David Peters Comes Up Huge to Win US Poker Open Championship in Las Vegas
The final six events in the US Poker Open wrapped up this week at the PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas. David Peters highlighted the action, winning three events to top the series standings and earning the Golden Eagle Trophy.
The series featured some of the biggest names in poker competing in 12 high stakes events. The USPO added to the growing number of live poker series returning to action this summer.
Crushing the series
No stranger to tournament success, Peters now has his second straight USPO Championship. Peters won three events and also scored an eight-place for a total of $832,950.
With 646 points in the standings, Peters finished 162 points ahead of Sean Winter. Peters earned an additional $50,000 for the championship win.
We did it Kobe pic.twitter.com/oaHxPdINIn
— David Peters (@dpeterspoker17) June 16, 2021
Originally from Toledo, Ohio, Peters sits seventh on the all-time live tournament money winning list with $34.6 million. Along with his USPO success, the online game has also been good to him lately.
In March at partypoker, the $3,200 High Roller went his way in the WPT Online for $50,532. In August, Peter also came out on top of the WSOP Online $10,000 Heads Up Championship at GGPoker. That title brought him $360,480 and his second World Series of Poker bracelet.
Here’s a look at winners from each USPO event as well as recaps of the final six events. For a review of the first six events, click here.
2021 US Poker Open
Event Winner Payout Entries Prize pool
#1: $10,000 No Limit Hold’em Jake Daniels $218,500 95 $950,000
#2: $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha Sam Soverel $175,500 65 $650,000
#3: $10,000 No Limit Hold’em Joe MCkeehen $200,200 77 $770,000
#4: $10,000 Big Bet Mix John Riordan $163,200 48 $480,000
#5: $10,000 No Limit Hold’em Joey Weissman $204,000 85 $850,000
#6: $10,000 Eight-Game Mix Eli Elezra $183,600 68 $680,000
#7: $10,000 No Limit Hold’em David Peters $217,800 99 $990,000
#8: $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha Jared Bleznick $189,000 63 $630,000
#9: $10,000 No Limit Hold’em Ali Imsirovic $217,800 99 $990,000
Event #10: $10,000 Short Deck David Peters $124,200 27 $270,000
Event #11: $25,000 No Limit Hold’em David Peters $465,750 69 $1,725,000
#12: $50,000 No Limit Hold'em Sean Winter $756,000 42 $2,100,000
Event 12: $50,000 NLHE – Winter for the win
When it came to the biggest buy-in of the series, Sean Winter answered the bell. He scored the series’ most prestigious event for $756,000 in a tournament filled with high rollers.
That included facing off heads-up with 2018 USPO champion Stephen Chidwick, who scored $504,000 for second. Other finishers included: Jason Koon (third), $336,000; Jonathan Little (fourth), $231,000; Sam Soverel (fifth), $168,000; and Bill Klein (sixth), $105,000.
Event 11: $25,000 NLHE – Peters does it again
Peters was near unstoppable throughout the series and this made his third tournament win of the 12 events. He scored $465,750 after topping Ivan Zufic head-up, which came after also winning Event 10.
The heads-up battle lasted only a single hand with both players getting all the chips in with pocket pairs. Peters held 10-10 to Zufic’s 9-9, which didnt improve.
Zufic took home $345,000 for his efforts. Other notables in the money included: Dan Shak (third), $224,250; Jake Daniels (fourth), $172,500, Vanessa Kade (fifth), $138,000; and Frank Funaro (sixth), $103,500.
Event 10: $10,000 Short Deck – Peters takes another one
The Short Deck action produced the smallest field of the tournament. The game is played by removing all 2s, 3s, 4s, and 5s from the deck.
The game makes for plenty of action and big hands. Peters seems comfortable with this game as well and topped Ali Imsirovic heads up for the title and $124,200.
Imsirovic was looking for his second straight USPO title after winning Event 9 and scoring five cashes in the series. Cary Katz took third for $43,200 and Thomas Kysar finished fourth for $27,000.
Event 9: $10,000 NLHE – Ali Imsirovic rises to top
After entering the final table as chip leader, Ali Imsirovic continued to roll – taking home this title and $217,800. The win came after a fourth place finish in Event 8 and a third-place in Event 3. Andrew Lichtenberger took runner-up for $158,400.
A few other top finishers included: Cary Katz (third), $118,800; Vanessa Kade (fourth), $94,050; and Erik Seidel, fifth ($74,250).
Event 8: $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha – Jared Bleznick scores second PokerGO title
This event brought some twists and turns for Jared Bleznick. He worked his way up to chip leader before falling to a short stack.
Bleznick eventually battled back to score the win and $189,000. Maxx Coleman took runner-up for $126,000.
Other finishers included Christopher Usude (third), $88,200; Ali Imsirovic fourth, $63,000; Joseph Sanders (fifth), $50,400; and Frank Crivello (sixth), $37,800.
Event 7: $10,000 NLHE – Peters notches first of three wins
After winning the USPO championship in 2020, Peters got back to his winning ways in the series. He topped a field of 99 to add another USPO win and $217,800.
Heads-up with Jared Jaffee, Peters once again found the winner’s circle for $158,400. The final table included a host of other big names including: Andrew Lichtenberger (third), $118,800; Brock Wilson (fourth), $89,100; Alex Foxen (fifth), $79,200; Ivan Zufic (sixth), $59,400; and Dan Shak (seventh), $49,500.
Up next for PokerGO Tour
Action returns to the PokerGO Studio July 1-12 for the new PokerGO Cup and Heads Up Championship. The Cup series features eight events with buy-ins ranging from $25,000 to $100,000.
The $100,000 PokerGO Heads-Up Championship is a separate event planned for July 12. The tournament features a field of 32 players and should attract some of the game’s biggest high rollers.
For a complete schedule and information on all Las Vegas summer tournaments including PokerGO, click here.