Chris Hunichen Leads $100K Main Event Final Table; U.S. Poker Open Championship TBD on Saturday
After 10 days of intense, high-stakes poker action inside the PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas, we are now officially down to the final day of the second annual U.S. Poker Open. Chris Hunichen holds the chip lead with nine players left in Event #10 – $100,000 No Limit Hold’em Main Event.
More was at stake in this high roller tournament than just the $1.3 million first place prize. For certain players, a shot at being crowned 2019 U.S. Poker Open Champion was still in play. Stephen Chidwick and Sean Winter entered the tournament deadlocked at 540 points, while Nick Schulman (410), Brandon Adams (365), Koray Aldemir (340), and Cary Katz (340), still had a puncher’s chance, but they would need to win the Main Event and get some help.
As the day progressed, David Peters (200) also remained in the ballgame if he could win the Main Event and Sean Winter were to fail to cash. The winner of this tournament will earn 350 points.
Katz, Aldemir, and Adams were unable to run deep, thus, eliminating the trio from contention.
The Main Event attracted 33 entrants, and five places will be paid. Saturday’s champion will take home $1,320,000. A min-cash is worth $264,000.
Poker fans can watch the final table live on PokerGO beginning at 5 pm ET. The final table includes poker’s all-time winningest tournament player (Justin Bonomo), a former WSOP Main Event champion (Ryan Riess), and seven of the best players in the world.
The action on Friday picked up early on in the session when Super High Roller Bowl V champion Isaac Haxton was caught bluffing. We caught the action in the hand on the turn with the board showing [5c8hAd2s]. “Hollywood Haxton” bet 72,000 and David Peters called.
After the river [Qs] appeared, Ike moved all-in on a stone-cold bluff. Peters, with [7d7s], refused to fold and Haxton was eliminated.
Justin Bonomo was also the beneficiary of a bluff gone wrong early in the session. Brandon Adams, with [Ts8s] on a board that read [7h8d9hAs], over-bet the pot all-in with third-pair and an open-ended straight draw.
Adams had Bonomo covered but only by about 40,000. The 2018 Super High Roller Bowl champion made the call with [AsTh]. Adams didn’t get any help on the river, which was the [3d].
Bonomo had quite a roller coaster day. Not long after that hand with Adams, he bluffed off a large portion of his stack to David Peters. A few moments later, Keith Tilston, who was holding [2d2s], caught a lucky river card against Bonomo on a board of [JcQsJsTs2h] and won a huge pot.
Later in the day, Peters won a nice pot against Bryn Kenney, who didn’t enter until a few minutes before registration closed. Just two days removed from a title in Event #7, Kenney tried to make a move with [KdJs] pre-flop for his entire 295,000-chip stack. Unfortunately, for him, Peters had [QcQs] and wasn’t about to lay that monster down. The board ran out [6s6cTs8d6d] and his tournament was over in 11th place.
With 10 players remaining, Stephen Chidwick raised to 22,000 and was re-raised by Martin Zamani to 88,000. The defending U.S. Poker Open champion then four-bet all-in for 430,000 with [AhJc] and was snap-called by his opponent who was holding [AdAc].
The board ran out [3d9h4sQc4d]. Zamani doubled up and Chidwick, due to having lower earnings this series ($747,900 versus $705,950) than Sean Winter, was officially eliminated from contention despite being tied in the points standings.
Day 1 concluded at 2 am PT with nine players remaining following Level 14. When play resumes on Saturday, the blinds will start at 10,000/15,000 with a 15,000 big blind ante. Chris Hunichen is the only player at the final table with over 100 big blinds.
You can watch the final table of the final event live and exclusively on PokerGO starting at 5 p.m. EST or follow along with the coverage on PokerCentral.com. The final table chip counts and seating is as follows.
| Seat | Player | Chip Count |
| 1 | Jason Koon | 630,000 |
| 2 | Keith Tilston | 1,300,000 |
| 3 | Chris Hunichen | 1,790,000 |
| 4 | Sean Winter | 375,000 |
| 5 | Ryan Riess | 340,000 |
| 6 | Martin Zamani | 805,000 |
| 7 | Nick Schulman | 125,000 |
| 8 | David Peters | 640,000 |
| 9 | Justin Bonomo | 595,000 |
Cards will be in the air for the final day of the 2019 U.S. Poker Open at 4 p.m. (EST) with the PokerGO providing live coverage until the Event #10 champion is crowned.
Stay tuned right here to PokerCentral.com for the exclusive live coverage of all the U.S. Poker Open action from the PokerGO studio. New to PokerGO? Subscribe right now to not miss a minute of the action.
