David Peters Wins $10K Short Deck for his Second 2021 USPO Title ($124,200)
David Peters became the first two-time winner in the 2021 U.S. Poker Open after he defeated PokerGO Tour Leaderboard captain Ali Imsirovic heads-up to win Event #10: $10,000 Short Deck for $124,200 at the PokerGO Studio at the ARIA Resort & Casino.
Peters, who previously won Event #7: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em for $217,800, entered the Short Deck final table with a commanding chip lead against Imsirovic, Cary Katz, and Thomas Kysar en route to the title.
Despite winning his second event this festival in a truly dominating fashion, Peters was only able to climb from fifth to second place on the 2021 U.S. Poker Open Championship Standings, while Imsirovic, who was on top of the leaderboard after nine events, padded his lead on the rest of the field.
The event itself attracted 27 entries to generate a $270,000 prize pool.
U.S. Poker Open Event #10: $10,000 Short Deck Final Table Payouts
| Place | Name | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | David Peters | United States | $124,200 |
| 2 | Ali Imsirovic | Bosnia and Herzegovina | $75,600 |
| 3 | Cary Katz | United States | $43,200 |
| 4 | Thomas Kysar | United States | $27,000 |
Event #10 Final Table Recap
Peters entered the four-player final table with two-thirds of the chips in play. Imsirovic and Katz both also had healthy stacks to start with Kysar hoping to spin up a short stack.
The action was hot and heavy right when the live stream at PokerGO began with Peters sending Kysar packing in fourth place for $27,000 on a bad beat when his queen-nine got there against queen-jack suited.
Katz was out next in third place for $43,200 after unsuccessfully jamming queen-ten suited into Imsirovic's queen-jack suited.
It was already guaranteed during heads-up play that the 2021 USPO would have its first two-time winner with both Peters and Imsirovic previously winning titles. Imsirovic had his work cut out for him as he began heads-up play against Peters with a 3:1 chip deficit.
Imsirovic hung around for about 90 minutes during the heads-up battle before he bluffed it all away. Imsirovic jammed the river with queen-eight after bricking the 
board and was picked off by Peters with jack-ten to end his run in second place for $75,600.
2021 U.S. Poker Open Championship Standings
Event #7 and Event #10 champion Peters catapulted from fifth to second place on the 2021 U.S. Poker Open Championship Standings after becoming the first two-time winner of this festival.
Event #9 winner and the 2018 Poker Masters Purple Jacket winner Imsirovic padded his lead against the rest of his field with a strong runner-up finish in Event #10.
Meanwhile, Event #9 runner-up Andrew Lichtenberger slipped down a spot into third place with USPO Event #3 champion Joe McKeehen and Steve Zolotow rounding out the top five spots in the Championship Standings.
| Rank | Player | Points | Wins | Cashes | Earnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ali Imsirovic | 483 | 1 | 5 | $482,000 |
| 2 | David Peters | 367 | 2 | 3 | $367,200 |
| 3 | Andrew Lichtenberger | 308 | 0 | 3 | $308,000 |
| 4 | Joe McKeehen | 302 | 1 | 2 | $302,200 |
| 5 | Steve Zolotow | 289 | 0 | 3 | $289,000 |
| 6 | Cary Katz | 270 | 0 | 4 | $270,100 |
| 7 | Dan Shak | 236 | 0 | 3 | $235,500 |
| 8 | Maxx Coleman | 231 | 0 | 3 | $230,800 |
| 9 | Alex Foxen | 224 | 0 | 4 | $223,300 |
| 10 | John Riordan | 222 | 1 | 3 | $221,800 |
2021 U.S. Poker Open Results
| 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 |
*Images courtesy of Poker Central