Joe McKeehen Final Table Captain of USPO Event #3: $10,000 NLHE
Joe McKeehen leads the final seven players in the U.S. Poker Open Event #3: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em after bagging a chip leading stack of 2,230,000 in chips on Saturday at the PokerGO Studio at the ARIA Resort & Casino.
McKeehen is one of the biggest names in poker with more than $17 million in live tournament earnings and three WSOP gold bracelets including notorious shipping the 2015 WSOP Main Event for $7,683,346.
Ali Imsirovic was the only other player besides McKeehen to bag more than 2 million into the final table with Steve Zolotow, Ray Qartomy, Justin Saliba, Jake Schindler, and Barry Hutter all advancing with shorter stacks.
That being said, it will be anyone's game at the final table as the action will kick off with players on average holding 23 big blinds.
Final Table Seat Draw
| Seat | Name | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barry Hutter | United States | 710,000 | 12 |
| 2 | Justin Saliba | United States | 1,110,000 | 19 |
| 3 | Joe McKeehen | United States | 2,230,000 | 37 |
| 4 | Ray Qartomy | United States | 1,375,000 | 23 |
| 5 | Steve Zolotow | United States | 1,455,000 | 24 |
| 6 | Ali Imsirovic | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 2,015,000 | 34 |
| 7 | Jake Schindler | United States | 930,000 | 16 |
| Total | 9,825,000 | 164 | ||
| Average | 1,403,571 | 23 |
Action of the Day
Event #3 attracted 77 entries to generate a $770,000 prize pool with 11 players getting paid at least a min-cash of $23,100.
Johan Guilbert, who finished in tenth place and both the first two events for a combined haul of $48,000 was the final player to come up empty-handed in Event #3. The Frenchman got it in with cowboys only to go out on the bubble after he ran into Imsirovic's pocket rockets.
Sergio Aido, Cary Katz, and Manig Loeser were all ousted in ninth to 13th place for a $23,100 min-cash and the day ended after Andrew Lichtenberger finished in eighth place for $30,800 once his ace-seven proved to be no good against Saliba's ace-jack.
Where to Watch the Final Table?
The final seven players will return to the PokerGo Studios on June 6 with the action expected to begin at 3 p.m. EDT. PokerGO will live stream what promises to be some of the most exciting poker action of the year beginning at 4 p.m. EDT.
Remember, an annual subscription to PokerGO costs $99.99, but you can save $20 off by using promo code “USPO21” at checkout. Sign up by going here.
Final Table Payouts
All returning players are guaranteed at least a $47,500 payout with the eventual winner slated to take home a whopping $218,500 top prize.
| Place | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1 | $200,200 |
| 2 | $146,300 |
| 3 | $100,100 |
| 4 | $77,000 |
| 5 | $61,600 |
| 6 | $46,200 |
| 7 | $38,500 |
*Images courtesy of Poker Central
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
2,230,000 | 2,230,000 |
|
2,015,000 | 2,015,000 |
|
1,455,000 | 1,455,000 |
|
1,375,000 | 1,375,000 |
|
1,110,000 | 1,110,000 |
|
930,000 | 930,000 |
|
710,000 | 710,000 |