Sean Winter Wins Event #11 for $440,000
The last time Sean Winter was victorious inside the PokerGO Studio was at the 2021 U.S. Poker Open, when he won the final event of the series. That was in June of last year. Winter found his way back into the winner’s circle with a victory in Event #11: $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em at the 2022 U.S. Poker Open, picking up a $440,000 payday.
“It feels good to close one out,” Winter said. “There were several final tables in a row when I got third or fifth after coming in in reasonable spots. So yeah, it definitely feels good to get the monkey off the back and close one out.”
Winter topped a field of 55 entries to take top honors. He defeated Ali Imsirovic in heads-up play, with Imsirovic taking home $288,750. The victory also moved Winter to 12th place on the 2022 U.S. Poker Open leaderboard with 264 points. Imsirovic improved to 349 points and is now eighth.
Winter has finished second on the U.S. Poker Open leaderboard on two previous occasions, both times when David Peters won. With his result in the penultimate event, Winter has an outside shot of winning the 2022 U.S. Poker Open series title, and it’ll likely take him winning Event #12: $50,000 No-Limit Hold’em and other players in contention falling short.
“I think I need a lot of luck to win,” Winter said. “Even if I win the [final event], I need to fade a lot of people, I’d imagine. I’m just excited to have the opportunity to play it and whatever happens, happens. I wasn’t really thinking that I had a sweat because this is the most tournaments I’ve bricked in a row live ever this week. I’m not really expecting to win the trophy but glad to have won an event and not bricked everything.”
2022 U.S. Poker Open Event #11 Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
| 1 | Sean Winter | United States | $440,000 |
| 2 | Ali Imsirovic | Bosnia and Herzegovina | $288,750 |
| 3 | Jake Schindler | United States | $192,500 |
| 4 | Nick Schulman | United States | $137,500 |
| 5 | David Peters | United Kingdom | $110,000 |
| 6 | Tamon Nakamura | Japan | $82,500 |
Event #11: $25,000 NL Hold’em attracted a field of 55 entries and created a prize pool of $1,375,000. The top eight spots reached the money. Sunday’s final table consisted of the final six players after Cary Katz (seventh place) and Dan Smith (eighth place) busted late on Day 1. All players to cash earned both U.S. Poker Open and PGT leaderboard points.
Winter’s Road To Victory In Event #11
Sean Winter entered Sunday’s final table second in chips, with Ali Imsirovic out in front. At the final table, Winter was involved plenty early on. He took the chip lead from Imsirovic before the two sat nearly tied atop the leaderboard. Then, Imsirovic doubled up Jake Schindler and saw his stack cut down quite a bit as Schindler moved to the top of the leaderboard.
Schindler then added more chips when he knocked out U.S. Poker Open leaderboard frontrunner Tamon Nakamura in sixth place. At the 20,000-40,000 level, Nick Schulman opened with a raise from under the gun to 80,000. He had pocket jacks. From the cutoff seat, Nakamura reraised all in for 470,000, then Schindler jammed all in over the top from the big blind. Nakamura had king-queen and Schindler had ace-king. Those actions sent Schulman into the tank, and he used up several time extensions before folding his hand. The board ran out clean for Schindler to leave Nakamura with a sixth-place result for $82,500. Nakamura also picked up 50 points for the U.S. Poker Open leaderboard to extend his lead at the top to 100 points.
David Peters was next to go. The two-time U.S. Poker Open series champion was eliminated by Imsirovic in fifth place. Then, Schulman busted to Winter when his ace-queen couldn’t win against Winter’s pocket fours.
Three-handed play began with Winter out in front, Imsirovic in second, and Schindler in third. The trio battled for a bit before Schindler and Imsirovic clashed in a preflop all-in hand. Imsirovic’s ace-two beat Schindler’s ace-king and the tournament was down to heads-up play.
Imirovic began heads-up play with the chip lead, but the race was a close one. Imsirovic had 4,240,000 to Winter’s 4,015,000.
