Sunday was a day off for the 2024 U. S. Poker Open, a part of the PokerGO Tour, but it just whets the appetite for what is to come. Saturday night saw the conclusion of Event #5, while Event #6’s final table will take place on Monday. After those two tournaments, there will only be two more events left, including the $25,000 Championship Event, which should determine the overall USPO champion.
Matthew Wantman Earns Win in Event #5
On Saturday, Daniel Negreanu continued his hot start to 2024 by headlining the final table of Event #5, the $15,000 No Limit Hold’em tournament on the 2024 USPO schedule. While Negreanu was stacked with 2.79 million in chips, he had both Erik Seidel (2.135 million) and David Peters (2.12 million) stalking him. None of the four remaining players – Grant Wang (1.225 million), Victoria Livschitz (1.29 million), Matthew Wantman (1.175 million), or Paulius Plausinaitis (1.06 million) – were far behind either.
The shorter stacks had to see who would survive from their ranks, and Wang was one of the first to survive after he knocked off Plausinaitis once his Q-J caught against Plausinaitis’ Big Slick on a Jack high board. Peters was surprisingly the next to depart, sending his final chips over to Negreanu after Negreanu’s K-3 caught a King against Peters’ A-3 that did not improve. Once Negreanu took out Wang in fifth place, pocket Aces ruling over Wang’s A-K, Negreanu held a solid lead and more than half the chips in play.
Seidel got healthy with a double through Negreanu, but Negreanu would get those chips back in dumping Livschitz from the tournament courtesy of a bad beat (Negreanu’s pocket treys catching a trey on the flop against Livschitz’s pocket Kings). Seidel’s drive for a second 2024 USPO title would end in third place after he ran an A-8 up against Wantman’s A-J and failed with his kicker. Down to heads up, Negreanu’s lead was 1.1 million, but that would disappear quickly.
On one of the first hands of the heads-up match, Wantman would raise over a Negreanu limp, only to see Negreanu move all in. Wantman was confident, immediately making the call, and the cards were on their backs:
Wantman (big blind): K-Q
Negreanu (small blind): A-5
Wantman was live and the Queen on the flop made him even more alive. Negreanu needed an Ace to top Wantman, but it would not come after an eight turn and nine river. Left with only 350K after the clash, Negreanu would fall on the next hand when his J-6 could not catch up against Wantman’s K-3 on a K-J-4-4-6 board.
1. Matthew Wantman (USA), $239,200 (239 points)
2. Daniel Negreanu (Canada), $151,800 (152)
3. Erik Seidel (USA), $110,400 (110)
4. Victoria Livschitz (USA), $82,800 (83)
5. Grant Wang (USA), $64,400 (64)
6. David Peters (USA), $46,000 (46)
7. Paulius Plausinaitis (Lithuania), $36,800 (37)
Jesse Lonis Leads Race for 2024 USPO Overall Championship
Jesse Lonis may only have two cashes on this year’s scorecard, but they have been two great ones. Lonis, who won Event #2 and final tabled Event #3, has garnered enough points (332) to this mark in the 2024 U. S. Poker Open to hold the overall lead. That lead is a tenuous one, however, as Rodger Johnson has been the “iron man” of the series. With five events in the books, he has five total cashes, accruing 301 points. David Coleman (291), Aram Zobian (271), and Wantman (269) all are ready to pounce over the next couple of events.
Here are the current standings in the race for the 2024 USPO Overall Championship:
1. Jesse Lonis, 332 points*
2. Rodger Johnson, 301
3. David Coleman, 291*
4. Aram Zobian, 271
5. Matthew Wantman, 269*
6. Erik Seidel, 255*
7. Dan Smith, 235*
8. Victoria Livschitz, 183
9. Shannon Shorr, 179
10. Daniel Negreanu, 152
(* – indicates 2024 USPO win) At least one of these players will make a climb up the standings on Monday. Aram Zobian is sitting second in chips behind Sam Laskowitz in Event #6, another $15,000 NLHE tournament. Should Zobian finish in fourth place or higher, he will zoom past the three men in front of him and take over the lead in the Overall Championship race. It is going to come down to the $25,000 Championship Event, set to begin on Tuesday, to decide a great deal about the 2024 U. S. Poker Open.
(Photo courtesy of PokerGO.com)