Event #10 Final Table
| Seat | Player | Chip Count |
| 1 | Jason Koon | 630,000 |
| 2 | Keith Tilston | 1,300,000 |
| 3 | Chris Hunichen | 1,790,000 |
| 4 | Sean Winter | 375,000 |
| 5 | Ryan Riess | 340,000 |
| 6 | Martin Zamani | 805,000 |
| 7 | Nick Schulman | 125,000 |
| 8 | David Peters | 640,000 |
| 9 | Justin Bonomo | 595,000 |
| Player | Chips | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Chris Hunichen | 1,790,000 |
170,000  |
| Keith Tilston | 1,300,000 | - |
| Martin Zamani | 805,000 |
-24,000  |
| David Peters | 640,000 |
-42,000 |
| Jason Koon | 630,000 |
-30,000 |
| Justin Bonomo | 595,000 |
105,000 |
| Sean Winter | 375,000 |
-53,000 |
| Ryan Riess | 340,000 |
40,000 |
| Nick Schulman | 125,000 |
-29,000 |
Keith Tilston Doubles with Kings Against Jason Koon
Jason Koon raised to 30,000 on the button and Keith Tilston three-bet to 111,000 from the small blind.
The flop landed [5sJh2d] and Tilston continued for 60,000 and Koon called as the turn fell the [5h] and both players checked.
The river fell the [9c] and Tilston bet 175,000 only to have Koon move all in for over 1,100,000. Tilston had no more time extension banks left, and when his time was about to expire, he called all in for 467,000.
Koon tabled his [QdJc], but it would be Tilston’s [KhKc] that would earn him the double.
| Player | Chips | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Keith Tilston | 1,300,000 |
665,000 |
| Jason Koon | 660,000 |
-465,000 |
Jason Koon Applies a Little Big Stack Pressure
Action folded around to Justin Bonomo and he raised from the button to 30,000.
Jason Koon then looked around the dealer, eyed Bonomo’s stack and announced that he was all in.
Tilston folded his big blind and Bonomo quickly released his cards.
| Player | Chips | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Jason Koon | 1,125,000 |
-305,000 |
| Keith Tilston | 635,000 |
-163,000 |
| Justin Bonomo | 490,000 |
-80,000 |
Chris Hunichen Clips Justin Bonomo
Justin Bonomo opened to 27,000 from middle position and Chris Hunichen three-bet the button to 88,000. Bonomo called, and the flop landed [2sAh9s].
Bonomo checked and Hunichen bet 60,000. Bonomo called, and then both players checked the [Js] on the turn.
The river landed the [Ts] and Bonomo checked a third time.
Hunichen bet out 235,000, and Bonomo folded.
| Player | Chips | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Chris Hunichen | 1,620,000 |
168,000 |
| Justin Bonomo | 570,000 |
-30,000 |
Jason Koon Doubles Through Martin Zamani
In one of the biggest pots of day, Jason Koon doubled through the big stack of Martin Zamani, who was the chip leader at the start of the hand.
After Zamani raised to 30,000 from early position, he was called by Justin Bonomo in middle position and Jason Koon in late position.
After Zamani checked the [3d7s6h] flop, Bonomo bet 30,000 and was called by both players.
Both Zamani and Bonomo then checked the [8d], Koon bet 135,000, Zamani called and Bonomo folded.
On the [8d] turn Zamani checked again, followed by an all in from Koon.
Zamani asked for a count, the dealer confirmed 467,000, Zamani used a time extension and then made the call. He once again had aces, but saw they were no good against Koon’s set of sixes.
Koon: [6d6s]
Zamani: [AdAc]
| Player | Chips | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Jason Koon | 1,430,000 |
763,000 |
| Martin Zamani | 829,000 |
-631,000 |
Event #10 Final Table Line-Up
| Seat | Player | Chip Count |
| 1 | Jason Koon | 667,000 |
| 2 | Keith Tilston | 798,000 |
| 3 | Chris Hunichen | 1,452,000 |
| 4 | Sean Winter | 428,000 |
| 5 | Ryan Riess | 300,000 |
| 6 | Martin Zamani | 1,460,000 |
| 7 | Nick Schulman | 154,000 |
| 8 | David Peters | 682,000 |
| 9 | Justin Bonomo | 600,000 |
| Player | Chips | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Martin Zamani | 1,460,000 |
30,000 |
| Chris Hunichen | 1,452,000 |
-100,000 |
| Keith Tilston | 798,000 |
108,000 |
| David Peters | 682,000 |
46,000 |
| Jason Koon | 667,000 |
-53,000 |
| Justin Bonomo | 600,000 |
27,000 |
| Sean Winter | 428,000 |
-70,000 |
| Ryan Riess | 300,000 |
-41,000 |
| Nick Schulman | 154,000 |
-71,000 |
Stephen Chidwick Eliminated in 10th Place
Stephen Chidwick raised from under the gun 22,000, and was re-raised to 88,000 by Martin Zamani from his big blind.
Chidwick then four-bet shoved all in for his last 430,000 and was snap-called by Zamani who immediately tabled [AdAc], which had the [AhJc] of Chidwick drawing thin.
The board ran out [3d9h4sQc4d], and Chidwick was eliminated in 10th place.
| Player | Chips | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Martin Zamani | 1,430,000 |
429,000 |
| Stephen Chidwick | Busted |
-370,000 |
Soft Hand-for-Hand Play Begins
Although the tournament is not on the bubble, with five players at each table, Tournament Director Paul Campbell has decided to implement soft hand-for-hand play.
If any table gets two hands ahead of the other, that table will pause and wait for the other table to catch up.
Once one more players is eliminated, the final nine players will combine into the Event #10 – $100,000 Main Event final table.
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