The US Poker Open has reached its halfway point as Event #5: $10,000 No Limit Hold'em is about to get underway. The action is slated to begin at 2:00 P.M. PST inside the Aria Resort and Casino poker room.
With three events completed and Event #4: 25,000 Mixed Game Championship wrapping up today, everyone is chasing Stephen Chidwick who sits atop of the leaderboard. Chidwick is appearing in his third final table already, having won Event #3 for $374,000. He will be surely be taking his seat at the felt once he is finished at the Mixed Games table.
Some others to keep an eye out for will be Justin Bonomo, who held the early lead after winning Event #1 for $190,400. Daniel Negreanu also has a couple of cashes under his belt and after min-cashing in seventh place last night, he will surely be ready to go this afternoon. Other players like Bryn Kenney, Ryan Riess, Erik Seidel, and Adrian Mateos are all still looking for their first cash of the series.
Current 2018 US Poker Open Standings
Position
Player
Country
Total earnings
1
Stephen Chidwick
United Kingdom
$428,400
2
Keith Tilston
United States
$242,000
3
Daniel Negreanu
Canada
$221,250
4
Justin Bonomo
United States
$190,400
5
Mike Gorodinsky
United States
$179,200
As with the other no-limit hold'em events, the structure will continue to be the same. The players will begin with 100,000 in chips and will be allowed two re-entries within the late registration period that closes after level 9. The levels will be 30-minutes in length with a 10-minute break after every three levels.
Each player will be given an allotted 30 seconds to act with three 60-second time extensions. The tournament will also be running with the big blind ante format. The action will continue until an official final table of six has been reached, at which point the remaining players will bag and tag to return on Wednesday.
Continue to follow along with the PokerNews live reporting team as we bring you all of the live updates straight from the tournament floor.
Cary Katz has gotten himself off to a good start in the opening levels of Event #5. He once again looked down a monster holding of on the button. Before the action could be figured out, Katz and his opponent in the hijack were all in with the cards face up.
Katz was up against his opponent's and the flop of was spread. However, the on the turn came as no surprise as Katz jumped out front. The on the river sealed the deal and Katz raked in another sizeable pot to move over 500,000.
The action folded to Ryan Riess on the button who raised to 12,000. Almedin Imsirovic three-bet to 42,000 in the small blind and Riess called to see a flop.
The flop came and Imsirovic led out for 30,000. Riess just called and the landed on the turn. Imsirovic checked this time and Riess fired out a bet of 65,000. Imsirovic called and the paired the board on the river.
One more check from Imsirovic and Riess jammed all in. Imsirovic counted out his 140,000 chip stack and realized this was the last hand before the break. He called it off and Riess tabled for a full house.
Tim Reilly raised to 18,000 on the button and was called by Cary Katz in the small blind. Ben Tollerene was in the big blind and jammed all in for 265,000. This was the second time in as many orbits that Tollerene shoved on Reilly's open, and this time Reilly took a stand and made the call. Katz quickly got out of the way as the two remaining hands were tabled.
Ben Tollerene:
Tim Reilly:
Reilly made a good call but it quickly turned sour as the flop came , giving Tollerene a pair of tens. The on the turn and the on the river were no help to Reilly as he was sent to the rail.
Ryan Riess limped in from the small blind and Dan Smith made it 42,000 to go from the big blind. Riess called and then checked when the flop came . Smith continued for 25,000 and Riess check-raised to 68,000. Smith called to see the pair the board on the turn.
Riess checked this time and Dan Smith pushed in a bet of 140,000. Riess check-raised all in for 423,000 and Smith made the call. Riess tabled for quad deuces and Smith was left drawing dead with . When the chips were counted, Smith was left with just 3,000 and would go on to bust on the next hand.
Riess started his journey up the leaderboard when he flopped a set of deuces earlier on in the day. Along with Smith, Adrian Mateos left his seat after he busted to Jake Schindler, leaving just 11 players remaining. The two tables will now be hand-for-hand on the money bubble.
Jake Schindler opened to 32,000 from the hijack. Rainer Kempe counted out his chips while scoping out the other table before he shipped all in for 200,000 in the cutoff. The action folded back around to Schindler who made the call.
Jake Schindler:
Rainer Kempe:
Kempe found himself flipping for his tournament life on the bubble. The flop came and the German pro was in dire straits with Schindler holding the best hand and a flush draw. The on the turn sealed the deal and insignificant completed the board. Kempe was eliminated on the money bubble and the remaining 10 players are all guaranteed at least $20,100.
Brent Hanks opened to 35,000 from under the gun and Ryan Riess called from the cutoff. David Peters shipped all in for 190,000 in the small blind and the action folded back to Riess, who quickly made the call.
Ryan Riess:
David Peters:
Peters was ahead with the superior pocket pair but he was up against a red-hot Riess. The flop came and Peters still held onto the lead. However, the on the turn gave Riess a set of sevens and the on the river was just salt in the wound for Peters. Riess improved to quads and Peters was eliminated in 10th place.
Jake Schindler opened to 32,000 from under the gun and Cary Katz just called in the cutoff. Keith Tilston was in the big blind and moved all in for around 190,000. Schindler quickly mucked his cards and Katz called rather quickly.
Cary Katz:
Keith Tilston:
The flop came and Tilston looked poised to double up. The dealer burned and turned the and Katz jumped out front with a pair of kings. The completed the board and Tilston was sent to the rail in ninth place.
After doubling up to around 220,000, the action folded to Brent Hanks in the small blind who pushed all in again. Ryan Riess looked down at his cards in the big blind and instantly made the call.
Ryan Riess:
Brent Hanks:
Hanks was dominated by Riess' premium holding and would need some help in order to stay alive. The board ran out and Hanks was left drawing dead by the turn. The final seven players will now assemble on one table.
Ben Yu was under the gun and on the short stack. He looked down at his cards and moved all in for 257,000. The action folded around to Jake Schindler in the big blind who snap-called after taking a peek at his own cards.
Jake Schindler:
Ben Yu:
It was race situation and Yu would need to connect with the board to keep his tournament hopes alive. The flop came and Schindler was still in the lead. The on the turn and the on the river were of no help to Yu as he was eliminated in seventh place.
The final six players will no bag up their chips and return at 12:00 P.M. PST for the final table to be live-streamed on PokerGO starting at 1:00 P.M.