David Peters Wins Back-To-Back U.S. Poker Open Championships; Imsirovic Extends PokerGO Tour Lead

David Peters

After sitting out most of the early PokerGO Tour events in 2021, it took very little time for David Peters to get back into top form at the 2021 U.S. Poker Open (USPO).

Peters, who won the U.S. Poker Open Championship when it was last held in 2019, claimed his second straight USPO title to pick up a $50,000 bonus and the 54-pound Golden Eagle trophy after impressively winning three USPO tournaments and avoiding a final day charge by USPO Event #2 champion Sam Soverel.

“It’s been a crazy week. I obviously ran pretty well. I haven’t played live poker in over a year and a half. It feels good to be back,” Peters said after watching Soverel bust out of the $50,000 USPO finale. “It feels good to jump back in there playing against all of these great players that I’ve battled with all these years.”

2021 U.S. Poker Open Championship Standings

RankPlayerPointsWinsCashesEarnings
1David Peters64634$832,950
2Sean Winter48412$785,700
3Ali Imsirovic48315$482,000
4Stephen Chidwick42703$628,700
5Dan Shak37104$459,750
6Jake Daniels32312$391,000
7Sam Soverel31614$382,300
8Andrew Lichtenberger30803$308,000
9Joe McKeehen30212$302,200
10Steve Zolotow28903$289,000

Sweat for Peters

Sam Soverel
USPO Event #2 champion Sam Soverel gives David Peters a last-minute sweat

The series title didn’t come without a sweat, and Peters had to stand by after busting out of the final event as Soverel, Ali Imsirovic, Andrew Lichtenberger, Joe McKeehen, and Cary Katz all entered the tournament with an opportunity to take the USPO title with a victory. Only Soverel made it to the second day, and Peters clinched the win when Soverel busted out in fifth place.


Read More: Sean Winter Defeats Stephen Chidwick to Win USPO Event #12: $50K NLHE ($756,000)


Peters won the first of his back-to-back USPO titles in 2019 by winning the final event to pass Sean Winter in the standings on the last day.

“It’s very important. Winning back-to-back is a really cool thing. I was hoping he didn’t do what I did to Sean (Winter) last time, so it worked out well.”

2021 U.S. Poker Open Results

The 2021 U.S. Poker Open awarded more than $11 million in prize pools across a dozen events. Peters was the only player to win multiple titles by impressively winning three events on his way to back-to-back USPO championships.

Other big names also had their day in the sun after winning big events including Jake Daniels, McKeehen, John Riordan, Joey Weissman, Jared Bleznick, Imsirovic, and Sean Winter.

EventEntriesPrize PoolWinnerCountryPrize
Event #1: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em95$950,000Jake DanielsUnited States$218,500
Event #2: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha65$650,000Sam SoverelUnited States$175,000
Event #3: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em77$770,000Joe McKeehenUnited States$200,200
Event #4: $10,000 Big Bet Mix48$480,000John RiordanUnited States$163,200
Event #5: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em85$850,000Joey WeissmanUnited States$204,000
Event #6: $10,000 8-Game68$680,000Eli ElezraUnited States$183,600
Event #7: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em99$990,000David PetersUnited States$217,800
Event #8: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha63$630,000Jared BleznickUnited States$189,000
Event #9: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em99$990,000Ali ImsirovicBosnia and Herzegovina$217,800
Event #10: $10,000 Short Deck27$270,000David PetersUnited States$124,200
Event #11: $25,000 No-Limit Hold'em69$1,725,000David PetersUnited States$465,750
Event #12: $50,000 No-Limit Hold'em42$2,100,000Sean WinterUnited States$756,000
      
Total837$11,085,000   

Peters Prepared for a Long PokerGO Tour Season

The time off for Peters appears to be over as he plans to play a full schedule of events throughout the remainder of the year. With a packed slate of high-stakes tournaments coming up on the PokerGO Tour, Peters is prepared for a long season.

