US Poker Open 2019: Series Caps Off With David Peters Taking Down $100K Main Event & Championship Title

The 10-event long 2019 edition of the US Poker Open (USPO) came to a close earlier today with the $100K Main Event crowning a winner in David Peters (cover image). Peters cruised through a field of 33 runners to reach the finish line. He had to navigate through a tough group of opponents on the final table and defeat Chris Hunichen heads-up to claim the title along with the $1.32 Million top prize.

While Sean Winter was the frontrunner in the 2019 USPO Championship title race with five final table appearances and a title, winning the Main Event title put Peters on top of the rankings. Accruing points with a runner-up finish in Event #4- $10K Short Deck, and a fifth-place finish in Event #9 – $50K NLH, Peters won the overall USPO Championship, pocketing an additional $100,000 in the process.

“This feels amazing. This is obviously a very prestigious tournament, a great series, and to come from behind and to pass Sean by 10 points at the very end, that’s a pretty-pretty crazy feeling,” Peters said after the event.

He added, “I’m just always trying to get better. I put in an endless amount of hours away from the table and it feels great to see all the hard work pay off. I’m always very hungry, always wanting to get better and better and better and better and that’s not going to stop. I hope to keep that keep that going.”

This win brings for Peters his first tournament title of 2019. He had a splendid run in 2018 with a number of deep runs and several titles. In the 2018 USPO last March, he took down the $26K NLHE for $400,000. He went on to capture two titles at the 2018 Poker Masters in September where he won the $10.5K NLHE ($193,200) and captured the $103K NLHE ($1,150,000) title.

The USPO Main Event saw a 100% increase in it`s buy-in since last year and 33 entries helped generate a prize pool of $3.3 Million. Only nine players from the starting 33 carried stacks to Day 2 with Chris ‘Big Huni’ Hunichen leading the pack with 1,790,000 in chips, while Peters was looming near the bottom of the group with a stack of 640,000.

Early into Day 2, it was Hunichen who orchestrated the elimination of Event #9- $25K 8-Game Mix Championship winner Nick Schulman in ninth place, derailing Schulman’s hopes of winning the 2019 USPO Championship title. His departure left only Peters and Winter as the top contenders in the Championship race.

Final Table Chip Counts

1. Chris Hunichen – 1,885,000
2. Keith Tilston – 1,455,000
3. Martin Zamani – 960,000
4. Ryan Riess – 645,000
5. Justin Bonomo – 560,000
6. David Peters – 480,000
7. Jason Koon – 350,000
8. Sean Winter – 265,000

Final Table Recap

The final table began with eight players in the hunt with only the top four set to make it in the money.

Sean Winter was the first player to be eliminated, in eighth place. Several hands later, Jason Koon joined him at the rail in seventh place.

The eventual bubble boy on the final table turned out to be the 2018 WSOP $10K Heads-up NLHE Championship Justin Bonomo who ran his queen-jack into Riess’ ace-queen, Bonomo’s elimination left the remaining four players in the money with all of them assured to take home at least $264,000.

2013 WSOP Main Event champion Ryan Riess bowed out in fifth place after his pocket nines were run down by Tilston’s flopped set of jacks.

Action then saw Martin Zamani move all-in from the small blind with ace-ten only to get looked up by Tilston`s pocket jacks. A queen on the flop and a king on the turn kept Zamani’s hopes alive but a three on the river sent him packing in fourth place.

Next up, Keith Tilston opened with a raise from the button and then made the call for 1.5 Million when Peters 3-bet all in from the big blind. Tilston was at risk with 3.37 Million in the pot.

David Peters

Keith Tilston

The flop fell giving Peters a flush draw and the runout was of little consequence, eliminating Tilston in third place.

One hand into the heads-up play and the event was over! Chris Hunichen limped on the button and Peters raised to 320,000. Hunichen moved all in for 2.65 Million and Peters snap-called.

David Peters

Chris Hunichen

Hunichen got additional outs on the flop and was still in the hunt on the turn . Unfortunately for him, the appeared on the river declaring Peter as the USPO 2019 champion!

Final Table Results (USD)

1. David Peters- $1,320,000
2. Chris Hunichen – $858,000
3. Keith Tilston – $528,000
4. Martin Zamani – $330,000
5. Ryan Riess – $264,000

Content & Images Courtesy: Poker Central / PokerNews