Event #7 – $25,000 NLH

Ben Yu Leads Event #7 Final Table; Lauren Roberts Cashes Again

Posted February 20, 2019 at 5:03 am ET by Jon Sofen

Ben Yu put on a clinic throughout Day 1 of Event #7 that sent him to the final table, which you can watch on PokerGO Wednesday at 5 p.m. EST, with a big chip lead.

Yu wasn’t the only poker player who performed at a high level on Day 1. Lauren Roberts didn’t make the final table, but she did cash yet again – ninth place for $45,000. Roberts became the first woman to win a U.S. Poker Open title when she shipped Event #3.

Event #7 – $25,000 No Limit Hold’em attracted 60 entrants, generating a massive $1.5 million prize pool. Wednesday’s champion will take home a nice cool $450,000. Not bad for just two days of work. Each of the six players at the final table are guaranteed at least $90,000.

Stephen Chidwick, fresh off his title in Event #6, didn’t cash in this one. But on a positive note for the high-stakes crusher, regardless of how the final table plays out without him, he’s still guaranteed to remain atop the 2019 U.S. Poker Open leader board at least for one more event.

The sixth event of the 2019 U.S. Poker Open generated a prize pool of $1.5 million from 60 entries. We saw a good mix of regular grinders such as Stephen Chidwick and Bryn Kenney, along with successful businesspersons Bill Klein and Dan Shak. Klein never caught much luck and didn’t last long on Tuesday. Shak, on the other hand, put on quite a performance and made it into the money.

Dan Smith made his first appearance at the U.S. Poker Open on Tuesday and had quite a roller coaster day. Down to just 30,000 with the blinds at 10,000/15,000 with 15,000 antes, the philanthropist and poker pro faced a raise from Dan Shak who was holding [KcKs]. Smith, who was all-in automatically in the big blind, flipped over [AcAd] and his hand held up.

He was still short stacked but before anyone could blink, he was up over 500,000. Not long after, he was back down to around 100,000 and was eventually eliminated by Keith Tilston.

Shortly before Smith’s exit, Sean Winter, who is second to Chidwick in the U.S. Poker Open standings, busted. Ben Yu finished him off but he only had 10,000 chips left heading into that final hand. The damage was already done. Still, he’s only 100 points out of the lead and has plenty of time to dethrone Chidwick, the defending champion.

Ben Yu has won so many huge pots during this series. The trend continued on Tuesday. As the money bubble approached, he got into a big hand with Nick Petrangelo. Yu raised to 65,000 pre-flop and both players saw a flop of [8h3dJh]. Yu continuation bet for 55,000 and was called. Both players then checked the [7s] on the turn and then when the [7d] appeared on the river, Yu made a sizable bet of 175,000. Petrangelo called and was disappointed to see his opponent turn over [JcTc].

With 10 players remaining, the tournament was officially on the money bubble. Event #5 and Event #6 runner-up Cary Katz put his tournament at risk when he shoved all-in with [Ah8h] and shrugged when he saw Petrangelo turn over [AsQc]. Katz didn’t get any help when the board ran out [Kh6c5d7s3h] and was eliminated on the money bubble. His run of two straight runner-up finishes in the U.S. Poker Open has come to an end.

Lauren Roberts was the next player eliminated in ninth-place when she was eliminated by Petrangelo’s pocket queens for a #45,000 payday. The eighth-place finisher is Martin Zamani who lost a race to Ben Yu. He took home $60,000 for his impressive run.

Dan Shak was the final bust out on Day 1. He ran [7h7c] into Yu’s [JdJc] and couldn’t find a lucky seven when the board ran out [Qs5dTh6h3d]. Shak took home $75,000 for his efforts.