“I think I am going to play a lot. I missed a good chunk of the PokerGO Tour the last couple of months, but I am ready to get back in there and grind a lot of these. Hopefully I can accumulate a lot of points.”

Peters finishes the USPO with 646 PokerGO Tour points, which is good enough for sixth place on tour. Winter added 434 points to his total with his win in the $50,000 event, giving him 1,099 points and sole possession of third place.

About the PokerGO Tour

In April, streaming service PokerGO announced a series of high roller tournaments and a new points system that would see the top players competing with one another at a variety of high stakes events throughout the year. The PokerGO Tour will feature over 150 events with buy-ins of $10,000 or more, and the top three finishers at the end of the year will split $175,000 in prize money.

The USPO was the first major event on a tour that is set to include other majors like the Poker Masters and new series like the PokerGO Cup and the PokerGO Heads-Up Championship. Events over $10,000 are included in the tour lineup, and future WSOP tournaments will count in the standings, as well.

Imsirovic Pads His Lead in the PokerGO Tour Standings

Ali Imsirovic
Ali Imsirovic pads lead on the PokerGO Tour Leaderboard

While the top two spots remain the same, there was plenty of movement on the leaderboard throughout the USPO as players picked up a lot of points in some of the largest events on tour so far.

Imsirovic extended his lead on the tour leaderboard with an impressive USPO showing which included a win and four additional cashes that netted him 481 points to bring his first-place total to 1,897. He increased the gap with Sean Perry (1,256 points) in second place, who added 106 points with a runner-up finish in the $10,000 Big Bet Mix event.

Soverel came up short of the USPO title in the final event, but he cashed four times for 318 points to climb into fourth place with 852 total points.

McKeehen and Daniels both picked up big points with wins at the USPO. McKeehen moved to just outside the top ten with 302 more points on his win in Event #3 to bring his tour total to 526. Daniels took down the first tournament of the series and an additional paying finish to pick up 323 points.

Dan Shak took a big jump towards the top ten, cashing in four events to earn $459,750, adding 371 points to give him 433 on the year. Katz finished in the money in four events as well, winning $270,100 for 270 points. He jumps to eighth place on the tour leaderboard with 611 total points.

Elsewhere in the top ten, Brock Wilson and Jake Schindler both cashed twice. Wilson added 140 points to his total and has 627 points so far, good for 7th place. He is seeking his first win on tour. Schindler added 111 points to bring his total to 555, enough to stay in the top ten. Chris Brewer cashed in one event and slipped slightly to fifth place with 816 points.

PlacePlayerCountyTotal PointsWinsCashesTotal Earnings
1Ali ImsirovicBosnia and Herzegovina1,416512$1,977,460
2Sean PerryUSA1,15029$1,693,618
3Chris BrewerUSA763111$1,082,100
4Sean WinterUSA66519$938,090
5Sam SoverelUSA53416$786,396
6Shawn DanielsUSA52314$551,500
7Brock WilsonUSA48705$695,186
8Chad EveslageUSA46111$767,576
9Jake SchindlerUSA44414$638,408
10Arthur ConanFrance44011$733,320

See the full leaderboard here!

Wynn Millions and PokerGO Cup Up Next

The PokerGO Tour now moves on to the Wynn Millions on June 25 (PokerNews will live report that event) before returning to the PokerGO Studios from July 1-9 for eight events at the brand new PokerGO Cup featuring buy-ins ranging from $10,000 to the $100,000 series finale.

After the PokerGO Cup, the tour continues with the PokerGO $100,000 Heads Up Championship on July 12, as well as high stakes summer events in Florida at the Seminole High Roller and throughout Las Vegas in the high roller series at the Aria and the Venetian. The tour returns to the PokerGO Studios in September for the Poker Masters and will feature tournaments $10,000 and above from throughout this year’s World Series of Poker.

*Images courtesy of Poker Central

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  • Defending champion David Peters won three events in five days to win his second U.S. Poker Event Championship.

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Las Vegas-based PokerNews Live Reporting Executive, originally from Chicago, IL

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