USPO #2 - $10,000 PLO
Day 2 Completed
2019 US Poker Open
USPO #2 - $10,000 PLO
Day: 2
Level 27
: 150,000/300,000, 300,000 ante
World Poker Tour champ Jordan Cristos began the final table of the 2019 US Poker Open Event #2: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha as the chip leader, and despite a back-and-forth heads-up match against German Manig Loeser, he wound up with all the chips.
Cristos topped a 64-entry field to win the tournament for $179,200, which along with the $27,000 he won for finishing 11th in Event #1: $10,000 NLH gives him the overall lead in the USPO points race. The ultimate winner of that race, which spans all ten tournaments, will walk away with a $100,000 bonus courtesy of PokerGO.
"It's cool. It's sweet," Cristos told USPO officials after the win. "The structure was turbo-ish and I feel like I didn't out-skill anyone here. There were 50 people in the field and I was probably the 44th best player, honestly. It feels good to come out on top though. I don't think I made many mistakes but I can't really gauge whether or not I did because I'm no PLO expert, but I won so that's good."
He continued: "I want to win the overall championship. If you do good the first two tournaments and you're leading, you might as well finish it out. There's no reason to stop now. It would be awesome to win the U.S. Poker Open. I would love to have the trophy at home to just stare at them every day for a year until it comes back again and be the U.S. Poker Open champion."
Cristos, who prior to the win had $2,329,116 in lifetime earnings, is best known for winning the 2012 WPT Legends of Poker for a career-high $613,355. Last summer, he also had a deep run in the 2018 World Series of Poker Main Event finishing in 69th place for $108,745.
USPO Event #2: $10,000 PLO Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jordan Cristos | United States | $179,200 |
| 2 | Manig Loeser | Germany | $128,000 |
| 3 | Martin Zamani | United States | $83,200 |
| 4 | Adam Hendrix | United States | $64,000 |
| 5 | Cary Katz | United States | $51,200 |
| 6 | Sean Winter | United States | $38,400 |
Final Table Action
Cristos got off to a hot start winning the first two hands and then notching the first elimination a short time later. It happened when Sean Winter, who was fresh off finishing runner-up to Stephen Chidwick in the opening event, and Cristos both had a Broadway straight plus redraw outs. Cristos hit his flush draw to improve and send Winter out in sixth place for $38,400.
Cary Katz, who the year before finished sixth in the same event, then got his chips in on a king-high flop holding aces and was up against Cristos’ bottom two pair. Cristos boated up and Katz was sent packing in fifth place for $51,200.
Immediately after, Adam Hendrix got his short stack all in preflop holding big cards in the small blind and Cristos looked him up with low cards in the big. The latter flopped bottom set and Hendrix had to settle for fourth place and $64,000 in prize money.
Cristos then dispatched an extremely short-stacked Martin Zamani in third place to set up his heads-up match against Loeser. The duo battled for longer than it took to get to heads-up play, and the chip lead changed on four occasions.
Eventually, Cristos flopped a pair with straight and flush draws against Loeser, who had two pair and an inferior flush draw. The chips went in and Cristos turned a bigger two pair. The river was a blank and Loeser, who credits fellow German poker pro Dominik Nitsche with helping him improve his game, fell in second place for $128,000.
PokerNews coverage of the 2019 USPO continues now with live updates from Event #3: $10,000 NLH, which you can follow here.
Remember, you can watch all USPO final tables exclusively on PokerGO. Subscribe to PokerGO for just $10 a month or $99 a year to watch nine straight days of U.S. Poker Open final table action plus PokerGO’s full catalog of programming.
Level 27
: 150,000/300,000, 300,000 ante
Jordan Cristos raised the pot to 750,000 with the 
and Manig Loeser defended holding the 
.
When the flop came down 
, Loeser checked and Cristos bet 600,000. Loeser check-raised and got all in for 2.38 million.
Cristos was the mathematical favorite and he took a big lead when the 
turn gave him two pair. The 
river was no help to Loeser and he had to settle for second place and a $128,000 prize.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
8,000,000
4,950,000
|
4,950,000 |
|
||
|
Busted | |
|
||
Level: 27
Blinds: 150,000/300,000
Ante: 300,000
Level 26
: 100,000/200,000, 200,000 ante
Squeezed in-between former World Series of Poker Main Event winners Greg Merson and Peter Eastgate, Sean Winter ranks 59th on the all-time money list with $11.5 million in career earnings. Can we possibly describe him as an unknown player with all that he’s accomplished? It’s hard not to, but what do you really know about Sean Winter and the best poker face in the game?
Learn more about this mysterious poker pro over on Poker Central.
Level 26
: 100,000/200,000, 200,000 ante
Jordan Cristos limped with the and Manig Loeser checked his option with the 
.
Loeser check-called a bet of 400,000 on the 
flop and then action went check-check on the 
turn.
When the 
completed the board on the river, Loeser led out for 825,000 and Cristos folded.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
4,950,000
100,000
|
100,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
3,050,000
-100,000
|
-100,000 |
|
|
||
Level: 26
Blinds: 100,000/200,000
Ante: 200,000
Level 25
: 75,000/150,000, 150,000 ante
Manig Loeser and Jordan Cristos continue to exchange pots with the chip lead alternating between them.
In a recent hand, Cristos limped the button with 
and Loeser called with 
.
Loeser check-called a bet of 250,000 on the 
and then both players checked the turn as well as the 
river. Cristos took it with a pair of jacks.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
4,850,000
1,225,000
|
1,225,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
3,150,000
-1,225,000
|
-1,225,000 |
|
|
||
Level 25
: 75,000/150,000, 150,000 ante
Jordan Cristos raised the button to 450,000 with the 
and Manig Loeser called with the 
..
Both players checked the 
flop as well as the turn. When the completed the board on the river, Loeser checked and then folded when Cristos bet 600K with his straight.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
4,375,000
600,000
|
600,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
3,625,000
-600,000
|
-600,000 |
|
|
||
Level 25
: 75,000/150,000, 150,000 ante
Manig Loeser limped with the 
and called when Jordan Cristos raised to 450,000 with the 
.
Both players then checked it down when the board ran out 
. Cristos showed his trip jacks and won the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
4,225,000
-990,000
|
-990,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
3,775,000
875,000
|
875,000 |
|
|
||