Charles Furey Trades Neck Surgery for Six-Figure Score at PSO Maryland
Table Of Contents
After five Day 1 starting flights and a lengthy Day 2 battle on the felt here at Live! Casino & Hotel Maryland, the PokerStars Open Main Event has officially come to close with Charles Furey claiming victory to capture his career-best score of $111,976 along with the coveted PokerStars trophy.
The event marked the return of the PokerStars Open to North America, with the last stop held in April in Philadelphia. The Maryland edition featured a $1,100 buy-in and drew 599 entries, with only 91 players returning for the final day of action looking to capture a six-figure score.
Furey defeated Melanie Hennigan after a brief heads-up duel to earn the lion’s share of the $581,030 prize pool, nearly double the advertised $300,000 guarantee.
When asked how he was feeling following his big win, Furey mentioned, "Feel great. It was exciting. It's my biggest score, first one over one hundred, first six-figure score. I love this place, I always do well here. I've made a couple of final tables here. I really like this place, so I came down to play this and am thrilled with the result."
PSO Maryland $1,100 Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Charles Furey | United States | $111,976 |
| 2 | Melanie Hennigan | United States | $70,014 |
| 3 | Arthur Zabronsky | United States | $50,032 |
| 4 | Paul Lilly | United States | $38,505 |
| 5 | Frankie Zeta | United States | $29,638 |
| 6 | Torsten Boker | United States | $22,817 |
| 7 | Samuel Press | United States | $17,564 |
| 8 | Andy Bartalone | United States | $13,526 |
| 9 | Daniel Lim | United States | $10,418 |
Mutual Respect at the Final Table
Furey had nothing but praise for his formidable opponent following the conclusion of the final table, where he overcame a 2-to-1 chip deficit after entering heads-up play.
"She's a great player, she played great. She was very aggressive, and it was a great game. Some of the plays were pretty crazy - the six-four hand (where Hennigan three-bet all in and showed the bluff, much to the surprise of her tablemates). It was pretty good."
"But once we got heads-up, I basically didn't lose a hand to her. I think I won every hand heads up, and [the momentum] switched. But I had hands every time too, so no matter when she called, she was dead."
Tournament Victory instead of Neck Surgery
While Furey was wrapping up his winner’s photos, he joked that he hadn’t even planned to play the tournament, as he originally had neck surgery scheduled.
"I was supposed to get neck surgery, actually, on Friday, and I'd be recovering now, but because of this, I didn't go get it," Furey explained with a chuckle.
"Well, actually, I feel a little bit better, so I was canceling it [anyway], but I was supposed to [originally]. Much easier on the neck this hundred grand will make it, [it's] like ice."
Furey proved that although poker can be a pain in the neck at times, it can also be the cure.
