It has become one of the marquee events on the tournament poker calendar. In a very short time, the U. S. Poker Open has become the pinnacle event of the “High Roller” circuit, where the crème of the poker world comes to vie for the “Golden Eagle” trophy signifying the Overall Champion of the series. Now into its sixth iteration, the 2024 version of the tournament schedule starts on Monday, with eight events on the roster.
$5000 No Limit Hold’em Tournament Starts the Show
The first event begins at noon (Pacific Time) on Monday from the PokerGO Studios in the ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. Each player will begin with 125,000 in chips, with thirty (30) minute levels facing the players. Why such a short level time? The players have a “shot clock” on them, which forces the action. Preflop, the “shot clock” will be twenty seconds, and post-flop the players will have thirty seconds to make their decisions.
You would think with 125,000 in chips to start with, players would not burn out the stack. If there is one thing seen in these “High Roller” events, though, it is the fact that players will push every edge, no matter how small. If a player burns through that opening stack, the player can rebuy up to two times to try to rebuild. A player can shoot through $15,000 in this tournament alone if they use all three buy-ins.
If $5000 is too rich for your blood, then the rest of the schedule is probably outside your wallet. Events #2 through #5 are all $10,000 buy-in tournaments (with similar rules, including the rebuy options), while Events #6 and #7 are $15,000 battles. Everything will culminate with Event #8, the $25,000 Championship Event, along with the awarding of the Golden Eagle trophy that signifies the Overall Champion of the U. S. Poker Open.
History of Excellence in Overall Champions
2018 was the inaugural year of the U. S. Poker Open, and the United Kingdom’s Stephen Chidwick made it his personal playground. Over the eight-event schedule, Chidwick cashed in five tournaments, with all of them being final-table finishes. Of those five trips, Chidwick would earn two titles, pick up over $1.2 million, and take home the inaugural title.
David Peters came to the fore in 2019 as the U. S. Poker Open started becoming a “main stop” for the High Rollers. Peters only won one tournament over the ten scheduled, but he made it count; Peters won the Championship Event which, along with his two other final tables during that year’s event, earned him the Overall Title.
2020 was poker’s “lost year,” but 2021 saw Peters come back to achieve one of the most difficult feats in poker – a repeat. Peters won three events on the twelve-tournament schedule, enough to hold off Sean Winter and repeat as the U. S. Poker Open champion. Winter, who won the 2021 U. S. Poker Open Championship Event, would not be denied in 2022 when he came back to win the Championship Event again and, this time, pick up the Golden Eagle.
In 2023, Martin Zamani would use his victory in the Championship Event over Nick Petrangelo to top Ren Lin for the Overall Championship. Without that win, his only victory of that series, Zamani would not have even finished in the Top Five for the 2023 U. S. Poker Open. Zamani is expected back in 2024 to defend his title.
Over the next week-plus, the eyes of the poker world will be cast toward Las Vegas and the 2024 U. S. Poker Open. The action will be aired on the streaming outlet PokerGO, on a thirty-minute delay, from the first cards dealt to the last.
(Photo courtesy of PokerGO.com)