Stephen Chidwick and Aram Zobian were the big winners at the US Poker Open last night, the Englishman bagging the $25k Championship title and $429,000 with Zobian taking the overall series Golden Eagle trophy.
The eighth and final event of the highroller series at the PokerGO Studios in Vegas’ Aria Casino drew a very healthy 52 entries at $25k per head, with eight players paid from the $1.3million prizepool.
It took over an hour for the money bubble to burst and when it finally gave, it was Kristen Foxen who missed out, getting it in good against Stephen Chidwick only for the flop to favour the English pro.
Four players at the final table had already picked up wins in the preceding seven events, and the big side story was whether Jesse Lonis or Aram Zobian would lift the overall series title.
Lonis needed a win and for Zobian to fall in 6th or 7th to overtake him, but although Zobian did indeed finish 6th, Lonis had already departed in 7th himself.
That gave Zobian the Golden Eagle Trophy and $25,000 PGT Passport, a run of 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 6th place finishes totalling more than $600,000 making him a worthy victor.
Back to the Championship event itself and Chidwick ended PokerGO founder Cary Katz’s hopes of a maiden USPO win, the river deciding his fate…
Chidwick: 10♣ 9♣
Catz: K♦ Q♥
Flop: Q♠ J♣ 7♣
Turn: 9♠
River: 8♣
Dan Smith was looking for his second win of the series but had to settle for 4th spot when he ran his A9 into Brandon Wittmeyer’s A10, and then the newcomer to the paid ranks of the PokerGO Tour himself bowed out in 3rd place.
Wittmeyer: 10♣ 10♠
Chidwick: A♠ K♣
Flop: K♦ Q♦ 8♣
Turn: 7♦
River: 4♥
Heads-up, Chidwick had to contend with Andrew “LuckyChewy” Lichtenberger, and incredibly almost the exact same hand decided the title.
Lichtenberger’s pocket 10s faded the flop against Chidwick’s big slick, but the ace on the turn left him on fumes, falling on the very next hand to leave Chidwick victorious.
Event #8: Final table Payouts
| Place | Name | Prize (USD) |
| 1 | Stephen Chidwick | $429,000 |
| 2 | Andrew Lichtenberger | $273,000 |
| 3 | Brandon Wittmeyer | $182,000 |
| 4 | Dan Smith | $130,000 |
| 5 | Cary Katz | $104,000 |
| 6 | Aram Zobian | $78,000 |
| 7 | Jesse Lonis | $52,000 |
| 8 | David Coleman | $52,000 |
2024 USPO Leaderboard (final standings)
| Place | Name | Points |
| 1 | Aram Zobian | 616 |
| 2 | Stephen Chidwick | 427 |
| 3 | Jesse Lonis | 400 |
| 4 | Eric Afriat | 378 |
| 5 | Joey Weissman | 344 |
| 6 | David Coleman | 322 |
| 7 | Sam Laskowit | 320 |
| 8 | Dan Smith | 313 |
| 9 | Rodger Johnson | 301 |
| 10 | Matthew Wantman | 269 |
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