USPO #08 – $50K NLH Main Event
Day 1 Completed
2018 US Poker Open
USPO #08 – $50K NLH Main Event
Day: 1
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2018 US Poker Open
Buy-in
$52,000
Prize Pool
$1,650,000
Entries
33
Level
16
Blinds
7,000 / 14,000
Ante
14,000
Rast Leads After Day 1 in Event #8: $50,000 No Limit Hold'em Main Event; Chidwick Wins US Poker Open Title
Level 10
: 2,500/5,000, 5,000 ante
After a full 10 levels on the opening day of Event #8: $50,000 No Limit Hold'em Main Event, the curtains have drawn to a close with just 13 players remaining. Brian Rast will head into Day 2 with the chip lead after bagging up 886,500 chips, looking for his first cash of the US Poker Open.
Rast entered the field midway through level six and started his climb up the leaderboard. He went about his business rather quietly but ended the day with a bang. With around 200,000 in the middle, Rast shoved over the top of a pot-sized bet from Justin Bonomo, which forced his fellow American to fold. In one of the last hands of the night, Rast vaulted himself to the front of the pack.
The remaining contingent of players will provide Rast with a stiff challenge moving forward. Ben Tollerene, who has already won an event this week, bagged up an equally impressive 620,500 chips. Tollerene picked up the majority of his chips when he held pocket aces against Dan Shak's pocket queens. It was a cooler for Shak but Tollerene became the beneficiary of his chips.
Keith Tilston, who has had an impressive week in his own right, rounds out the top three with 488,500 chips. Tilston has racked up over $387,000 throughout the course of the first seven events and is now looking to add to that score.
A couple more familiar names in Daniel Negreanu (461,000) and Benjamin Pollak (454,000) close out the top five stacks. Negreanu had a bit of an up and down day, at one point holding the chip lead and then falling back to around a starting stack. He finished strong, however, and will be looking to show the "young kids" that he can still battle with the best of them in these nosebleed buy-in events.
The day started out with just seven players taking their seats at one table and slowly grew from there. More players joined the field while some were forced to use their allotted one re-entry. By the midnight hour when late registration officially closed, there were a total of 33 entries making up a prizepool of $1,650,000. The late additions were Stephen Chidwick, Cary Katz, and Tom Marchese who all decided to take their seats at the start of Day 2.
Payouts
| Place | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|
| 1st | $660,000 |
| 2nd | $429,000 |
| 3rd | $264,000 |
| 4th | $165,000 |
| 5th | $132,000 |
With the prizepool and payouts now finalized, it is confirmed that Stephen Chidwick will walk away with the title of US Poker Open Champion. Chidwick has earned over $1.2 million in the series thus far and can not be caught no matter the outcome. The UK poker pro captured the title in two of the $25,000 events and cashed in two others. When Chidwick rejoins the field tomorrow, he will just be looking to add his numbers.
With such a prestige event taking a place, every player that took to the felt could be recognized by those sitting on their couch at home. Unfortunately, not all of them were able to run up a stack throughout the day and bowed out early. Some of those on the list include Jason Koon, Isaac Haxton, Nick Schulman, Rainer Kempe, Erik Seidel, David Peters, and Sean Winter.
The action is scheduled to restart at 2:00 P.M. PST on Saturday inside the Aria Resort and Casino poker room. At 4:00 P.M., one of the tables will be moved to feature table to begin the live-stream on PokerGO with a 60-minute delay. They are scheduled to play down to a final table of six players, which will resume on Sunday.
You can keep up to date with all of the live action from the tournament floor as the PokerNews live reporting team will be here to bring you all of the coverage.