Winter quickly moved into the lead and began to extend his superior position from there. He got up to more than 7,000,000 in chips before Imsirovic found a double in an effort to fight back a bit.
On the final hand, Winter raised from the button to 250,000 with the blinds at 50,000-100,000. He had queen-jack of hearts. Imsirovic called with ten-eight. The flop was three-three-two with two hearts and Imsirovic checked-raised Winter’s bet of 150,000 to 375,000. Winter called. The turn was an eight, putting Imsirovic in the lead with two pair. He moved all in for 1,280,000 and Winter made the call. The river was the five of hearts to give Winter a winning flush and crown him champion of Event #11 for $440,000.
2022 U.S. Poker Open Leaderboard Top 10
| Rank | Player | Country | Points |
| 1 | Tamon Nakamura | Japan | 588 |
| 2 | Alex Foxen | United States | 488 |
| 3 | Chino Rheem | United States | 481 |
| 4 | Phil Hellmuth | United States | 464 |
| 5 | Erik Seidel | United States | 428 |
| 6 | Dylan Weisman | United States | 414 |
| 7 | Adam Hendrix | United States | 356 |
| 8 | Ali Imsirovic | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 349 |
| 9 | Shannon Shorr | United States | 340 |
| 10 | Jeremy Ausmus | United States | 333 |
Watch the U.S. Poker Open Event #11 Final Table on PokerGO.com at 4 p.m. ET
The final table of Event #11: $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em of the 2022 U.S. Poker Open is set and will be airing on PokerGO.com at 4 p.m. ET.
Watch the Event #11 final table on PokerGO.com here!
Ali Imsirovic finished Day 1 as the chip leader with 2,615,000 in chips ahead of Sean Winter, Jake Schindler, Nick Schulman, Tamon Nakamura, and David Peters. The final six players are guaranteed $82,500 in prize money, while all eyes are on the $440,000 first-place prize.
Event #11: $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em Final Table |
|||
| Seat | Name | Country | Chip Count |
| 1 | Ali Imsirovic | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 2,615,000 |
| 2 | Jake Schindler | United States | 1,565,000 |
| 3 | Nick Schulman | United States | 830,000 |
| 4 | Sean Winter | United States | 2,035,000 |
| 5 | Tamon Nakamura | Japan | 680,000 |
| 6 | David Peters | United States | 530,000 |
When play resumes, Level 14 will continue with 11:42 remaining and the button will be on Nick Schulman.
Connect with PokerGO.com on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Use code “ USPO22WEB” for $20 off an annual PokerGO subscription now!
Ali Imsirovic Leads Final Table of 2022 U.S. Poker Open Event #11
Ali Imsirovic spiked an ace on the river in a flip to send Chino Rheem to the rail earlier in the day, and he raked in a massive pot that propelled him to a top stack. He continued to run up his stack and ultimately bagged the chip lead heading into the final table stream of Event #11: $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em.
Imsirovic will be ahead of Sean Winter and Jake Schindler, while the shorter-stacked players are Nick Schulman, Tamon Nakamura, and David Peters. Nakamura is already on top of the series leaderboard and will be looking for a third victory, while the other five players are hoping to find their win of the series. The six remaining players will battle it out on the felt on stream, which is set to air exclusively on PokerGO at 4 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 27.
Event #11: $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em Final Table |
|||
| Seat | Name | Country | Chip Count |
| 1 | Ali Imsirovic | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 2,615,000 |
| 2 | Jake Schindler | United States | 1,565,000 |
| 3 | Nick Schulman | United States | 830,000 |
| 4 | Sean Winter | United States | 2,035,000 |
| 5 | Tamon Nakamura | Japan | 680,000 |
| 6 | David Peters | United States | 530,000 |
When play resumes, Level 14 will continue with 11:42 remaining and the button will be on Nick Schulman.
Event #11: $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em of the 2022 U.S. Poker Open took center stage at the PokerGO Studio at ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, and the 55-entrant field created a prize pool of $1,375,000.
