Zhuang Ruan Leads Final Table of $50k U.S. Poker Open Finale; Shannon Shorr and Sean Winter in Contention for Golden Eagle Trophy
The final event of the 2022 U.S. Poker Open, Event #12: $50,000 No-Limit Hold’em, took center stage at the PokerGO Studio at ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, and the 42-entrant field created a prize pool of $2,100,000.
Zhuang Ruan bagged the chip lead with just over a third of the total chips in play, partially propelled by a hand where he shot up the leaderboard in an aces versus kings cooler which eliminated Nick Schulman late in the day. The players behind him in the counts are Masashi Oya, Shannon Shorr, Dan Smith, Vikenty Shegal, Sean Winter, and Jake Schindler.
Tamon Nakamura currently sits atop the 2022 U.S. Poker Open leaderboard with 588 points. Shorr and Winter are the only players who have an opportunity to overtake him to win the Golden Eagle trophy and $50,000 championship bonus which comes with the 2022 U.S. Poker Open champion title. Nakamura will likely be rooting for fellow Japanese poker player Masashi Oya, as he could deny Shorr and Winter the points needed to surpass him.
Shorr currently has 340 points and Winter has 264 points. Winter will finish on top of the leaderboard only if he wins the final event. Shorr will finish on top of the leaderboard if he wins the final event, although he can also win the 2022 U.S. Poker Open champion title with a runner-up finish, provided Winter doesn’t win.
Event #12: $50,000 No-Limit Hold’em Final Table |
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| Seat | Name | Country | Chip Count |
| 1 | Jake Schindler | United States | 155,000 |
| 2 | Masashi Oya | Japan | 1,570,000 |
| 3 | Sean Winter | United States | 845,000 |
| 4 | Shannon Shorr | United States | 1,090,000 |
| 5 | Dan Smith | United States | 1,005,000 |
| 6 | Zhuang Ruan | United States | 2,810,000 |
| 7 | Vikenty Shegal | United States | 935,000 |
When play resumes, Level 13 will begin with blinds at 15,000/30,000/30,000 and the button will be on Shannon Shorr.
Ali Imsirovic, Nick Schulman, and Chino Rheem made deep runs but were eliminated short of the final table. Phil Hellmuth was in contention for the Golden Eagle trophy, although he lost the rest of his stack against Ruan in a blind versus blind battle.
Justin Young was also eliminated by Ruan shortly after when he lost a flip, and Ruan won another crucial flip against Daniel Negreanu a bit later, knocking Negreanu out of contention for both the tournament and the Golden Eagle trophy.
Seven players remain and only six will earn themselves a piece of the prize pool. Once the bubble bursts, the players will be guaranteed $105,000, but all eyes will be on the $756,000 first-place prize.
The final seven players will return to the PokerGO Studio on Monday, March 28, at 2 p.m. PT with the final table airing on PokerGO.com at 3 p.m. PT.
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