The 2024 US Poker Open concluded at the Aria Casino in Las Vegas. Stephen Chidwick was the last player standing in the finale when he defeated Andrew Lichtenberger heads up and shipped Event #8 $25,200 NL for $429,000. Other 2024 USPO event winners included Aram Zobian, Erik Seidel, Matt Wantman, Eric Afriat, Dan Smith, David Coleman, and Jesse Lonis. Aram Zobian locked up the overall 2024 USPO championship when he topped the leaderboard with 616 points thanks to four cashes including one victory in Event #6 and a runner-up finish.
The Aria Casino in Las Vegas hosted the latest high roller series on the PokerGo Tour with the US Poker Open. The 2024 USPO included eight events with buy-ins ranging from $10K to $25K in the final. Several of the biggest names in poker took a shot at a USPO title, and the legendary Erik Seidel was among one of the eight champions this year.
The 2024 US Poker Open kicked off with Event #1 $5,100 NL which attracted 116 entrants and a prize pool worth $580,000. The top 17 places paid out. The final table included Seidel, Eric Afriat, Dylan Linde, John Khoury, William Lamar-Boone and Justin Zaki. Seidel picked off Afriat in a heads-up joust to win $145,000. It marked his second career USPO title, and he added 145 PGT points to begin the series at the top of the leaderboard.
USPO Event #2 $10,100 NL attracted 99 runners and a prize pool that just fell short of a cool million. The top 15 places paid out. The final table included Sean Winter, Victoria Livschitz, Joey Weissman, Rodger Johnson, Kristina Holst, Aram Zobian, and Jesse Lonis. When the dust settled Lonis defeated Zobian heads up for the title and $252,450 in cash. Lonis also took over first place on the USPO leaderboard with 252 juicy points.
USPO Event #3 $10,100 NL attracted 84 entrants and a prize pool worth $840,000. Only the top 12 players earned a cut of the prize pool. Lonis made back-to-back final tables and the final seven included Bill Klein, Dylan Linde, David Coleman, David Stamm, Rodger Johnson, and Dan Smith. Lonis busted in fourth place and secured 80 more leaderboard points and held on to the lead with 332. Johnson also final tabled consecutive events, but his run ended in second place. Dan Smith stepped into the winner's circle to win $235,200 and 235 leaderboard points.
USPO Event #4 $10,100 NL attracted 83 runners and a prize pool worth $830,000. Only the top 12 places earned a cut of the prize pool. Among the final seven were Phil Hellmuth, Dylan Weisman, Shannon Shorr, David Coleman, Aram Zobian, John Riordan and Jon Little. Hellmuth busted in fifth place much to the delight of all the Poker Brat haters. Shorr found himself heads up against Coleman, who had made back-to-back final tables. David Coleman was the last player standing and he won $202,300 and 232 points. He moved into second in the standings with 291 and railed Lonis' 332 in first place.
USPO Event #5 $10,100 NL attracted 92 players and a prize pool worth $920,000. The top 14 places paid out, and the final seven included Paulius Plausinaitis, Daniel Negreanu, Erik Seidel, Grant Wang, Victoria Livschitz, and Matt Wantman. Seidel and Livschitz advanced to their second final table inside of five events. Wantman rallied back from the short stack to defeat Negreanu heads up for the victory. Seidel's deep run ended in third place but he picked up 110 points and moved into sixth overall on the leader board. Wantman banked $239,200 and 239 points, but Wantman still led with 332 points.
The stakes were increased for USPO Event #6 $15,100, which attracted 62 runners and a prize pool worth $930,000. Only the top nine places paid out. The final six included Aram Zobian, Sam Laskowitz, Brock Wilson, Joey Weissman, Dan Shak, and John Adress. Zobian was the runner up in an earlier event and he didn't squander this opportunity to go the distance with a victory in Event #6. Zobian fondled $264,290 in cash and notched 298 points. With his victory and runner-up finish in Event #2, Zobian seized first place with 569 points.
