After sitting out most of the early PokerGO Tour events in 2021, it took very little time for David Peters to get back into top form at the 2021 U.S. Poker Open (USPO).
Peters, who won the U.S. Poker Open Championship when it was last held in 2019, claimed his second straight USPO title to pick up a $50,000 bonus and the 54-pound Golden Eagle trophy after impressively winning three USPO tournaments and avoiding a final day charge by USPO Event #2 champion Sam Soverel.
“It’s been a crazy week. I obviously ran pretty well. I haven’t played live poker in over a year and a half. It feels good to be back,” Peters said after watching Soverel bust out of the $50,000 USPO finale. “It feels good to jump back in there playing against all of these great players that I’ve battled with all these years.”
2021 U.S. Poker Open Championship Standings
| Rank | Player | Points | Wins | Cashes | Earnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | David Peters | 646 | 3 | 4 | $832,950 |
| 2 | Sean Winter | 484 | 1 | 2 | $785,700 |
| 3 | Ali Imsirovic | 483 | 1 | 5 | $482,000 |
| 4 | Stephen Chidwick | 427 | 0 | 3 | $628,700 |
| 5 | Dan Shak | 371 | 0 | 4 | $459,750 |
| 6 | Jake Daniels | 323 | 1 | 2 | $391,000 |
| 7 | Sam Soverel | 316 | 1 | 4 | $382,300 |
| 8 | Andrew Lichtenberger | 308 | 0 | 3 | $308,000 |
| 9 | Joe McKeehen | 302 | 1 | 2 | $302,200 |
| 10 | Steve Zolotow | 289 | 0 | 3 | $289,000 |
Sweat for Peters
The series title didn’t come without a sweat, and Peters had to stand by after busting out of the final event as Soverel, Ali Imsirovic, Andrew Lichtenberger, Joe McKeehen, and Cary Katz all entered the tournament with an opportunity to take the USPO title with a victory. Only Soverel made it to the second day, and Peters clinched the win when Soverel busted out in fifth place.
Read More: Sean Winter Defeats Stephen Chidwick to Win USPO Event #12: $50K NLHE ($756,000)
Peters won the first of his back-to-back USPO titles in 2019 by winning the final event to pass Sean Winter in the standings on the last day.
“It’s very important. Winning back-to-back is a really cool thing. I was hoping he didn’t do what I did to Sean (Winter) last time, so it worked out well.”
2021 U.S. Poker Open Results
The 2021 U.S. Poker Open awarded more than $11 million in prize pools across a dozen events. Peters was the only player to win multiple titles by impressively winning three events on his way to back-to-back USPO championships.
Other big names also had their day in the sun after winning big events including Jake Daniels, McKeehen, John Riordan, Joey Weissman, Jared Bleznick, Imsirovic, and Sean Winter.
| Event | Entries | Prize Pool | Winner | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event #1: $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em | 95 | $950,000 | Jake Daniels | United States | $218,500 |
| Event #2: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha | 65 | $650,000 | Sam Soverel | United States | $175,000 |
| Event #3: $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em | 77 | $770,000 | Joe McKeehen | United States | $200,200 |
| Event #4: $10,000 Big Bet Mix | 48 | $480,000 | John Riordan | United States | $163,200 |
| Event #5: $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em | 85 | $850,000 | Joey Weissman | United States | $204,000 |
| Event #6: $10,000 8-Game | 68 | $680,000 | Eli Elezra | United States | $183,600 |
| Event #7: $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em | 99 | $990,000 | David Peters | United States | $217,800 |
| Event #8: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha | 63 | $630,000 | Jared Bleznick | United States | $189,000 |
| Event #9: $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em | 99 | $990,000 | Ali Imsirovic | Bosnia and Herzegovina | $217,800 |
| Event #10: $10,000 Short Deck | 27 | $270,000 | David Peters | United States | $124,200 |
| Event #11: $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em | 69 | $1,725,000 | David Peters | United States | $465,750 |
| Event #12: $50,000 No-Limit Hold’em | 42 | $2,100,000 | Sean Winter | United States | $756,000 |
| Total | 837 | $11,085,000 |
Peters Prepared for a Long PokerGO Tour Season
The time off for Peters appears to be over as he plans to play a full schedule of events throughout the remainder of the year. With a packed slate of high-stakes tournaments coming up on the PokerGO Tour, Peters is prepared for a long season.
“I think I am going to play a lot. I missed a good chunk of the PokerGO Tour the last couple of months, but I am ready to get back in there and grind a lot of these. Hopefully I can accumulate a lot of points.”
Peters finishes the USPO with 646 PokerGO Tour points, which is good enough for sixth place on tour. Winter added 434 points to his total with his win in the $50,000 event, giving him 1,099 points and sole possession of third place.
About the PokerGO Tour
In April, streaming service PokerGO announced a series of high roller tournaments and a new points system that would see the top players competing with one another at a variety of high stakes events throughout the year. The PokerGO Tour will feature over 150 events with buy-ins of $10,000 or more, and the top three finishers at the end of the year will split $175,000 in prize money.
The USPO was the first major event on a tour that is set to include other majors like the Poker Masters and new series like the PokerGO Cup and the PokerGO Heads-Up Championship. Events over $10,000 are included in the tour lineup, and future WSOP tournaments will count in the standings, as well.
