button in SafariKristen Foxen Wins U.S. Poker Open $10k Event for Fifth PGT Title
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High stakes crusher and five-time GPI Female Player of the Year Kristen Foxen added another title to her already impressive resume after outlasting the 66-entry field to win her fifth career PGT title in Event #4: $10,000 NLH.
Foxen bested a stacked final table that included Michael Rossitto, Brock Wilson, Sam Soverel, and Jeremy Ausmus. She defeated Ausmus heads-up to take home the top prize of $198,000, with Ausmus recording his second runner-up finish of the series.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kristen Foxen | Canada | $198,000 |
| 2 | Jeremy Ausmus | United States | $128,700 |
| 3 | Sam Soverel | United States | $89,100 |
| 4 | Brock Wilson | United States | $66,000 |
| 5 | Michael Rossitto | United States | $49,500 |
| 6 | Brandon Wilson | United States | $36,300 |
| 7 | Nate Silver | United States | $26,400 |
Winner's Reaction
“I’m super happy,” Foxen told PokerNews following the win. “It was just like, the easiest final table ever, which is a relief due to the fact that I’ve had some final tables that didn’t go that way recently. This one was just nice and easy and fun.”
Foxen also earned 198 PGT leaderboard points for the win, putting her in fourth place on the U.S. Poker Open leaderboard. Foxen spoke on the added motivation the leaderboard provides, with a $25,000 PGT passport and the Golden Eagle trophy going to the overall winner of the series.
“That big eagle is quite pretty. I was thinking on the way here that the benefit of winning this event wouldn’t just be winning, but the fact that I would get those leaderboard points that would help me for this series, and then also for the overall series for the year. I definitely used the points as motivation for today.”
One of the most consistent performers on the high roller circuit over the past several years, Foxen attributed her success to her adaptability at the tables.
“I might be wrong, but I would say my ability to deviate, where maybe some people wouldn’t. Sometimes that’s going to lead me to maybe making bad calls or bad folds, but that’s the style of poker I like to play.”
Final Day Action
Ausmus began the day with nearly half the chips in play, while Rossitto was the extreme short stack with just seven big blinds. Although Rossitto enjoyed an early double up against Wilson, a comeback was not in the cards, and he became the first casualty of the day after getting his stack in preflop with ace-nine suited, only for Soverel to flop a Broadway straight with king-ten. Soverel dispatched Wilson next in fourth place, closing the gap between himself and Ausmus, while Foxen was well behind in third.
The turning point for Foxen during three-handed play came after flopping an open-ender with ten-eight, while Ausmus held top pair with ace-king. Foxen check-raised her draw on the flop, and after the straight came in on the turn she got the max, doubling through Ausmus on the river to take the chip lead, while Ausmus went from first in chips to short-stacked.
Ausmus quickly mounted a comeback after picking off a bluff from Soverel to reclaim most of the chips he had lost. Soverel was left with less than one big blind and hit the rail right after, leaving Foxen and Ausmus heads-up, with Foxen holding a small chip advantage over Ausmus. Both players were fairly deep, with Ausmus the effective stack at slightly more than 70 big blinds.
“It was a fun one," Foxen said of the heads-up match. "It was nice, because we started a little bit deeper than usual. Usually when you get heads-up here it’s like 30 big blinds effective. We had a few pretty fun hands. He took an interesting check-raise flop, check-raise turn spot. It was fun, and thankfully the cards fell in my favor."
Heads-up play was brief but action-packed, with Ausmus pulling off a double check-raise in one of the first hands. Ausmus check-raised his flopped gutshot, and then check-raised again after picking up a flush draw on the turn. Foxen had called the turn correctly with second pair, but the flush came in for Ausmus on the river, bringing the two players close to even.
The final hand of the tournament saw Foxen flop a set of sixes against Ausmus, who had an overpair with pocket nines. The chips got in on the river, with Ausmus being forced to settle for a second runner-up finish this series.
