next Super High Roller Bowl, a seat worth $300K.
The US Poker Open was the first series of events to garner points in 2019, with the next events being the Los Angeles Poker Classic (LAPC) High Roller tournaments March 3-5 at Commerce Casino.
As of now, the leaderboard shows USPO champion David Peters in the lead. And for winning the most points during this series, he won a cash bonus of $100K.
David Peters: 550 points
Sean Winter: 540 points
Stephen Chidwick: 540 points
Nick Schulman: 410 points
Brandon Adams: 365 points
Koray Aldemir: 340 points
Cary Katz: 340 points
Bryn Kenney: 240 points
Lauren Roberts: 240 points
Jordan Cristos: 240 points
Sean Winter and Stephen Chidwick battled from the start, but @dpeterspoker17 ended on top!
Peters wins $100K Main Event to clinch #USPO Championship and $100K bonus! https://t.co/5rUlItuiNK pic.twitter.com/l9EKIW0PDf— PokerGO (@PokerGO) February 24, 2019