Imsirovic Pads His Lead in the PokerGO Tour Standings
While the top two spots remain the same, there was plenty of movement on the leaderboard throughout the USPO as players picked up a lot of points in some of the largest events on tour so far.
Imsirovic extended his lead on the tour leaderboard with an impressive USPO showing which included a win and four additional cashes that netted him 481 points to bring his first-place total to 1,897. He increased the gap with Sean Perry (1,256 points) in second place, who added 106 points with a runner-up finish in the $10,000 Big Bet Mix event.
Soverel came up short of the USPO title in the final event, but he cashed four times for 318 points to climb into fourth place with 852 total points.
McKeehen and Daniels both picked up big points with wins at the USPO. McKeehen moved to just outside the top ten with 302 more points on his win in Event #3 to bring his tour total to 526. Daniels took down the first tournament of the series and an additional paying finish to pick up 323 points.
Dan Shak took a big jump towards the top ten, cashing in four events to earn $459,750, adding 371 points to give him 433 on the year. Katz finished in the money in four events as well, winning $270,100 for 270 points. He jumps to eighth place on the tour leaderboard with 611 total points.
Elsewhere in the top ten, Brock Wilson and Jake Schindler both cashed twice. Wilson added 140 points to his total and has 627 points so far, good for 7th place. He is seeking his first win on tour. Schindler added 111 points to bring his total to 555, enough to stay in the top ten. Chris Brewer cashed in one event and slipped slightly to fifth place with 816 points.
| Place | Player | County | Total Points | Wins | Cashes | Total Earnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ali Imsirovic | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 1,416 | 5 | 12 | $1,977,460 |
| 2 | Sean Perry | USA | 1,150 | 2 | 9 | $1,693,618 |
| 3 | Chris Brewer | USA | 763 | 1 | 11 | $1,082,100 |
| 4 | Sean Winter | USA | 665 | 1 | 9 | $938,090 |
| 5 | Sam Soverel | USA | 534 | 1 | 6 | $786,396 |
| 6 | Shawn Daniels | USA | 523 | 1 | 4 | $551,500 |
| 7 | Brock Wilson | USA | 487 | 0 | 5 | $695,186 |
| 8 | Chad Eveslage | USA | 461 | 1 | 1 | $767,576 |
| 9 | Jake Schindler | USA | 444 | 1 | 4 | $638,408 |
| 10 | Arthur Conan | France | 440 | 1 | 1 | $733,320 |
See the full leaderboard here!
Wynn Millions and PokerGO Cup Up Next
The PokerGO Tour now moves on to the Wynn Millions on June 25 (PokerNews will live report that event) before returning to the PokerGO Studios from July 1-9 for eight events at the brand new PokerGO Cup featuring buy-ins ranging from $10,000 to the $100,000 series finale.
After the PokerGO Cup, the tour continues with the PokerGO $100,000 Heads Up Championship on July 12, as well as high stakes summer events in Florida at the Seminole High Roller and throughout Las Vegas in the high roller series at the Aria and the Venetian. The tour returns to the PokerGO Studios in September for the Poker Masters and will feature tournaments $10,000 and above from throughout this year’s World Series of Poker.
*Images courtesy of Poker Central
- 1 2021 U.S. Poker Open Begins Thursday With First of 12 Events
- 2 The USPO is Back: A Historical Look at PokerGO’s US Poker Open (USPO)
- 3 Dan Shak Leads Star-Studded Final Table in U.S. Poker Open Event #1: $10,000 NLHE
- 4 Jake Daniels Wins the U.S. Poker Open Event #1: $10,000 No Limit Hold’em ($218,500)
- 5 PokerGO Point Standings Leading Into 2021 US Poker Open; Imsirovic Leads
- 6 Sam Soverel Wins USPO Event #2: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha ($175,500)
- 7 Joe McKeehen Wins USPO Event #3: $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em ($200,200)
- 8 Chris Brewer Transitions from Collegiate Runner to High-Stakes Poker Pro
- 9 John Riordan Wins U.S. Poker Open $10K Big Bet Mix ($163,200)
- 10 Joey Weissman Mounts Comeback for the Ages to Win USPO Event #5: $10K NLHE ($204,000)
- 11 Eli Elezra Defeats Zolotow & Negreanu to Win the USPO $10K 8-Game ($183,600)
- 12 David Peters Wins Record-Breaking USPO Event #7: $10,000 NLHE ($217,800)
- 13 No Gamble, No Future: Jeff Platt & Brent Hanks Chemistry Shines During USPO
- 14 Jared Bleznick Wins USPO Event #8: $10K PLO ($189,000)
- 15 Brock Wilson Banks on Building a Name for Himself at the USPO
- 16 Ali Imsirovic Catapults into USPO Lead after Winning Event #9: $10K NLHE ($217,800)
- 17 Inside Jared Bleznick’s Bizarre “Sports Cards” Interview After USPO Victory
- 18 David Peters Wins $10K Short Deck for his Second 2021 USPO Title ($124,200)
- 19 David Peters Wins Third USPO Title in Five Days in the Event #11: $25K NLHE ($465,750)
- 20 Sean Winter Defeats Stephen Chidwick to Win USPO Event #12: $50K NLHE ($756,000)
- 21 David Peters Wins Back-To-Back U.S. Poker Open Championships; Imsirovic Extends PokerGO Tour Lead
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