Eight players earned themselves a piece of the prize pool. Scott Seiver finished in 11th, Daniel Negreanu was gone in 10th, and Jason Koon was eliminated on the money bubble in ninth place.
Nakamura won a big flip to double against Cary Katz, although Katz doubled several times after. Dan Smith was eventually the next casualty when he was short-stacked and knocked out in eighth place. Soon after, Katz had an opportunity to triple-up, but his suited big slick couldn’t find help against Winter’s pocket kings, and he made his exit in seventh place.
The six remaining players have locked up $82,500, but all eyes are on the $440,000 first-place prize.
The final six players will return to the PokerGO Studio on Sunday, March 27, at 12 p.m. PT with the final table airing on PokerGO.com at 1 p.m. PT.
Connect with PokerGO.com on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Use code “ USPO22WEB” for $20 off an annual PokerGO subscription now!
End-of-Day Chip Counts
| Player | Chips | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Ali Imsirovic | 2,615,000 |
395,000  |
| Sean Winter | 2,035,000 | - |
| Jake Schindler | 1,565,000 |
245,000 |
| Nick Schulman | 830,000 | - |
| Tamon Nakamura | 680,000 |
-110,000  |
| David Peters | 530,000 |
-290,000 |
Cary Katz Eliminated in 7th Place ($68,750)
Cary Katz moved all-in from the cutoff for 415,000 and Nick Schulman called in the small blind. Sean Winter mentioned he had a feeling he was going to lose the hand, before moving in all of his chips in the big blind. Schulman folded.
Katz: [asks]
Winter: [kdkc]
The board ran out [7c6h2c6s2d] and Winter’s cowboys held to eliminate Katz in seventh place.
“I’ve never seen anyone so upset with getting it in with kings,” Katz said. “I should’ve just folded pre,” he quipped as he made his exit from the studio.
| Player | Chips | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Sean Winter | 2,035,000 |
785,000 |
| Nick Schulman | 830,000 |
-480,000 |
| Cary Katz | Busted |
-395,000 |
Dan Smith Eliminated in 8th Place ($55,000)
Dan Smith jammed from early position for 125,000 and Nick Schulman called the cutoff.
Smith: [kh9d]
Schulman: [ksqs]
Smith was dominated and the board ran out [js6d3c4c7h] to confirm his elimination in eighth place.
| Player | Chips | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Nick Schulman | 1,310,000 |
210,000 |
| Dan Smith | Busted |
-270,000 |
Tamon Nakamura Flops Set
Tamon Nakamura opened to 60,000 from early position and Cary Katz called in the cutoff.
The dealer spread the [tc8d6c] flop and Nakamura bet 125,000. Katz thought about his decision and used a time extension before ultimately folding.
Nakamura showed [8x8x], while Katz claimed he folded nines, although the dealer was unable to retrieve the cards from the muck to confirm to the table.
| Player | Chips | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Tamon Nakamura | 790,000 |
315,000 |
| Cary Katz | 395,000 |
75,000 |
Sean Winter Adds to Stack
With roughly 420,000 in the pot on a [jh9s6cqd] board, Jake Schindler checked the big blind and Sean Winter bet 230,000 in early position.
Schindler used a couple of time extensions but ultimately let go of his hand.
| Player | Chips | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Jake Schindler | 1,320,000 |
-475,000 |
| Sean Winter | 1,250,000 |
110,000 |
Cary Katz Doubles Through Tamon Nakamura
Tamon Nakamura opened to 50,000 from the cutoff and Cary Katz defended the big blind.
The dealer fanned the [ahth6h] flop and Katz check-called for his remaining 90,000 and enthusiastically threw his cards face-up onto the table.
Katz: [3h2h]
Nakamura: [qctd]
The [7s] and [5s] completed the board and Katz secured another double with his flopped flush.
| Player | Chips | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Tamon Nakamura | 475,000 |
-60,000 |
| Cary Katz | 320,000 |
155,000 |
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