Day 2 Seat Draw
![[user270022]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
Level 10
: 2,500/5,000, 5,000 ante
| Table | Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 1 | Brian Rast | United States | 886,500 |
| 6 | 2 | Jake Schindler | United States | 449,000 |
| 6 | 3 | Empty | - | - |
| 6 | 4 | Adrian Mateos | Spain | 192,500 |
| 6 | 5 | Bryn Kenney | United States | 445,000 |
| 6 | 6 | Justin Bonomo | United States | 198,500 |
| 2 | 1 | Tom Marchese | United States | 150,000 |
| 2 | 2 | Ben Tollerene | United States | 620,500 |
| 2 | 3 | Empty | - | - |
| 2 | 4 | Cary Katz | United States | 150,000 |
| 2 | 5 | Empty | - | - |
| 2 | 6 | Daniel Negreanu | Canada | 461,000 |
| 5 | 1 | Stephen Chidwick | United Kingdom | 150,000 |
| 5 | 2 | Dan Smith | United States | 104,000 |
| 5 | 3 | Empty | - | - |
| 5 | 4 | Keith Tilston | United States | 488,500 |
| 5 | 5 | Empty | - | - |
| 5 | 6 | Benjamin Pollak | France | 454,000 |
End of Day Chip Counts
Level 10
: 2,500/5,000, 5,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
886,500
296,500
|
296,500 |
|
||
|
620,500
-39,500
|
-39,500 |
|
488,500
-76,500
|
-76,500 |
|
||
|
461,000
86,000
|
86,000 |
|
||
|
454,000
-18,000
|
-18,000 |
|
449,000
-131,000
|
-131,000 |
|
|
||
|
445,000
-90,000
|
-90,000 |
|
|
||
|
198,500
-256,500
|
-256,500 |
|
||
|
192,500
57,500
|
57,500 |
|
||
|
104,000
-12,000
|
-12,000 |
|
||
Clock Paused; Three More Hands
Level 10
: 2,500/5,000, 5,000 ante
With 10 minutes left in the final level, the clock on Day 1 has been paused on Day 1. Each table will play three more hands before the remaining players bag their chips and the Day 2 seat draw is completed.
Pollak Hits a Couple Aces to Double Up
Level 10
: 2,500/5,000, 5,000 ante
Dan Smith raised to 12,000 on the button and Benjamin Pollak three-bet to 41,500 in the small blind. Daniel Negreanu folded his big blind and Smith shoved all in, putting the action back on Pollak. The French pro quickly stuck in his last 231,000 and the two players were flipping for stacks.
Benjamin Pollak: 
Dan Smith: 
The flop came 
and Pollak hit not one, but two aces to take the lead. The turn brought the 
and the river was the 
as Pollak scored a double up, leaving Smith on the short stack.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
472,000
232,000
|
232,000 |
|
|
116,000
-264,000
|
-264,000 |
|
|
||
Bonomo Doubles Through Mateos, Again
Level 10
: 2,500/5,000, 5,000 ante
On the turn of a 
board with over 100,000 in the pot, Justin Bonomo checked only to see Adrian Mateos move all in. A call would be for Bonomo's tournament life, having just doubled through Mateos a couple hands earlier. Bonomo took his time using one of his timebank chips and eventually made the call.
Adrian Mateos: 
Justin Bonomo: 
Mateos needed a ten to bust Bonomo but the 
was a brick and Bonomo doubles once again.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
455,000
235,000
|
235,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
135,000
-223,000
|
-223,000 |
|
|
||
Bonomo Hits a Three-Outer Twice to Double Up
Level 10
: 2,500/5,000, 5,000 ante
Adrian Mateos opened to 12,000 from under the gun and was called by Ben Tollerene on the button. Justin Bonomo was on the short stack and pushed all in for 103,000 from the small blind. With the action back on Mateos, he re-shipped all in, forcing Tollerene out of the pot.
Justin Bonomo:
Adrian Mateos: 
Bonomo was in dire straits drawing to just three aces left in the deck. However, the flop came 
and Bonomo paired his ace to take the lead. Mateos held the only heart in his hand and would need one more to eliminate Bonomo. The on the turn improved Bonomo to trip aces and the 
on the river secured him the double up.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
358,000
-77,000
|
-77,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
220,000
100,000
|
100,000 |
|
|
||
Updated Chip Counts
Level 10
: 2,500/5,000, 5,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
660,000
35,000
|
35,000 |
|
|
590,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
580,000
360,000
|
360,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
565,000
-5,000
|
-5,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
535,000
59,000
|
59,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
435,000
215,000
|
215,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
380,000
35,000
|
35,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
375,000
-28,000
|
-28,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
240,000
2,000
|
2,000 |
|
|
120,000
-50,000
|
-50,000 |
|
|
||
Lucky No Spade for Negreanu
Level 10
: 2,500/5,000, 5,000 ante
Daniel Negreanu opened to 12,000 from under the gun and was called by Dan Smith in the small blind and Benjamin Pollak in the big blind. The flop came 
and the action checked to Negreanu who continued for 10,000. Smith let his hand go while Pollak stuck around to see the pair the board on the turn.
This time, Pollak led out for 26,000 but couldn't shake Negreanu as he made the call. The 
on the river completed the board and both players tapped the table. Pollak turned over 
for a missed flush draw and Negreanu also held spades with 
. Luckily for Negreanu, he missed the flush draw but paired his three to take down the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
403,000
23,000
|
23,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
238,000
-22,000
|
-22,000 |