Eric Afriat from Canada, who made a name for himself by winning three WPT titles, is one of the latest players crowned as the champion at the 2024 U.S. Poker Open. He won the penultimate event of the series, Event #7: $15,100 No-Limit Hold’em where he outlasted a star-studded field of 64 entries, securing his first-ever PGT title, plus a $288,000 from the prizepool of $960,000.
U.S Poker Open Event #7: $15,100 No-Limit Hold’em Recap
The strong turnout for this $15,100 buy-in event resulted in a prize pool of $960,000 and the top 10 finishers earned a piece of it. The event ran over the course of two days, with David Peters (tenth), Victoria Livschitz (ninth),Brock Wilson (eighth) and Darren Elias (seventh) all exiting on Day 1.
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The final day of the event saw six players return to battle it out for the title, with Stephen Chidwick holding the chip and Afriat starting the day as one of three players with over a million chips. The first player to fall was Bill Klein whose ace-eight was outkicked by Laskowitz’s ace-queen, sending him home in sixth place. Up next, Winter shoved with ten-deuce, only to run into the ace-queen of Joey Weissman. The latter prevailed and Winter was eliminated in fifth place. Winter was followed by Laskowitz who was eliminated in fourth place by the start-of-day chip leader Stephen Chidwick.
The three-handed play belonged to Afriat who left both Chidwick and Weissman scratching their heads at various points during the prolonged three-handed play. Finally, it came down to heads-up after Stephen Chidwick was eliminated in third place by Joey Weissman from the United States.
Even after busting the United Kingdom’s all-time money leader in third place, Weissman trailed in chips with Afriat holding a nearly three-to-one chip advantage to start heads-up. Weissman’s hopes were dashed when his ace-queen lost to Afriat’s king-jack. The latter hit a broadway straight, winning the title and ending Weissman’s run in second place ($187,200).
U.S Poker Open Event #7: $15,100 No-Limit Hold’em Final Table Payouts
1st – Eric Afriat $288,000
2nd – Joey Weissman $187,200
3rd – Stephen Chidwick $129,600
4th – Sam Laskowitz $96,000
5th – Sean Winter $72,000
6th – Bill Klein $52,800
Aram Zobian Wins U.S. Poker Open Event #6: $15,100 No-Limit Hold’em
Aram Zobian was the last player standing in Event #6: $15,100 No-Limit Hold’em of the 2024 U.S. Poker Open. He outlasted a competitive field of 62 entrants to earn $264,290 and his second PGT title. This was his third-largest score and he now has nearly $6.4 million in live earnings after this victory.
U. S. Poker Open Event #6: $15,100 No-Limit Hold’em Recap
The strong turnout for this tournament built a prize pool of $930,000, which was finally shared by the top 9 finishers. Six-time WSOP bracelet winner and two-time WPT champion Daniel Negreanu (9th – $27,900) was the first player to finish in the money. He was followed by the likes of John Riordan (8th – $37,200), and Jesse Lonis (7th – $37,200) all exiting on Day 1 after the money bubble burst.
The second and final day of this $15,100 buy-in event began with Sam Laskowitz in the lead and Zobian in second chip position. Joey Weissman scored the first knockout of the day after busting John Andress (6th – $51,150) with pocket aces against A-K and overtook the lead. The next player to fall was Dan Shak, who spent most of the day on a short stack. He finally shoved with 10-9 suited trailing the A-10 of Brock Wilson and was busted in fifth place as Wilson hit a pair aces to win the pot.
A little later, Zobian, who overtook the chip lead during five-handed, rivered a straight against the trip sevens of Weissman, ending his opponent’s run in fourth place and extending his lead. Wilson became a short during three-handed action and finally moved all-in with 9-7, only to run into A-9 suited for Zobian. Both players made nines and threes by the river, but Zobian’s ace kicker won him the pot.
The heads-up began with Zobian holding 6,570,000 over Laskowitz’s 2,085,000 chips. The two battled it for a bit before striking a deal. After the deal was agreed, the momentum swung in Zobian’s favor and he shipped the title. On the final hand, Laskowitz held Kd 8d and Zobian had Js 10s. The board ran out As Kh 7s 4c Ks with three spades, giving Zobian the coveted pot as well as the title.
U.S Poker Open Event #6: $15,100 No-Limit Hold’em Final Table Payouts
1st – Aram Zobian $264,290
2nd – Sam Laskowitz $219,310
3rd – Brock Wilson $130,200
4th – Joey Weissman $93,000
5th – Dan Shak $69,750
6th – John Andress $51,150
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Image Credit: PGT
