The 2024 U. S. Poker Open is alive once again! The PokerGO Studios at ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas is the place for all the poker action over the next ten days, and the players are not wasting any time getting down to business. On Tuesday, Poker Hall of Famer Erik Seidel continued to defy Father Time in winning his latest tournament, while Jesse Lonis grasped the golden ring on Wednesday night in winning Event #2 of the 2024 USPO.
Some Things Never Change
Erik Seidel was winning poker tournaments when most of the players around the felt weren’t even literally conceived. On Tuesday night, Seidel once again etched his name into the annals of poker when he was able to outlast a solid final table in winning Event #1. That $5000 buy-in tournament (the lowest of the 2024 USPO) drew in 116 entries to build a $560,000 prize pool, of which the final seventeen players partook.
Seidel came to that Event #1 final table with a decent lead (5.02 million) over Eric Afriat (3.675 million), with the remainder of the field scattered behind them. Justin Zaki (2.325 million), William Lamar-Boone (1.575 million), Dylan Linde (1.07 million), and John Khoury (845K) looked to make some moves. As it would turn out, one of those players would be in the mix at the end.
Things did not start well for Seidel, however. He doubled Linde up on one of the first hands of action, then did the same for Khoury to fall from the lead. While the Poker Hall of Famer would fight back to the lead, he doubled up Lamar-Boone to stay near the pack and under threat.
After Zaki was knocked out in sixth place by Linde, Lamar-Boone would double again through Seidel, only to be eliminated right afterward by Afriat. Afriat would use that knockout to take over the lead and, after bumping Khoury from the festivities in fourth place, seized a sizeable chip lead (8.1 million) over Seidel (3.3 million) and Linde (3.1 million). From that point onward, however, Seidel took command.
The first hand between the trio saw Seidel double through Linde to draw closer to Afriat. Soon afterward, Seidel would take over the lead after he flopped a set, saw Afriat turn a heart flush, and then took the edge back when the board paired on the river. Seidel put his foot on the gas after that, culminating in a three-way all-in that ended the event.
After Afriat opened the betting and Linde moved his meager stack (175K) to the center, Seidel put out enough to commit the remainder of Afriat’s chips. Afriat made the call, and the cards went to their backs:
Afriat (button): pocket nines
Linde (small blind): K-8 off suit
Seidel (big blind): pocket Aces
Seidel was in a dominant position, but he still had to fade five cards to victory. A J-10-5 flop helped nobody, nor did the board pairing with another five on the turn (Linde was drawing dead at this point). Once a trey peeled off on the river, the tournament was over, and Erik Seidel once again could claim the championship banner.
1. Erik Seidel (USA), $145,000 (145 points)
2. Eric Afriat (Canada), $89,500 (90)
3. Dylan Linde (USA), $63,800 (64)
4. John Khoury (USA), $49,300 (49)
5. William Lamar-Boone (USA), $37,700 (38)
6. Justin Zaki (USA), $29,000 (29)
Historic Moment at Event #2 Final Table
The final seven players returned Wednesday afternoon to determine the champion of the first $10,000 event on the 2024 USPO schedule. It was a historic moment in the tournament as, for one of the few times in the history of the PokerGO Tour, two women made the final seven. Kristina Holst was in excellent shape with her 2.75 million stack, trailing only chip leader Jesse Lonis (3.295 million). Meanwhile, Victoria Livschitz was lurking in the pack with her 1.13 million stack.
Lonis tried to go for the kill early but failed in taking out Sean Winter, drawing him back to the pack. Holst would take advantage of this, winning a big pot against Aram Zobian to take over the lead when she rivered two pair against the flopped pair of Aces from Zobian. Lonis fought back to maintain second place once he knocked Winter out of the tournament, flopping Broadway against Winter’s pocket pair of fours.
The lead would once again be Lonis’ once he eliminated another player. The victim on this occasion would be Livschitz, who committed the remainder of her stack with an A♠ 3♠. Unfortunately for Livschitz, Lonis had her crushed with his A♣ Q♣, which only got better on the blood-red Q-10-2 flop. Once a seven came on the turn, Livschitz was drawing dead and out of the tournament in sixth place.
Lonis went on a rampage from there. He would decimate the remainder of the final table, responsible for every elimination on his way to the championship. On the final elimination, Lonis would turn a Jack-high straight flush AND delightfully saw Zobian move all in before his action. Once Lonis made the obvious call, the due diligence of the final card was dealt, and Jesse Lonis was the champion of Event #2 of the 2024 USPO.
1. Jesse Lonis (USA), $252,450 (252 points)
2. Aram Zobian (USA), $163,350 (163)
3. Kristina Holst (USA), $113,850 (114)
4. Rodger Johnson (USA), $89,100 (89)
5. Joey Weissman (USA), $64,350 (64)
6. Victoria Livschitz (USA), $49,500 (50)
7. Sean Winter (USA), $39,600 (40)
The action continues Thursday with another final table in Event #3’s $10,000 action, with David Stamm leading a talented crew that includes Linde, Lonis, and current PGT POY leader David Coleman. Event #4, another $10,000 tournament, will open for its Day One action around the PokerGO Studios while that final table plays out. It is just the start, however…the players will battle over the next week, all the way to the $25,000 Championship Event of the 2024 USPO, which begins next Tuesday.
(Photo courtesy of PokerGO.com)