U.S. Poker Open Kicks Off with Wins for Seidel, Lonis and Smith

With legends of the poker felt such as Erik Seidel, Dan Smith and Jess Lonis already winning events, the race for the 2024 Golden Eagle trophy, the reward for the U.S. Poker Open along with a $25,000 PGT Passport, is on. Other stars of the poker scene including Rodger Johnson, Aram Zobian and Dylan Linde have all made strong starts as they bid to become champion by mid-April.

 Erik Seidel Wins Opening Event for $145,000

The opening event of the 2024 U.S. Poker Open saw 116 entries in total, with  Poker Hall of Famer and 10-time WSOP bracelet winner Erik Seidel going wire-to-wire in the $5,100-entry event to win the title. Just 17 made the money as Mitchell Halverson was eliminated when his ace-king lost to Seidel’s pocket queens as the New Yorker began the latter stages as he would conclude them.

Players such as Brock Wilson (16^th for $11,600) and Kristen Foxen (14^th for $11,600) cashed but missed out on the top ten, as did British professional Stephen Chidwick, whose elimination for $14,500 in 11^th place to Alex Foxen was followed by departures for Rodger Johnson (10^th) and Sam Laskowitz (9^th), with Bulgaria’s Stoyan Madanzhiev in (8^th) and the aforementioned Foxen (7^th) just missing out on the six-handed final table.

Seidel looked in charge, but an astonishing run of bad luck in all-in situations saw the New Yorker lose not one, two or three, but four of them in a row. From chip leader to mid-ranger, Seidel was on the slide but after the exits of Justin Zaki (6^th for $29,000) and William Lamar-Boone (5^th for $37,700), the poker legend ground his way back into the mix.

Building a formidable stack again, Seidel even managed to survive losing with pocket kings to Eric Afriat’s ace-queen when two queens landed on the flop in a hand which took out John Khoury in fourth place for $49,300. Working his way into a chip lead, Seidel had more than his two remaining opponents when Afriat committed his chips with pocket nines following Dylan Linde’s shove with king-eight. Seidel called quickly with pocket aces and on a jack-high board, had more than enough to take out his last two opponents in a thrilling final hand, winning the $145,000 top prize in the process.

 Jesse Lonis Wins Event #2 for $252,000

In the second event of the series, 99 entrants took on the $10,000-entry NLHE U.S. Poker Open action. Just 15 places were paid and that meant some pre-bubble pain for some big names. Kristen Foxen, Sam Soverel and Phil Hellmuth were among those who left with nothing as David Peters bubbled the money with pocket tens, his final hand all over when Brock Wilson rivered a wheel straight with ace-king.

Profitable results for Stephen Chidwick (12^th for $24,750), Dan Shak (11^th for $29,700) and Shannon Shorr (9^th for $29,700) followed before Bill Klein left with $39,600, his ace-nine beaten by Victoria Livschitz’s pocket nines. That began the seven-handed final table, where Sean Winter cashed for $39,600, his pocket fours losing to Lonis’ king-jack when a flop of A-Q-T gave him a Broadway straight.

Victoria Livschitz (6^th for $49,500) and Joey Weissman (5^th for $64,350) both departed before Rodger Johnson won $89,100 in fourth place, losing when his pocket deuces lost to Jesse Lonis’ queen-three, a cruel board of K-K-9-9-6 counterfeiting Johnson’s pocket pair. Kristina Holst missed out in third for $113,850 when her king-six was dominated by Lonis’ king-ten and heads-up, it was Aram Zobian who went close.

With a board showing J-8-7-T by the turn, Zobian moved all-in with queen-ten but was called by Lonis with nine-seven of diamonds for a turned straight flush! That earned Lonis the title and $252,450 top prize, while Zobian had to make do with $163,350.

Dan Smith Wins Event #3 of 2024 U.S. Poker Open for $235,000

The third and latest event of the 2024 U.S. Poker Open was won by Dan Smith for $235,200 after 84 entrants had created a prizepool of $840,000. Missing out on the top 12 money places was PokerGO favorite Sam Soverel, who busted when his pocket jacks lost ot Smith’s pocket queens, setting ‘The Cowboy’ on his way to victory.

Players such as Sam Laskowitz (12^th for $21,000), Victoria Livschitz (11^th for $25,200) and PokerGO’s infamous co-commentator Nick Schulman (10^th for $25,200) al bowed out before Andrew ‘Chewy’ Lichtenberger’s exit in ninth place for $25,200 was followed by that of the ‘Poker Brat’. Phil Hellmuth’s exit in eighth for $33,600 saw the 17-time WSOP bracelet winner lose a flip in painful fashion, as he later reflected on:

This HURT! I fought so hard to make it to 8th place…NOT an official Final Table; final 7 make that… pic.twitter.com/mJq5XGmfHF

— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth) April 11, 2024

Bill Klein (7^th for $33,600) and Dylan Linde (6^th for $42,000) busted before David Coleman moved all-in from the small blind with pocket tens, and Rodger Johnson busted him with ace-queen which hit a queen on the flop. Coleman’s $58,800 for finishing fifth was followed by a result worth $79,800 for Lonis in fourth as he missed out on a second title but took the championship lead after losing a flip to Johnson.

Out in third was David Dtamm for $109,200 as Johnson took a lead into the heads-up battle but Dan Smith, who has won 30 live titles after this victory, has a better than 2:1 in live heads-up battles for ranking wins and once into a lead, his ace-nine beat Johnson’s ace-four to claim the title.