Dan Shak Re-Enters
| Player | Chips | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Dan Shak | 150,000 |
150,000  |
Sean Rafael Doubles Through Matthew Wantman
With the board reading [2hJs5s2d] Sean Rafael moved all in for his tournament life and Matthew Wantman made the call.
Rafael: [Ac6cAs3s]
Wantman: [KsJdTs9d]
The river fell the [Ad] and Rafael completed the double up with the full house.
| Player | Chips | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Sean Rafael | 345,000 |
257,500 |
| Matthew Wantman | 292,500 |
-147,500  |
Justin Bonomo Eliminated by Matthew Wantman
On a final board reading [Ah4cQc2d5h], Matthew Wantman had his [6d6h4d4h] tabled against Justin Bonomo who [AxQx] for top two pair.
With Wantman’s set holding up, Bonomo was eliminated.
| Player | Chips | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Matthew Wantman | 440,000 |
157,000 |
| Justin Bonomo | Busted |
-221,000 |
Stephen Chidwick Eliminated by Sean Winter
We caught the action on the river that read [Tc4d4cQsAs] and Sean Winter bet out 30,000. Stephen Chidwick then announced “pot,” putting him all-in. Winter, who clearly had a big hand but feared losing to a sick cooler asked, “are you kidding me? Is this real life?”
He then announced, “I can’t fold,” and made the call with [Ad8h4sQd] for a full house. Chidwick’s cards weren’t visible but Chance Kornuth said he had “[QxTxXxXx].”
Chidwick was eliminated for the second time today.
| Player | Chips | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Sean Winter | 373,000 |
244,500 |
| Stephen Chidwick | Busted |
-150,000 |
Dan Shak Eliminated by Ben Lamb and Daniel Aharoni
Daniel Aharoni was all in from the big blind for 51,500 holding [AhAs5h2s], as was Dan Shak for his last 100,000 from under the gun with [KhKdTh2h].
Ben Lamb had both players covered and was holding his [AcAdTs7s].
The dealer spread the [3c9h3hTd9d] board and Shak was eliminated while Aharoni and Lamb chopped the main pot.
| Player | Chips | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Ben Lamb | 285,000 |
128,000 |
| Daniel Aharoni | 80,000 |
29,000 |
| Dan Shak | Busted |
-107,500 |
Player Spotlight: Alex Foxen
The world’s top-rated poker player has been a mainstay at the 2019 U.S. Poker Open at ARIA in Las Vegas. Alex Foxen’s last few months – which include a career-best $2.1 million score in the $300,000 Super High Roller Bowl in late December – have deservedly given him the distinction of the Global Poker Index’s number one ranked player in the world. But the two years that preceded his current title tell his story.
His seven-figure cash in December 2018 came one year (almost to the date) after his first breakthrough score: a runner-up finish at the World Poker Tour (WPT) Five Diamond World Poker Classic Main Event in 2017 for $1.1 million. In many ways that payday was the validation of Foxen’s incredible 2017 World Series of Poker run. He cashed 14 times during the 2017 WSOP, visiting the cage to collect once every couple days throughout the month of June, and placed 7th in the final player of the year standings.
Last year was when Foxen cemented his place among poker’s elite. He notched cashes of $424,000 at the WPT in Los Angeles; $963,000 at the Asian Pacific Poker Tour in Macau; $239,000 at the DeepStack Championship Poker Series in Las Vegas; $208,000 at the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open in Florida; $530,000 at the European Poker Tour (EPT) in Barcelona; $948,000 at the partypoker MILLIONS in Nottingham; and $400,000 in live cashes at the WPT Five Diamond in Las Vegas before his runner up $2.1 million cash.
Foxen spent 2018 traveling the world and playing poker. For 2019, that is a difficult precedent to follow. His results tell the story of a player poised to exceed whatever grand expectations he’s created for himself, seemingly moving from one career plateau to the next.
Entering the 2019 USPO, Foxen already has nearly $1 million in tournament cashes this year. He’s joined in the PokerGO Studio by two-time WSOP bracelet winner Kristen Bicknell, his girlfriend. So far Bicknell’s 5th place cash for $118,000 in Event #5 represents the couple’s only score at this year’s event but Foxen can take consolation in being GPI’s top-ranked player in the world.
“Winning the USPO Championship would definitely be one of my proudest poker accomplishments. It’s a lot of the best players in the world and those are always the fields that give me the greatest sense of accomplishment to win,” Foxen told Poker Central earlier this month.
From busting onto the scene to nearly winning 2017 WSOP Player of the Year, to scoring for six figures all across the globe in 2018 en route to being named Player of the Year, Foxen has ambitious plans for 2019.
“Being the first person to win back to back player of the year would be pretty amazing and it’s definitely something that I’m hoping to achieve,” he said told Poker Central.
| Player | Chips | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Alex Foxen | 275,000 |
-6,500 |
Phil Galfond Takes One from Jared Bleznick
Phil Galfond opened the button to 10,000. Jared Bleznick was next to act in the small blind and he three bet to 33,000.
Galfond thought it over for roughly 25 seconds before making the call.
The flop landed [8d3c5h] and Bleznick checked.
Galfond announced a near pot sized bet of 72,000. Bleznick briefly checked his cards before sending them into the muck.
| Player | Chips | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Phil Galfond | 233,500 |
9,500 |
| Jared Bleznick | 184,000 |
-41,000 |
Daniel Aharoni Doubles Through John Riordan
John Riordan raised to 9,000 from the small blind and Daniel Aharoni called in the big.
The flop landed [Ac4h6h] and Riordan bet out 20,000 and Aharoni called all in for 15,000.
Riordan: [8s7s5c2c]
Aharoni: [Qd6c4s2s]
The turn and river landed the [Jh] and [9s] and Aharoni doubled through.
| Player | Chips | Change |
|---|---|---|
| John Riordan | 410,000 |
-12,000 |
| Daniel Aharoni | 51,000 |
-500 |
Some Updated Chip Counts
Event #5 is currently on Level 5. Here is a list of updated chip counts for some of the remaining players.
| Player | Chips | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Ben Yu | 436,000 |
111,500 |
| Chance Kornuth | 330,000 |
-20,000 |
| Alex Foxen | 281,500 |
-33,500 |
| George Wolff | 238,000 |
-18,000 |
| Phil Galfond | 224,000 |
4,000 |
| Anthony Zinno | 185,000 |
-25,000 |
| Brandon Adams | 160,500 |
-53,500 |
| Sean Winter | 128,500 |
30,500 |
You're all caught up!
No more pages to load