USPO Event #7 $15,100 NL attracted 64 entrants and a prize pool worth $960,000. The top 10 places paid out. Joey Weissman was among the final six once again, but he busted in second place. Also at the final table were Eric Afriat, Stephen Chidwick, Sam Laskovitz, Sean Winter, and Bill Klein. Afrait was the runner up in Event #1 when he lost heads-up against Erik Seidel. But this time, Afriat was the last one standing. He won $288,00 and added 288 points, which propelled him to second overall on the USPO leaderboard with 378. Zobian still retained his big lead with 569 points. Runner-up Weissman cashed for a third time this series, and he moved into fourth with 344 points.
The $25K grand finale was a huge spectacle. USPO Event #8 $25,200 NL attracted 52 runners to the anchor event, who generated a prize pool worth $1.3 million. Only the top eight places paid out. Heading into the final day, British pro Stephen Chidwick amassed a huge lead with nearly 40% of the chips in play. Also among the final seven were Lucky Chewy, Cary Katz, Brandon Wittmeyer, Aram Zobian, Dan Smith, and Jesse Lonis.
With Lonis still alive among the final seven, he was the only player who could deny Zobian the overall USPO championship. However, Zobian locked up the title when Lonis hit the rail in seventh place. Zobian was knocked out in sixth place, but picked up 47 more points to retain the top slot.
Katz busted in fifth place, followed by Dan Smith in fourth place, and Brandon Wittmeyer in third place. With two to go, Andrew Lichtenberger found himself heads up against Chidwick. Chidwick led 5.7M to 2.1M.
Lucky Chewy's luck ran out when he hit the rail in second place when his pocket treys lost to Chidwick's 
. Chidwick banked $429,000 for the victory and added another PGT title to his collection. The victory in the finale also included 257 points and Chidwick moved into second overall on the leaderboard with 427 points. He passed Lonis, who ended up in third place with 400 points.
Chidwick has now won 10 PGT titles and banked over $14 million in PGT-sanctioned events. According to Hendon Mob, Chidwick's career earnings sits at $57.3 million. No one has won more money in England, and he's ranked third overall in the world behind Bryn Kenney ($65.2M) and Justin Bonomo ($63.4M).
Meanwhile, Zobian was awarded the coveted golden eagle trophy for winning the overall 2024 USPO Championship. Zobian amassed 616 PGT points thanks to a 1-2-3 run and a sixth-place score in the $26K finale. He cashed four times and banked over $613K in earnings over the last two weeks. With a first-place finish in Event #6, Zobian now has two career victories on the PGT.
Chidwick won the first USPO Championship back in 2018. David Peters is the only two-time USPO champ when he won in 2019 and 2021, but it's interesting to note that there was no USPO series in 2020 due to the pandemic so he won back-to-back championships. Sean Winter snagged the 2022 USPO Championship, and Martin Zamani won the championship last year.
Zobian moved into third place overall on the 2024 PGT Leaderboard with 1,048 points. David Coleman currently occupies the top spot in 2024 with 1,259 points thanks to four victories and nine cashes. Dylan Weisman is in second (1,126 points) with three victories and 10 cashes this year. Daniel Negreanu is third (896) with one victory and 11 cashes, and Finland's Samuli Sipila (749) is in fourth thanks to two victories in the 2024 PGT PLO Series in March.
2024 PGT USPO - Final Leader Board
1. Aram Zobian (USA) 616 points
2. Stephen Chidwick (UK) 427
3. Jesse Lonis (USA) 400
4. Eric Afriat (Canada) 378
5. Joey Weissman (USA) 344
6. David Coleman (Netherlands) 322
7. Sam Laskowitz (USA)320
8. Dan Smith (USA) 313
9. Rodger Johnson (USA) 301
10. Matthew Wantman (USA) 269
