2023 Potomac Winter Poker Open

$2,700 Main Event
Day: 2
Event Info

2023 Potomac Winter Poker Open

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
1010
Prize
$277,053
Event Info
Buy-in
$2,700
Entries
533
Level Info
Level
31
Blinds
125,000 / 250,000
Ante
250,000
Players Info - Day 2
Entries
99
Players Left
7

Ryan Eriquezzo Eliminated in 18th Place ($12,744)

Level 22 : Blinds 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante
Ryan Eriquezzo
Ryan Eriquezzo

Action folded around to Ryan Eriquezzo, who bluffed off a significant portion of his stack to Anthony Lam a few hands ago, in the small blind and he moved all in. James Gilbert quickly called in the big blind with the covering stack to put Eriquezzo at risk.

Ryan Eriquezzo: {a-Hearts}{5-Hearts}
James Gilbert: {a-Diamonds}{a-Spades}

Eriquezzo had run right into the rockets of Gilbert and was in terrible shape. There was no miracle runout for Eriquezzo, ending his tournament in 18th place.

Player Chips Progress
James Gilbert us
James Gilbert
1,050,000
816,000
816,000
Ryan Eriquezzo us
Ryan Eriquezzo
Busted
WSOP 3X Winner

Tags: Anthony LamJames GilbertRyan Eriquezzo

William Staursky Eliminated in 19th Place ($11,470)

Level 22 : Blinds 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante
William Staursky
William Staursky

Picking up the action on the river, Mark Dickstein on the button was involved in a hand with William Staursky from early position. With the board reading {8-Clubs}{2-Hearts}{8-Diamonds}{7-Hearts}{3-Spades} Staursky moved all in and was snapped off by Dickstein who tabled {8-Hearts}{3-Hearts} for the full house to send Staursky to the payout desk in 19th place.

Elsewhere, Vincent Giuliano was eliminated in 21st place.

Player Chips Progress
Mark Dickstein us
Mark Dickstein
1,400,000
695,000
695,000
Vincent Giuliano us
Vincent Giuliano
Busted
William Staursky
William Staursky
Busted

Tags: Mark DicksteinVincent GiulianoWilliam Staursky

Elias Gone

Level 19 : Blinds 8,000/16,000, 16,000 ante
Darren Elias
Darren Elias

During bubble play, Darren Elias opened to 32,000 from middle position only to see David Lackey three-bet to 90,000 on the button. The blinds got out of the way to send the action back to Elias who called to see a flop.

Elias checked on the {j-Spades}{8-Spades}{10-Spades} flop and Lackey continued for 55,000. That bet alone was not enough to get Elias off of his hand as he called to send the two players to the turn.

Action checked through the {a-Diamonds} turn to the {j-Diamonds} river at which point Elias checked for a third time. Lackey responded by pushing 225,000 into the middle, a bet that accounted for most of Elias' stack. Despite that fact, it did not take long for Elias to call but he mucked after Lackey turned over {10-}{10-} for the full house, leaving Elias crippled. Though he was able to squeak into the money, Elias was eliminated shortly after.

Elsewhere, Sung Lee and start of day chipleader Benjamin Foster were seen exiting the tournament area.

Player Chips Progress
David Lackey us
David Lackey
1,400,000
150,000
150,000
Darren Elias us
Darren Elias
Busted
Sung Lee us
Sung Lee
Busted
Benjamin Foster us
Benjamin Foster
Busted

Tags: Darren EliasDavid Lackey

Eisenberg Eliminates Opponent to Burst Bubble

Level 19 : Blinds 8,000/16,000, 16,000 ante
Lara Eisenberg
Lara Eisenberg

A player moved all in from middle position and was looked up by Lara Eisenberg in the big blind. Once play had concluded at the other tables, the cards were turned on their backs.

Middle Position Player: {a-Diamonds}{10-Diamonds}
Lara Eisenberg: {a-Hearts}{k-Hearts}

The middle position player was dominated and would need to come from behind to avoid becoming the bubble boy. Unfortunately for him, the board ran out {a-Clubs}{8-Spades}{2-Clubs}{j-Clubs}{k-Spades} to keep Eisenberg ahead, sending the middle position player out of the tournament one spot off the money. The remaining players have now all locked up a minimum of $5,098.

Player Chips Progress
Lara Eisenberg us
Lara Eisenberg
405,000
130,000
130,000
WSOP 1X Winner

Tags: Lara Eisenberg

Benjamin Foster Leads Field Going Into Day 2 of Event #11: $2,700 Main Event

Benjamin Foster
Benjamin Foster

After 15 levels of play on the two starting flights of Event #11: $2,700 Main Event at the Potomac Winter Poker Open, 99 players remain from a combined starting field of 533. At the head of those 99 players is day 1b chipleader Benjamin Foster with 723,500. Sung Lee sits in second on 645,500 while day 1a chipleader Jonathan Gilliam rounds out the top three on 538,000.

The tournament boasted a healthy guarantee of $500,000 which was surpassed early on day 1a. By the time late registration closed on day 1b, the total prizepool had grown to a massive $1,274,400. That money will be spit amongst the top 54 finishers so players entering day 2 have not locked up a return on their investment just yet. Those who are able to navigate their way past the money bubble are all guaranteed a minimum of $5,098 with a juicy $277,053 awaiting the winner.

Those numbers are larger than when this event was last held back in 2020 despite the fact that the buyin was reduced from $3,000 to $2,700, a testament to how strongly live poker has rebounded since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Top Ten Chip Counts

RANKPLAYERCOUNTRYCHIP COUNT
1Benjamin FosterUnited States723,500
2Sung LeeUnited States645,500
3Jonathan GilliamUnited States538,000
4Bin WengUnited States521,500
5Hal RotholzUnited States516,000
6Jacob HersheyUnited States477,500
7David TillerUnited States467,000
8Vincent PahujaUnited States461,000
9Boris KravetsUnited States454,000
10Chris BlackmoreUnited States450,000

Many notable players will retake their seat today, including BetMGM Ambassador Darren Elias (388,500), well known poker pro Bin Weng (521,500) and 2022 GPI POY Stephen Song (320,000). They will not be joined by defending champion Matthew Sesso or the 2020 runner-up, Joe McKeehen.

Day 2 resumes at 12 p.m. on Sunday, February 5th and will play down to the final six. Levels will increase to 60-minutes from this point on and play commences at blinds of 4,000/8,000 with a 8,000 big blind ante. Be sure to stay tuned as the Pokernews live reporting team provides coverage through to the conclusion of Event #11: $2,700 Main Event at the Potomac Winter Poker Open.