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Martin Zamani produced a fantastic final table performance to lift the final event of the 2023 US Poker Open, bagging not only a win worth $666,000, but the overall leaderboard Golden Eagle trophy and $50k bonus as well!
The highrollers had been filling out the PokerGO Studios in the Aria for the past two weeks and yesterday saw the grand finale, the 10th and final event, a $50k buy-in NLH that attracted 37 entries.
Among them, Phil Hellmuth, looking for a second victory and possible GOAT status, but coming up short after his self-proclaimed “white magic” failed him...
With $1.85million in the prizepool and only six making the paid spots, the battle was fierce, with a legendary hand accounting for two Kos at once...
Bonomo: A♠ A♣
Winter: K♥ K♠
Haxton: Q♦ Q♣
Board: 4♣ 7♥ J♦ 6♣ 8♦
Bonomo would make the final table, but the bubble spot went to Andrew Lichtenberger, this time “LuckyChewy” not living up to his nickname, although he can be forgiven as he ran into quads!
Lichtenberger: K♣ Q♠
Ausmus: A♥ A♦
Board: J♥ 9♣ 8♥ A♣ A♠
In the money, it was another crazy hand that accounted for Dan Smith in 5th spot, ending his hopes of back-to-back wins after his $25k event #9 takedown.
Justin Bonomo, who broke through the $60million lifetime tournament cashes barrier in January, added another $200k to his fortune in 4th spot when he fell to Zamani.
Zamani, the man who outed Bryn Kenney for cheating in one of the biggest scandals of 2022, then proceeded to outflop Ausmus for all his chips, setting a heads-up battle with Petrangelo.
This duel would decide the destination of the overall USPO title, a Petrangelo win handing the trophy to Ren Lin, but the poker gods had different ideas...
Final results
| 1 | Martin Zamani | $666,000 |
| 2 | Nick Petrangelo | $444,000 |
| 3 | Jeremy Ausmus | $296,000 |
| 4 | Justin Bonomo | $203,500 |
| 5 | Dan Smith | $148,000 |
| 6 | Chris Brewer | $92,500 |
Zamani’s victory was added to his four other cashes, making him the clear and deserved overall winner, joining Stephen Chidwick (2018), David Peters (2019 and 2021) and Sean Winter (2022) as US Poker Open Series Champions.
