Justin Bonomo Leads First US Poker Open Final Table
The official final table of six is set after a solid 10 hours of play on Day 1 of the US Poker Open Event #1: $10,000 No Limit Hold'em. Justin Bonomo will lead the final table with 1,610,000 in chips when the action resumes at 12:00 P.M. local time.
Bonomo came into the tournament as the number one ranked player on the 2018 GPI, after an impressive first month. That momentum seems to have carried over into February as Bonomo will look to capture the opening event of the US Poker Open.
Bonomo came into the tournament as the number one ranked player on the 2018 GPI.
The American poker pro is a regular on the high-stakes poker scene and has amassed over $20 million in career earnings. In the first month of 2018, Bonomo has added over $2 million to his numbers, half of that coming from a second place finish in the $100,000 Super High Roller at the PCA.
It won't be a walk in the park for Bonomo, as he will be chased by five other competitors that will be just as hungry for the win. Boutros Naim made a strong rally late in the day to finish with 1,601,000. This will be the first time Naim has cashed in an event in the United States, with all of his previous earnings coming from events held in Europe. Sam Soverel rounds out the top three, as the only other player with over 1,000,000 chips heading to the final table. Soverel, on the other hand, has made all of his $4.6 million earnings from right here in the United States.
Final Table Seat Draw
| Seat | Player | Country | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stephen Chidwick | United Kingdom | 665,000 |
| 2 | Boutros Naim | Lebanon | 1,581,000 |
| 3 | Sam Soverel | United States | 1,461,000 |
| 4 | Justin Young | United States | 841,000 |
| 5 | David Peters | United States | 623,000 |
| 6 | Justin Bonomo | United States | 1,610,000 |
The day started off with around 30 players taking to their seats when the first cards got pitched. With each player allowed two re-entries, it didn't take long to see the number of entries grow to a final count of 68. That made up a prize pool of $680,000 for everyone to battle for with the winner taking home $190,400.
A total of 10 places got paid, and some players were able to leave with a bit of money in their pockets on Day 1. Anthony Zinno (10th place - $20,400), Jake Schindler (9th place - $20,400), Andy Park (8th place - $27,200), and Cary Katz (7th place - $34,000) all took home some money before they hit the rail on Day 1.
Final Table Payouts
| Place | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|
| 1st | $190,400 |
| 2nd | $136,000 |
| 3rd | $88,400 |
| 4th | $68,000 |
| 5th | $54,400 |
| 6th | $40,800 |
With such a stacked field showing up to play in these high roller events, there was no doubt that some of poker's biggest names were not going to make it through. The likes of Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu, Bryn Kenney, Adrian Mateos, Erik Seidel, Rainer Kempe, and Isaac Haxton were all ousted before the money bubble burst, though.
It would be Ryan Riess to fall just short of the money.
It would be Ryan Riess to fall just short of the money, as he ran into a bad string of cards as the money bubble approached. Not once, but twice, Riess got all of his chips in the middle against Justin Young. Both times Riess held a pocket pair with Young holding only an ace as an overcard. Each time, Young hit his ace and eliminated Riess in 11th place on the money bubble.
The action will resume at approximately 12:00 P.M. PST on February 2nd at the Aria Resort and Casino. The players will move to the feature table to be live-streamed with a delay. The live stream can be watched on PokerGO beginning at 1:00 P.M. PST and played until a winner is crowned. There will be just over three minutes remaining in level 16 with the blinds at 7,000/14,000 and a 14,000 big blind ante. The winner will not only bring home nearly $200,000 but will also take the early lead in the race to become the US Poker Open champion.
The PokerNews live reporting team will be here to bring you all of the action with hand-for-hand updates throughout the final table. Follow along in the US Poker Open live updates section!
Photos courtesy of Drew Amato/Poker Central
