Yaser Al-Keliddar Wins Potomac Winter Poker Open Opening Event ($96,567)
After 18 levels on Day 2 of the $400 Opening Event, the first official winner of the 2020 Potomac Winter Poker Open has been found in Yaser Al-Keliddar when he defeated Matthew McGuire heads-up for the first-place prize of $96,567. The first event of the inaugural PWPO attracted 1,812 entries over six starting flights to create a prize pool of $588,900 which surpassed the $500,000 guarantee that was set.
This is Al-Keliddar’s second-biggest live cash ever after winning a WSOP bracelet in 2018 previously. It is also the first-ever win for him at the beautiful MGM National Harbor after having reached the final tables here in Oxon Hill ten times before according to The Hendon Mob. This cash will take him close to the $500,000-mark in lifetime live tournament earnings.
2020 Potomac Winter Poker Open $400 Opening Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yaser Al-Keliddar | United States | $96,567 |
| 2 | Matthew McGuire | United States | $53,135 |
| 3 | Cordero Hines | United States | $42,628 |
| 4 | Coury Mascagni | United States | $33,289 |
| 5 | Chris Zelesnick | United States | $25,466 |
| 6 | Joseph Lafuria | United States | $19,746 |
| 7 | Thomas Mader | United States | $15,427 |
| 8 | Mark Castaldo | United States | $12,216 |
| 9 | Rahul Jain | United States | $9,764 |
The eliminations flew in quickly throughout the day with 143 players returning for the start of Day 2 and only 38 of them making it to the dinner break. It would take an hour of play after the dinner break before a redraw took place for the final three tables. Of all the chip leaders, it was Daniel Araya who ran the deepest when he was eliminated in 21st place when he ran his ace-king into the nines of Tristan Harris.
A bunch of double-ups and eliminations later, the tournament was down to the final two tables. Chris Zelesnik took down three players, Al-Keliddar took out two while Valentin Lita, McGuire, and Joseph Lafuria all claimed one victim before Cordero Hines eliminated Lita to get to the final table.
After almost 90 minutes, Rahul Jain was the first to go with Mark Castaldo following him to the payout desk almost five minutes later. It would then take another hour and half before Thomas Mader shoved his pocket fives into the queens of Hines. After several all-ins with identical hands were chopped except for once when Zelesnick managed to hit the flush Lafuria and McGuire went heads-up again and now McGuire did manage to eliminate Lafuria.
A deal was mentioned but a no-go and Zelesnick was sent to the rail immediately after by Al-Keliddar with an ace-king versus ace-queen situation. Another 90 minutes later, Coury Mascagni couldn’t find another double-up and lost his chips to McGuire. A deal was mentioned again briefly but rejected once more. Three-handed play went on for almost an hour but in the end, it was Hines who left the final table area in third place when his king-queen got no help on the board against the ace-queen of McGuire.
With more than 70% of the chips in play to McGuire, they agreed to discuss a deal but couldn’t find a compromise. When play continued, Al-Keliddar chipped up and then doubled up to take the chip lead and leave McGuire behind with around 14 big blinds. Ultimately all the chips flew in when McGuire snap-called the shove of Al-Keliddar after limping in with ace-queen. Al-Keliddar had ace-king and the higher kicker came into play to bring the victory to him.
This is it for this event but PokerNews will be back on Wednesday, February 12 to bring you the coverage of the $400 Large Stack BBA tournament so make sure to return then!
